I think of it along the lines of:
Forgiveness = how sensitive the shot will be off-line/off-distance depending on whether or not you hit the ding, or how far you miss it by
Precision = how tight the grouping will be given the same inputs (aim, swing, etc) for the club
So a good swing (DING!) all but negates the need for forgiveness, and puts the ball within your precision factor of the target. More precision gives tighter grouping, less precision gives broader grouping for same swing.
A bad swing with an unforgiving club will often put it very wide/short, regardless of precision (though perhaps CONSISTENTLY wide/short if club is high precision).
A bad swing with a high-forgiveness, low-precision club will go vaguely where you wanted it to, but unpredictably so. It's dumb luck if your imprecision happens to cancel out your mishit, but it does happen - eg. You hook the ball, but the club is so imprecise it happens to come off straight.
Conclusion - both are handy. If you aren't very good, you want to emphasise forgiveness. By the time you are good, you want high precision so the ball goes where you want it to.