• We'd like to take this opportunity to wish you a Happy Holidays and a very Merry Christmas from all at Golf Monthly. Thank you for sharing your 2025 with us!

WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM???

rivetted face bunkers - st.andrews - nearly all the mag insructional tips are for bunkers with a 6" lip...n.f.u up here mike. i watch the pro `s at the dunhill champs but the bunkers are set up easier for them..cheers euan
 
You are all so inconsistent. Problems with this, that, the other. Blimey.

The hardest shot in golf is the problem.

Bunker shots. Not splash outs, not full irons. 60 yards. That is the problem. How the heck do you hit 60 yards out of a bunker, unless you thin it.

Give me a 6i, fine, 160 no probs, 100, wedge, no probs, 30, 58 degree, no probs.

60? How?
 
Pitching from 70 yards and in is a constant problem.How do you find the right distance without either flying over the back of the green or coming up short with that demoralising knowledge that you have to get up and down in 2 shots?????
 
.
the shot you find most difficult to play
scenario you struggle to deal with
area of your game you wish was better

A solid draw.
A hole only offering a draw of the tee...and yes, we DO have some.
Mid-iron accuracy. I probably hit more greens with a rescue or 5 wood than a 4 or 5 iron.
 
I would be interested to see if a pattern emerged relating to handicap levels. Many have mentioned shots from fairly short range, some other areas like putting and driving. Are specific areas key to certain handicap levels?

I get the impression that many 10 - 20 hcps are struggling with real confidence near the green, whilst lower handicaps are looking for more specific areas (long bunker shots etc).
 
My short game is very poor but its a mixture of shot selection,commitment to shots and concentration.

Anything below 90yds and its usually a card wrecker or a great shot but most of the time its a wrecker!
I usually decide what shot to make then on my down swing change my mind and duff it.

Thats why i'm stuck on a 24+ handicap
 
I lose all my shots from 80 yards or less. My Putting is fine, I very rarely 3 putt. But what frustrates me is how often im around the green under regulation and come away with a double (sometimes triple bogey).
Last week I was 20 yards short of the green in 2 on a 580 yard par 5, I thinned the pitch, duffed 2 chips and 2 putted for 7. I miss so many birdie opportunities like this so all week i've been sneaking onto my local pitch and putt course for an hour in the evenings to practice, things are looking up for putting it to use on the course tomorrow.
 
Last week I was 20 yards short of the green in 2 on a 580 yard par 5, I thinned the pitch, duffed 2 chips and 2 putted for 7.

That is a sad story. Really.....

If you can't pitch from 20 yards (I can't, well I can, but it's not a pitch) try a 7 or 8 iron runner. If that's a no-go, learn to chip with a rescue club.

We have a hole at mine where you pitch "up" to the green if you are short. If you pitch on the green, it runs to the back, as it effectively lands almost horizontal. If you pitch it short, it might just get on or more likely bounce with no forward momentum.

From 20 yards, I often putt (on this hole) with my rescue club....it's magic.
 
My short game is very poor but its a mixture of shot selection,commitment to shots and concentration.

Anything below 90yds and its usually a card wrecker or a great shot but most of the time its a wrecker!
I usually decide what shot to make then on my down swing change my mind and duff it.

Thats why i'm stuck on a 24+ handicap

Pretty much my problems word for word, but THE most difficult shot for me, having to hit over a greenside bunker with not much green to work with, and to make it harder, off a bare lie. Difficult or what?

Golfmmad.
 
It was an elevated green on this occasion, otherwise I would normally play a chip and run. I also had trouble with this just recently, so I went and bought an odyssey marxman chipper. Problem solved but it turns out it only needed a bit of practice and now im chipping the 7 iron well again.
 
Morning all

I just wondered what was...
the shot you find most difficult to play
scenario you struggle to deal with
area of your game you wish was better

For me it has been, and probably always will be, the consistency of my iron play although my short range putting is currently very poor too!

Reason for the question (apart from curiosity) is that I'm keen to get idea for area/topics to focus our instruction content on next year

have a good round if you are playing this weekend!




Mine is definately hitting any club from a bare lie....Driver excluded......Get me anywhere near a green with lovely fluffy rough with the ball sitting up and id give anyone a run for there money with distance control.....But put that same round object on a bare lie and the inevitable happens....Duff Duff Duff Duff.....Dont know if the Bounce on my wedges are wrong or if its just physcological.... :D
 
Just to be different, if I have to say one area which I wish I could improve. It would be the mental side of the game, as I have said before; if golf was played over nine holes i would be a single figure player. But it’s over eighteen and I'm playing off nineteen!!!

So can we please have more pages dedicated to this part of the game, PLEASE!!!!

Or, if you need someone to act as a guinea pig, I’m your man.
 
If a 60 yard shot is a problem, why leave yourself it in the first place (assuming it's from the tee or 2nd on a par 5)?

I went to our little practice ground, measured 50yds away from the practice bunker, and varied the swing with my sand wedge until the balls were landing in the bunker. When you've got the distance right, remember the swing.
 
Distance control from bunkers, many's the time I've smacked it 50 yards over the green, and barely scraped out, with seemingly the same swing

Same for me, did it yesterday on the first in a medal and after lossing one ball off the tee ended with an 8!!
 
Mine is playing with a right to left wind.

If i TRY to fade, it ballons and if i play my normal shot i always in fear of going too far left
 
Top