What's the hardest shot in golf? - Page 3

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beachcomber 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fourputt 

 

Nobody, maybe not even Phil, could hit a true flop from hardpan.  You have to be able to get the leading edge under the ball with an open face and the clubhead has to be ahead of the hands, which adds to whatever bounce the club has built into it. With a 60 or 64 LW you could get a high pitch with perfect contact, but I can't see anyone having much success with trying to flop from a hardpan lie.  You would almost have to have a wedge with a special grind just for that shot.

But I can't even do this type 'float loading' of motion off of hardpan.

 

http://thesandtrap.com/t/39411/quickie-pitching-video#post_516421

 

 

The hardest shot in golf for me is hardpan, when you need to carry the ball any particular distance.  Say 30 yards over a bunker and land it on a short sided pin.  Very difficult shot.  I'm not talking about the trap shot where you just hit down on the ball and it comes out low and hits then stops.  That shot doesn't carry any length... And if you're required to carry the ball any distance through the air, it doesn't work.

You aren't supposed to leave yourself those shots. 

But seriously, when I do leave that sort of a problem, I play the best shot I can.  You just can't expect to get up and down from that situation except by accident, so it's better to just take your medicine and do whatever you can to minimize the damage.

Yeah I assumed we were talking about hard but not literally impossible shots.  40 yards, concrete hard-pan, short sided over a bunker is a literally impossible shot with any wedge real players actually game, unless you hit the flag or bounce it off the back lip of the bunker just right or something.

But I agree the mid length hard pan shot can be tricky.  If it's far enough to be able to attack it (even if not a full swing), then I don't find that too hard, and if it's like just of the fringe distance, no problem.  But 30-50 yards off hard pan is really tough for exactly what Beachcomber said, if you hit 1/4" too far behind the ball it'll bounce and you'll blade it.

I vote for thick rough pitches and chips as harder though.  Maybe just cause I hit shots off hard pan way more often than I play courses where the penalization is deep rough?  At 25 yards buried in some grass I basically never feel like I have any idea how hard I have to swing even just to ensure the ball gets onto the green somewhere.  I'm just chopping and hoping.

Quote:

Originally Posted by zipazoid 

The 40-50 yard bunker shot. It's that 'tweener' shot between blasting it & picking it clean. I screw it up every time.

Oh yes, I'd forgotten about this one.  I've never had an up-and-down from one of these, or even close.

Driver on the 1st tee with 10 to 20 guys watching, puckers you-know-what everytime.

for the bunker shots further away than a normal bunker shot, i frequently go down a club depending on the distance.  a UW will go a little further than a SW, a PW a little further than a UW, a 9i a little further than a PW, so on and so forth.  just use all of them the same as a SW and you'll get the same result, just a bit further and with a little less spin.  for 40-50 yards, use the PW and swing like it's a SW.

the super hard bunker sand shot.    Have no idea how to successfully make this shot ... I've tried to pick it - NEVER works; I hit the snot out of it behind the ball - exploding through the hardpan sand & it usually just trickles out of the bunker.     Have to swing so hard to power through the hard sand, its uncontrollable.    Would appreciate some tips on how is best to play this shot ... thx

Lots of good examples.  I would say any shot that you can't practice regularly.  There are plenty of places to practice the downhill chip from deep rough around here, so I do practice it a lot.  Sand practice is a bit harder with not a lot of traps in practice areas, especially ones for the 30 - 50 yard sand shot.  

There is a course in southern NH, Scottish Highlands, that has a great practice area with a pitching green with two traps next to it in addition to a putting green and grass range.  You can practice short and long sand shots, chip and pitches up to 90 yards.  There is hard pan on one side to try to pitch over a trap and onto the green.  There is a grass filled bunker. I try to sneak up there whenever possible.  It is fun to grab a large bucket and just do these shots and set the ball up for weird lies.  Sadly it closes late Oct and opens early April.

Mud and really wet turf is tough too.  Very hard to practice that.

For me its anytime i use my driver off the tee. I know that if i can settle down with my driver and correct my swing to hit more FIR then i could tremendously lower my score. my short and long irons as well as wedges are decent. putting is also another "not so good" shot for me. Some would say that those are the two most crucial shots.... Driving... Putting... 

Quote:

Originally Posted by GaijinGolfer 

3-wood off the deck.

Agree.  I took my 3 wood completely out of my bag.  I can hit all day long on the range and then I get out there and top it every time.  I guess it's just a mental thing but I don't have any problems getting distance out of my 3 iron so I'm pretty content.

-Scott

30-40 yard bunker shot. Nasty.

Quote:

Originally Posted by misty_mountainhop 

30-40 yard bunker shot. Nasty.

I posted earlier in the thread that's my toughest shot too, and I got some good advice on how to play it - use anywhere from an 8i to a PW, open the blade, and hit behind it, a blast shot. I'm definitely going to try that.

So here's my question, and I apologize if this is a bit of a thread hijack -

At what distance does a bunker shot stop being a 'blast shot' where you hit behind it & become one of picking it cleanly? 50 yards? 75? 100?

For me, about 80 to 100.   I treat it like a fairway bunker shot and use my 54 or 50 gap wedge.