If there is one thing I have learned about golf, it is this: the objective of the game is to put (or, more commonly, putt) the ball into the hole. Nothing more, nothing less.
There are plenty of slogans out there: “Drive for show and putt for dough,” “Play it as it lies” and “the grass grows toward the water.” However, the goal is to get the ball into the hole in as few strokes as possible.