15 yards to the pin... how do you get it there?

[AMcC]

My tuppence worth would be to take the least lofted club that allows you to clear the fringe, landing the ball on the green to roll out for most of the distance.

There is a great line in the Dave Peltz short game bible that says during a chipping session you should stay until you have holed three chips, unless darkness or divorce proceedings intervene.

Sounds a lot like my chipping

 

[Dave B]

Just been going through youtube and it seems that the old school approach especially for higher handicap players is to opt for a less lofted club 8-PW and the new school, younger and better players advocate 52-60 degree wedges.

I remember watching one of the PGA tour events where one of the rookies took an 8 iron and pitched it on from about 15 yds. The same player later putted off the green using a putter. Butch Harmon commented that it was refreshing to see a young player playing simple golf without complicating it. That says a lot as I lost count of how many pro's duffed simple wedge shots by going under the ball from the fringes when a less lofted club and simple pitch and run would have sufficed. Funnily enough unlike myself you rarely see them thin it

 

[garyinderry]

in this bounce obsessed age, why are people still taking a 7 iron to this shot? a 7 iron can be bladed / fatted just as bad a pitch / chip with a wedge.


confused !!

 

[MashieNiblick]

Chipping isn't my strong point, so although it might be old school, if there is a reasonable amount of green to play with then I'll opt for less loft and more roll. Probably an 8 iron.

Good video of Luke Donald playing something similar

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-caBH6OT4I

But if the pin is cut close to the front then I may use something a bit more lofted. My gap wedge is my go to club for that. Would need a nice lie but even then this has been a costly shot for me many times and the likelihood of duffs and thins is greater. Of course in that situation Luke can just caress it up to the hole with his lob wedge.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETO0SvEBXts

 

[MashieNiblick]

in this bounce obsessed age, why are people still taking a 7 iron to this shot? a 7 iron can be bladed / fatted just as bad a pitch / chip with a wedge.


confused !!

Because a bladed wedge from 15 yards goes much further than a bladed 7 iron...errr so my friends tell me

 

[davidy233]

15 yards from the hole - mmm - at my place you have the option of using a putter unless you're on the downslope of a dune covered in thick fescue rough - in that case you are hack and hope.

 

[garyinderry]

Because a bladed wedge from 15 yards goes much further than a bladed 7 iron...errr so my friends tell me

a leading edge is a leading edge my friend. same result. I have no fear of blading such a shot. I would the old fashioned hands ahead approach myself.


its just I hear so many on here talking about using the bounce to widen the margin of error but when it comes to a good chance of getting up and down they will select a club that can get them into trouble quite easily.

 

[One Planer]

in this bounce obsessed age, why are people still taking a 7 iron to this shot? a 7 iron can be bladed / fatted just as bad a pitch / chip with a wedge.


confused !!

With a wedge you'll have to make more of a backswing, introducing more room for error.

Take 2 examples, a 56° wedge and a 7 iron.

To get the most out of the 56°'s loft you need more of a back swing (8.30-9.00 on clock face) for more club head speed. No speed and the ball will just run up the face and go nowhere.

With the 7 iron, you probably only need to swing to 7.00-7.30 (on a clock face). The loft will lift the ball out of it's lie, but because a iron only has roughly 34° of loft (.... Well, mine does) and a much longer shaft, the ball will launch massively lower and run a lot more due to the combination of lower loft and the speed created by the longer shaft.

Linear chipping works, mainly IMO becuase the shaft does not lean excessively to the target so you're not getting so steep and not exposing the leading edge.

May answer your question?

 

[garyinderry]

ok, but if you expose the bounce on the 56 you can safely hit it quite hard and also hit it inches behind the ball.

 

[garyinderry]

in this example, for the sake of taking the club back an extra 12 inches on the back swing, you will forgo the safety net of the bounce and rely on hitting a clean strike with a longer shafted club?

 

[MashieNiblick]

a leading edge is a leading edge my friend. same result. .

Bladed wedge will go much further. More loft means you are swinging harder with the wedge which also has more mass. Bladed 7 will still go too far but will likely stay on the green whereas the wedge won't - it's over the back! Trust me, I blade a lot of chips with both clubs!

I will sometimes play the 7 or 8 with the intention of hitting it a bit thin anyway, especially if the lie is a bit tight, which which gives me even more margin for error

 

[garyinderry]

a lot of people use these lower lofted irons to play shots much longer than a 15 yard chip. when they blade them, they end up miles off the green.


I had to think about what you were saying about a bit thin. you just try to pick the ball only. I hear you but I cant get any consistency that way. sure ill advance the ball onto the putting green but I would lose control over distance.

 

[London mike 61]

If fairly level then I'd probably be looking at a chip with my 8 iron.

Yup, works for me

 

[One Planer]

ok, but if you expose the bounce on the 56 you can safely hit it quite hard and also hit it inches behind the ball.

Inches is a bit of an exaggeration. The linear method is no different to a traditional method in the fact that you want to take the ball first, a clean contact.

The idea is that the bounce provides a 'safety net' for when your strike is less than perfect. If you hit inches behind the ball, that's going to be thin city.

in this example, for the sake of taking the club back an extra 12 inches on the back swing, you will forgo the safety net of the bounce and rely on hitting a clean strike with a longer shafted club?

As I said, you're main effort is taking the ball first then the turf. This should be the same in any shot bar sand. I know when I chip with a mid-iron, I do grip down a little on the grip. The reults is still the same. I even grip down on wedges when used to chip.

I would counter-argue that it's easier to judge rolling a ball with a mid-iron, than trying to judge how far to throw the ball onto the green with a lofted wedge, then judging how much spin it's carrying, as well as how far it will roll.

The only time I will try and flight the ball further onto a green, with more spin, is if I need to carry it along way or negate sme tricky break. 15 yards (Circa 45ft) would be easier judged on the floor IMO.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Bladed wedge will go much further. More loft means you are swinging harder with the wedge which also has more mass. Bladed 7 will still go too far but will likely stay on the green whereas the wedge won't - it's over the back! Trust me, I blade a lot of chips with both clubs!

I will sometimes play the 7 or 8 with the intention of hitting it a bit thin anyway, especially if the lie is a bit tight, which which gives me even more margin for error

I like to keep it low to minimise uncertainty around mishit, sclaff, heavy, thin and how balls bounces on hitting the putting surface. Low sharp dunt with just enough lift to get the ball onto the fringe or putting surface and get it ball running towards the hole.

I'm not really interested in getting the ball to bite in this sort of straightforward shot. Maybe I should be but it's not in my armoury of shots that I can play fairly confidently or consistently.

 

[duncan mackie]

As it says you're 15 or so yards away from the hole, you're off the green, putting not on option as fringe is not cut to fairway length, no seriously hazards and you have some green to work with

What is your preferred club & shot?

I want the least loft consistent with the largest safe landing area ie I don't want to be landing it 'just on the green' or 'just above/below a ridge etc.

Pick the landing area first and the club picks itself (by the basic laws of air/roll ratios applicable on that course at that time.

 

[garyinderry]

Inches is a bit of an exaggeration. The linear method is no different to a traditional method in the fact that you want to take the ball first, a clean contact.

The idea is that the bounce provides a 'safety net' for when your strike is less than perfect. If you hit inches behind the ball, that's going to be thin city.



As I said, you're main effort is taking the ball first then the turf. This should be the same in any shot bar sand. I know when I chip with a mid-iron, I do grip down a little on the grip. The reults is still the same. I even grip down on wedges when used to chip.

I would counter-argue that it's easier to judge rolling a ball with a mid-iron, than trying to judge how far to throw the ball onto the green with a lofted wedge, then judging how much spin it's carrying, as well as how far it will roll.

The only time I will try and flight the ball further onto a green, with more spin, is if I need to carry it along way or negate sme tricky break. 15 yards (Circa 45ft) would be easier judged on the floor IMO.

have you ever used a high bounce wedge? I have a 54 with 14 degrees on it. when its dry in the summer. you can hit it as fat as you want 1,2 even 3 inches and the thing still works well. inches is no exaggeration. :thup:


ill give you the 15 yards keep it low !!

 

[HawkeyeMS]

have you ever used a high bounce wedge? I have a 54 with 14 degrees on it. when its dry in the summer. you can hit it as fat as you want 1,2 even 3 inches and the thing still works well. inches is no exaggeration. :thup:


ill give you the 15 yards keep it low !!

Would 14 deg of bounce not cause the club to well, bounce, on dry ground? Surely on hard, dry ground less bounce is desired?

 

[garyinderry]

Would 14 deg of bounce not cause the club to well, bounce, on dry ground? Surely on hard, dry ground less bounce is desired?

you would be surprised. I have a video on my phone of me purposely hitting inches behind the ball on a nice summers evening with this wedge. I was a bit taken back too.

 

[rksquire]

How I get there in my head and how I get there in reality tend to be very different things. Generally, it's a putting stroke with a 7 iron unless there's a bunker or a mound etc. in the way.