What club/shot to play from bald lies 25 yards out?

[barrybridges]

Where I play I think it's fair to say that the winter has taken its toll. It's not the best-looked-after course around even in good times.

On Saturday I found myself in a few situations where I'd come up slightly shortly of the green - maybe 15 - 20 yards or thereabouts - on quite a bare, reasonably hard, dry lie, with little grass under the ball, if any at all.

This isn't uncommon where I play.

The problem I had is knowing what shot I could have played here.

The ground was quite hard and I tried playing a 52 wedge, but on every occasion thinned it because it was difficult getting under the ball on dry ground. Because it's still a reasonable distance from the green I had to give it a fair effort, so the 'thinning' turned out even worse.

Because of the distance a bump-and-run isn't on the cards; nor could I take a hybrid for a chip and run.

What would you do in this situation? It's sort of a 'too-far-to-chip-and-run' but 'not soft/lush enough for a wedge' position.

 

[Val]

A scud with the putter

 

[robbest3offthetee]

Would have played a shot with 4/5 Iron, Get it on the green then worry about the rest !!!

 

[Region3]

There's no reason you can't hit a wedge off a tight lie. Even on a nice fluffy lie the ball is only a couple of mm off the ground anyway.

I think it's psychological. You get scared of hitting fat so lift up and hit thin. Practice is the answer imo.

Weight towards front foot, hands forward, ball in middle of stance, not too much wrist break, and keep your legs as still as you can.

 

[FairwayDodger]

I'd probably still hit a wedge - taking care to get a decent strike on it.

 

[MadAdey]

One of the reasons I carry a 60 degree with a 4 degree bounce, great for playing from very tight lies. The option I would normally go for if I did not need to get it airborne would be my 5 iron and run it up.

 

[rosecott]

Chipper!

 

[SocketRocket]

Try a low pitch with a 9 iron. Play the ball back a little, nice easy half swing, low follow through. It gets the ball just enough into the air to get up near the green then runs out to the hole.

 

[garyinderry]

could you not just strike down on it and take a divot? its a tought wee distance to judge i find. must spend a night practising those shots tbh. i find myself in those postions quite a bit and dont get up and down from them enough.

 

[WhoGivesA]

Provided you dont have to get over any bunkers etc

PUTT WITH LOFT

That is to say adopt your normal putting stance, grip etc but using a lofted club(choking down)
starting with 4 or 5 iron from 20 to 40 feet and if further away go up your irons max 8 iron
Needs a bit of practice to get the tempo etc

 

[MashieNiblick]

For this shot I'm definately looking at the lowest risk option so if there isn't a hazad to go over it'll be a 6 or 7 iron and I'll play to hit it a bit thin and run it onto the green.

The putt with loft approach is a good one, but I'll generally use my normal grip unless I'm within about 10 feet of the green. Putting grip does give more feel and control for those little dinky ones.

 

[Dave B]

I play a very hard clay course which sounds very similar as there are some areas where the grass hasn't quite recovered from the toils of winter leaving areas where the ball will settle on the clay between the grassed area leaving a difficult shot.

15-25 yds out I will always reach for a PW because I find a 56 or 60 degree wedge is just to risky in a bad lie. If the ground is soft it's not too bad as you can take a divot but on hard clay you need to go for a percentages shot.

With a controlled 1/2 swing you should be able to pitch the ball so it lands just infront of or on the front edge of the green so it bounces once or twice, (the bounce kills the speed), and then rolls towards the hole. On a decent lie with uniform grass length and a good run in into the green a 7 or 8 iron would be my first choice, however on uneven ground I'd opt for the PW.

 

[Pull]

Just a 25 yard bump and run to be honest if there is no trouble.

 

[Swinger]

A cut pitch or lob. chop across the ball with a decending blow and get it to one hop and stop.

With a bit of practise it is a very consistant and controllable shot to play. I don't mind bump and runs but bumps aren't exactly easy to judge or get a consistant result from.

 

[One Planer]

Try a low pitch with a 9 iron. Play the ball back a little, nice easy half swing, low follow through. It gets the ball just enough into the air to get up near the green then runs out to the hole.

Pretty much this for me, or a bump & run with a 7 iron.

 

[kinhell]

I play at a similar course and have found that using my gap wedge and trying not to scoop it helps. Hit down at it and pop the ball up. To stop you thinning it keep your eyes glued to the front of the ball ( ie green side) and not the back. It helps you hit down on it.

 

[DaveM]

Bump and run every time, if a clear run to the green. Play safety first.

 

[barrybridges]

Very interesting that so many people have such varied thoughts on how to execute this shot.

The course in question was Godstone, which is on clay soil. A lot of the greens are every-so-slightly elevated which makes a bump-and-run difficult, but not impossible.

In retrospect, that's what I should have done. Instead, I thinned most of my 52 wedge shots.

 

[chrisd]

Very interesting that so many people have such varied thoughts on how to execute this shot.

The course in question was Godstone, which is on clay soil. A lot of the greens are every-so-slightly elevated which makes a bump-and-run difficult, but not impossible.

In retrospect, that's what I should have done. Instead, I thinned most of my 52 wedge shots.

It sounds as though you made the classic error of trying to help get the ball airborne, there is no reason why that club wouldn't have worked but you still must trust the loft and hit down on the ball

 

[Region3]

Very interesting that so many people have such varied thoughts on how to execute this shot.

The course in question was Godstone, which is on clay soil. A lot of the greens are every-so-slightly elevated which makes a bump-and-run difficult, but not impossible.

In retrospect, that's what I should have done. Instead, I thinned most of my 52 wedge shots.

If I have a chip with not much green to run out on and a bank in front, I like to take anything from an 8 to a PW and bump it into the bank. As long as you're not trying to pitch it a foot from the top there's a fair margin for error and once you played it a few times you get a good feel for how much the bank will slow it down.