Your Short Game

[jamo]

I am curious about the two wedge set-up. did it take long to get the right bounce for how you are playing them? 9* of bounce on your 60* for sand play impresses me. Granted I am terrible, but that low bounce in a trap seems like license to dig too deep.

 

When I started using my LW out of the sand it was because my SW had almost 20* of bounce, and I just couldn't get the the club under the ball enough to get it into the air. I started using my LW with 10* of bounce, and now I am just used to it. My sand game is on of my strong points too, so it isn't like the decision made my game worse, it made it better.

[bp4455]

The short game is far and away my favorite part of golf, and I thought I'd open up a thread to discuss it. Here are some questions that you can answer to start things off:

 

How many different shots do you have inside of 50 yards?

What technique do you use to play those shots?

What determines the kind of shot you play around the green?

What clubs do you use inside of 50 yards, and what impacts your club selection?

What do you like to see the ball do when it hits the green (do you like to get it rolling ASAP, throw it all the way to the hole, etc)?

 

Feel free to add other questions as the discussion goes along.

I consider my short game excellent. Inside 50 yards I will use 60* wedge 99% of the time and maybe SW or putter the remaining 1%.

 

I can hit all shots including high flops. What I choose to hit depends on course conditions, lie, speed and softness of greens etc. It's a feel thing and I don't waste any time thinking about it.

 

I want to see the ball close to the hole. How it gets there will depend on the condition of the green. I will try to leave the ball under the hole and I will not spin the ball back.

 

If I didn't have a short game I wouldn't have any game at all at my age.

[GolfSpy Dave]

So Bob, under what situations do you go to the putter?

[cmsaternus]

I play simple running chips around the green whenever possible. If I have to go over something, I use a 56 or 60 and get pretty steep with my swing to create some spin and height. I'm trying out using better balls to get more spin around the green so the ball will stop.

[Addicted2Golf]

I will keep it on the ground whenever possible. That means if I have a reasonable shot of nudging a ball in close with my putter or hybrid then I will use them. Case in point, during one of my rounds towards the end of last season, I had air mailed the green and ended up a good 30 yards past the putting surface after my ball hit a sprinkler head. I had the option of lobbing the ball over a small tree or using my hybrid to hit a low runner under the limbs, into the bank and skidding the ball up to the hole. The green was fairly flat so I opted for the low runner. The bank took enough off of it and I ended up a few feet away from the pin where I managed to get up and down.

 

For most other shots, I will use my sand wedge unless the lie is tight and then I will use my lob wedge.

[MmmmmmBuddy]

I will use putter from as far away as 60 yards.

 

I was playing Pacific Dunes, and had 60 left to a front pin. The lie was so tight, that I was sure that if I tried to pitch it, it would end up badly. No way for me to judge a chip, because I never practice, so.... I putted it. Ended up 4 feet, and payed it off. Unsusal for me to make a putt, but it goes to show that there is no right way to do things.

[GolfSpy Dave]

I will use putter from as far away as 60 yards.

 

I was playing Pacific Dunes, and had 60 left to a front pin. The lie was so tight, that I was sure that if I tried to pitch it, it would end up badly. No way for me to judge a chip, because I never practice, so.... I putted it. Ended up 4 feet, and payed it off. Unsusal for me to make a putt, but it goes to show that there is no right way to do things.

Was this a fairway lie? Is this a situation where a hybrid as a putter would also be possible.

[GolfSpy Dave]

I will keep it on the ground whenever possible. That means if I have a reasonable shot of nudging a ball in close with my putter or hybrid then I will use them. Case in point, during one of my rounds towards the end of last season, I had air mailed the green and ended up a good 30 yards past the putting surface after my ball hit a sprinkler head. I had the option of lobbing the ball over a small tree or using my hybrid to hit a low runner under the limbs, into the bank and skidding the ball up to the hole. The green was fairly flat so I opted for the low runner. The bank took enough off of it and I ended up a few feet away from the pin where I managed to get up and down.

 

For most other shots, I will use my sand wedge unless the lie is tight and then I will use my lob wedge.

Can you tell me about the swing? Putting stroke or just a swing with little wrist action or ?

[jamo]

I have problems using my putter off of the fairway, so I'll usually chip, putting the ball way back in my stance and putting a hook swing on it.

[Matt Saternus]

I am curious about the two wedge set-up. did it take long to get the right bounce for how you are playing them? 9* of bounce on your 60* for sand play impresses me. Granted I am terrible, but that low bounce in a trap seems like license to dig too deep.

 

I have found that it's nice to have a variety of bounce options for different types of sand. The sand in the bunkers here in Myrtle does not work with high bounce, for me. I need the 4* bounce on my 60* to get under the ball.

 

I have problems using my putter off of the fairway, so I'll usually chip, putting the ball way back in my stance and putting a hook swing on it.

 

I'm the same way, I hate to putt from the fringe or fairway. I don't like to have the ball rolling except on the putting surface - too much unpredictability in rolling it elsewhere.

[GolfSpy Dave]

I have found that it's nice to have a variety of bounce options for different types of sand. The sand in the bunkers here in Myrtle does not work with high bounce, for me. I need the 4* bounce on my 60* to get under the ball.

So you are not digging enough with the high bounce? Is the sand shallow?

 

 

I'm the same way, I hate to putt from the fringe or fairway. I don't like to have the ball rolling except on the putting surface - too much unpredictability in rolling it elsewhere.

Have you tried the putt with the hybrid swing. I had an instructor show me this. Shaft almost straight up and down, choke down and putt. Was good when he helped me, but I need to practice more. little hop then lost of roll to the hole.

[Matt Saternus]

Have you tried the putt with the hybrid swing. I had an instructor show me this. Shaft almost straight up and down, choke down and putt. Was good when he helped me, but I need to practice more. little hop then lost of roll to the hole.

 

Yeah, I'm familiar with this technique, but it's not something I practice. I can certainly appreciate the value of it, especially for someone who doesn't have the chance to practice chipping too much, but I like chipping and I feel that it's a strength in my game. One situation where I do like this technique is when the ball is backed up against the collar.

 

Do you use this technique much on the course? What situations do you find it most useful for?

 

One of the gentlemen I played with today used his putter out of a bunker. The only other person I've seen do this is my father in law. Anyone else an advocate of using the flatstick from the beach?

[GolfSpy Dave]

One of the gentlemen I played with today used his putter out of a bunker. The only other person I've seen do this is my father in law. Anyone else an advocate of using the flatstick from the beach?

Can you give me a little more here, i just had a wtf moment...

[Matt Saternus]

Can you give me a little more here, i just had a wtf moment...

 

The bunker that he was in had no lip, so he just putted right out. The sand was very tightly packed, so there was no problem with the ball not rolling well.

[Funkyfedora]

I have when I had a less expensive putter...

[Matt Saternus]

I have when I had a less expensive putter...

 

Hahaha...yeah, I would not be using my Byron for this technique. My father in law uses an old old Odyssey, so he doesn't care. I don't see why this technique wouldn't work with a hybrid though. A merger of the two most recently discussed techniques!

[Funkyfedora]

I played a gutsy shot when I was playing with friends in hs. I hit a slap shot with my hybrid, killed it with a bunker and it rolled up onto the green.

 

Another play I did recently, I was 4-5 feet off the green on the collar. I turned my putter on the side so the toe was pointing towards the green. I hit it with a little more force than a normal putt and I made it. I think the total shot was a little over 10 feet.

[Matt Saternus]

I played a gutsy shot when I was playing with friends in hs. I hit a slap shot with my hybrid, killed it with a bunker and it rolled up onto the green.

 

Another play I did recently, I was 4-5 feet off the green on the collar. I turned my putter on the side so the toe was pointing towards the green. I hit it with a little more force than a normal putt and I made it. I think the total shot was a little over 10 feet.

 

Were these shots just for fun or was there a need for them given the situation you were in?

[Funkyfedora]

The hybrid was a shot just to mess around. The putter was intentional. The collar can be kind of scraggly and can catch the putter when you try to use it. But if you turn it so its just the toe, you contact the ball and have a better chance of getting it close.

[Matt Saternus]

The hybrid was a shot just to mess around. The putter was intentional. The collar can be kind of scraggly and can catch the putter when you try to use it. But if you turn it so its just the toe, you contact the ball and have a better chance of getting it close.

 

Cool. I'd heard of using the putter toe when the ball is up against the collar, but I hadn't heard of using it on the fringe to keep the putter from catching. I'll have to give this a shot tomorrow on the putting green.