Green side chips

[kid2]

Just wondering what the general consensus is with these shots......

Does anyone use just the one lofted wedge and wear it out until they can pull off most shots with it.... Or do you use multiple club.....
Reason I ask is that I struggle with club selection around the greens.... More often than not choosing the wrong club for the shot I need to play......

Obviously using a set PW against a specialist wedge from any of the big manufacturers has its draw backs too.....
I played today in an open singles... Shot +6 out and +3 back but my mate off of 3 after the round said that he's never seen me strike the ball as well as i did but that I easily left 5 shots on the course due to poor club selection around the greens.... Leaving myself too much work on putts to save par..... 5 times he checked my bag as I was addressing my short shots and each time he said to himself "Wrong Club".

He said he'll use a 52 for nearly all general shots around the green and either open or close it depending on whether he needs to run or check it......
He'll use a 60 for flops or if the ball is in deep rough and requires more loft than the 52 and his 56 is mainly for the sand....
I think he has a point and to be fair I know that it would be nice to have an array of shots around the greens but 1 club for a few general shots would definitely take the indecision out of the picture....

Does anyone else do this?....
I also think that bump and runs with mid and short irons while a great shot to have can be a little hard to control on firm fast greens....

 

[HomerJSimpson]

As per the go to club thread, it depends on what distance I have and the contours. The whole reason I went from G25's to the I version is that the I 25's give me so much more confidence looking down on them. They have a smaller sole too which helps me. I don't have a great short game and so opening and hooding clubs isn't something I'm happy doing and prefer to change the club for shorter or longer distances. As with anything though, it is all about getting out with a solid technique and practicing it

 

[nemicu]

You can probably see the consensus in this thread:
http://forums.golf-monthly.co.uk/showthread.php?66169-Go-to-club-around-the-greens

 

[RGDave]

mmm.... greenside chips... greenside bacon rolls.

...doughnuts....


- - -


Now, in all seriousness, nothing wrong with any club if it does the job. I think modern PWs are too de-lofted for my liking.

(In fact, I wasted an hour yesterday using only a PW.... quite tricky to judge)

 

[anotherdouble]

Have a look at GM tips on YouTube. I use 8 iron if nothing to go over.

 

[pokerjoke]

I know you practice a lot mate,and this is where the answer lies.
You have to understand what the ball is going to do after it lands.
How much roll out,how much spin the ball has on it.
What type of ball your using,wether its a high spinning ball or a harder ball
that rolls out more.
How much green you have to work with.
To me this is all done on the chipping area or the course when its quiet.
I reckon over the winter I was on our chipping area more than any other player
at my club,working on all the above.

 

[HawkeyeMS]

I know you practice a lot mate,and this is where the answer lies.
You have to understand what the ball is going to do after it lands.
How much roll out,how much spin the ball has on it.
What type of ball your using,wether its a high spinning ball or a harder ball
that rolls out more.
How much green you have to work with.
To me this is all done on the chipping area or the course when its quiet.
I reckon over the winter I was on our chipping area more than any other player
at my club,working on all the above.

This ^^^

The problem for me is the greens are now completely different than they were over winter so I'm learning all over again.

 

[Foxholer]

Again, as per the other thread.....

Some use different clubs (and swing) for the different distances; others use the same club and hit it differently.

I believe it's a case of finding which one works best for you. It's definitely a 'feel' shot, so no definite 'best' way imo. Something to find out on the practice area!

 

[the_coach]

Generalization, but most handicap golfers would get more consistent results (apart from a good deal of 'imaginative' practice to learn different types of shots in the first place on the practice ground instead of constantly bashing the big clubs) on course by looking to get the ball down onto the green as soon as is possible. So if you always reach for the most lofted clubs, you have to manipulate the flight more with LW, SW etc, to do this well, you'll need to have developed a very high level of skill.

Too many players I see reach for their 'favourite' LW/SW before they've even assessed the shot properly. The high route in to the hole from just off the green is usually less consistent for folks, leave that until you have to fly it over say a bunker.

Visualize, assess the shot, be precise in the landing area you're going for, then pick the Club that, without over manipulation of trying to de-loft, is going to get it to that landing area & then roll out into a 3 to 4 foot circle around the hole.

If you get in to doing this it will save you a bunch of shots a round.

 

[drs1878]

I seriously believe if I could chip and putt my handicap would dramatically drop....... Hit GIR and 3 putt regularly.... Just miss green chip and 2 putt.....

I feel I have tried it all, 56 and float it in, 8iron and run it.... I struggle for consistency on both!! More practice required!!

 

[davidy233]

Join a links course and putt from everywhere

 

[kid2]

I know you practice a lot mate,and this is where the answer lies.
You have to understand what the ball is going to do after it lands.
How much roll out,how much spin the ball has on it.
What type of ball your using,wether its a high spinning ball or a harder ball
that rolls out more.
How much green you have to work with.
To me this is all done on the chipping area or the course when its quiet.
I reckon over the winter I was on our chipping area more than any other player
at my club,working on all the above.

I do practice a lot pal.... I even spent the best part of 8 hours over 2 days last week on putting and chipping...... Problem is that I get good contact but can't seem to choose the right club when on the course.... I use Bridge stone B330s balls eben when I practice around our chipping green so it won't vary when using them on the course..... Problem with our chipping green is that its on a slope.... So its hard to judge roll out from a given club.....

I can get the 58 to grab easy enough but too much time in the air..... The 54 has 11 degrees of bounce and its nice to use.... Grabs sometimes... Others it doesn't.... Probably a flaw in technique somewhere..... Back to the drawing board I suppose pal...

 

[pokerjoke]

I see you mention your 58 and 54.
Today I used a 7 iron,8,wedge 52 and 58 around the green.
Do you use all these clubs or just your lob wedges.
No disrespect but if I practiced for 4 hours I would have shed loads of info.
Perhaps you need to structure your practice a little better.
By the way im speaking nicely,in txt it sounds different.

 

[kid2]

I see you mention your 58 and 54.
Today I used a 7 iron,8,wedge 52 and 58 around the green.
Do you use all these clubs or just your lob wedges.
No disrespect but if I practiced for 4 hours I would have shed loads of info.
Perhaps you need to structure your practice a little better.
By the way im speaking nicely,in txt it sounds different.

I used every club in my bag Pal.... 4 iron as well....:lol:

Our chipping green isnt very big..... Probably about 7 yards wide my 16-17 long... So its kind of limited in a way..... Also as i said its on a sloped area which unless hitting uphill makes using a bump and run with a 7 iron relatively useless as it just runs off the other end with the slightest of touches...

For the record our course greens are about 30 yards long and 10-12 wide at the smallest and maybe 10-12 longer and 7-8 wider at their biggest....
A 40 yard green i will agree more often than not requires a bump and run with a mid iron and thats what i would use were i to miss short.....

I do practice the bump and runs on our chipping green but its a bit hard.

 

[MadAdey]

I use my 50* wedge for a lot of my shots a round the green! but I am not a fan of messing around lofting and de-lofting it to manufacture shots. So I will use these clubs too. I use my 58 if I need to get it up and down fast, my 7i for bump and run shots and my 3 hybrid for when I just want to run the ball up there.

 

[michaeljpoole]

As stated i try to visualize the shot first but i always try to land it near the front of the green and let it run up to the pin. How near the flag is to the edge of the green or the slopes to the flag determines what club i use to do this

 

[bobmac]

A PW will fly roughly half way and run the other half
A 7 iron will fly roughly a 1/3 and run the other 2/3

 

[Chisteve]

Chipping from around the green is one of my faverite shots

My coach concentrated on this when I first started

I have 3 wedges 47, 53 and 58

Each chip will very much tend to depend on each individual circumstance

I also use my pitching iron and and others

I deloft and open all when needed

I tend to chip as I putt with feet close together and head over the ball

It's a great feeling to chip in

Practice is the key

Steve

 

[BoadieBroadus]

if a mate of mine looked in my bag 5 times and said "wrong club" every time i played a bad shot....

he's very shortly discover the "wrong club" in the "wrong hole"....

 

[patricks148]

Join a links course and putt from everywhere

Yep, only problem comes when you play elsewhere (not a links you can putt from everywhere on) and have to start chipping from 6 inches off the green