Would You Rather…?

[boogielicious 1,984]

10 hours ago, sjduffers said:

Would You Rather… #2: Assuming your ball is around 1-2 yards from the green, on fairway length grass, but not the super-smooth cut that some high-end courses use near the greens.  Would you rather chip (with a wedge or short iron), putt (with a putter), or something else (e.g. hybrid or fairway wood with putting motion)?

Putt every time unless there is an obstacle like a sprinkler head or chunky divots. I made a 70 foot put a few weeks back and I was 20 feet off the green with a smooth fairway apron around the green,

[mcanadiens 395]

11 hours ago, sjduffers said:

Would You Rather… #2: Assuming your ball is around 1-2 yards from the green, on fairway length grass, but not the super-smooth cut that some high-end courses use near the greens.  Would you rather chip (with a wedge or short iron), putt (with a putter), or something else (e.g. hybrid or fairway wood with putting motion)?

The vast majority of time I'd rather putt. 

Over the years, I've putted a lot of balls from the fringe and normally have a pretty good idea how firm a putt I need to get it there. That familiarity makes for a more reliable shot then anything I'd be doing with a chip.  Only some real crazy stuff between the ball and the green would have me do otherwise. 

[iacas 7,833]

I’ve deleted probably eight posts in this topic. Follow the rules please. Especially “quote the red question” and “move on once the topic has.”

[NM Golf 417]

14 hours ago, sjduffers said:

Would You Rather… #2: Assuming your ball is around 1-2 yards from the green, on fairway length grass, but not the super-smooth cut that some high-end courses use near the greens.  Would you rather chip (with a wedge or short iron), putt (with a putter), or something else (e.g. hybrid or fairway wood with putting motion)?

I would always rather putt, but that doesn't mean I would putt in this scenario. As others have mentioned there is not enough information to make a specific judgement. 

From off the green a good putt and a good chip will have the same result, but a bad putt will usually end up closer than a bad chip.

[Patch 886]

16 hours ago, sjduffers said:

Would You Rather… #2: Assuming your ball is around 1-2 yards from the green, on fairway length grass, but not the super-smooth cut that some high-end courses use near the greens.  Would you rather chip (with a wedge or short iron), putt (with a putter), or something else (e.g. hybrid or fairway wood with putting motion)?

.

Based on the info given, I would chip the ball using my version of Paul Runyon's chip/putt stroke

The club I would use would depend on how far the pin is from the ball, and the terrain in between the two.  

A hole cut close enough, might have me consider hitting a short flop shot. 

 

[Pretzel 605]

17 hours ago, sjduffers said:

Would You Rather… #2: Assuming your ball is around 1-2 yards from the green, on fairway length grass, but not the super-smooth cut that some high-end courses use near the greens.  Would you rather chip (with a wedge or short iron), putt (with a putter), or something else (e.g. hybrid or fairway wood with putting motion)?

Since there is some ambiguity, I'll describe the circumstances that would make me prefer one option over the other 2:

CHIP

• Some obstacle is present along the path of a putt (sprinkler head, tree root, another ball, or something like a kidney bean shaped green where the putt couldn't make it to the hole without leaving the green again)
• Some kind of maintenance problem is present along the path of a putt (turf damage, heavy ball marks, poorly cut edge of the green that could deflect the ball unpredictably)
• Anything over 3 feet off the green or so

Basically just any unusual conditions that would increase the chances of a putt bouncing off line by a large amount. If it's just flat/smooth fairway for less than 3 feet and then a well-maintained putting surface beyond that I won't chip because it has a worse result, on average, than putting. I should probably putt from longer distances off the green, but I haven't practiced it enough to feel comfortable with my distance control unless it's a very brief stint rolling on the fairway.

SOMETHING ELSE

• If I'm up against the collar of the rough I'll use a bellied wedge to "putt" the ball without having interference from the rough. Sometimes I will experiment and use a bladed 3-iron or a 3-wood chip instead, but I'm mostly comfortable with a bellied wedge here since it pretty much perfectly skims over the rough.

PUTT

• Anything not listed above, which includes almost every shot where the ball ends up on the fairway within 3 feet of the green.

[pganapathy 74]

17 hours ago, sjduffers said:

Would You Rather… #2: Assuming your ball is around 1-2 yards from the green, on fairway length grass, but not the super-smooth cut that some high-end courses use near the greens.  Would you rather chip (with a wedge or short iron), putt (with a putter), or something else (e.g. hybrid or fairway wood with putting motion)?

Hands down I would rather chip.  Scarily enough, I can control distance a lot better with my PW than my putter.  Of course, there are the odd days when my putter clicks, but generally the PW is better

[iacas 7,833]

19 hours ago, sjduffers said:

Would You Rather… #2: Assuming your ball is around 1-2 yards from the green, on fairway length grass, but not the super-smooth cut that some high-end courses use near the greens.  Would you rather chip (with a wedge or short iron), putt (with a putter), or something else (e.g. hybrid or fairway wood with putting motion)?

Generally I prefer putting, but I'll join the chorus in pointing out that there isn't anywhere near enough information to give an actual answer here.

Whoever gets the next one, let's go for something creative.

[Wally Fairway 337]

20 hours ago, sjduffers said:

Would You Rather… #2: Assuming your ball is around 1-2 yards from the green, on fairway length grass, but not the super-smooth cut that some high-end courses use near the greens.  Would you rather chip (with a wedge or short iron), putt (with a putter), or something else (e.g. hybrid or fairway wood with putting motion)?

Putt when I can, but hard to tell with the way the question is written.

Spoilering my answer to #1, because I'm late to the game

I've learned to live with no aces (but I've only been playing about 50 years) so I'll take the 2 eagles and saving money on the bar tab my buddies would run up{/spoiler]

[dagolfer18 12]

I would rather chip, preferably with my GW. My personal rule of thumb is that if my ball is a foot or less from the green, I’ll putt. Anything outside of that, I’ll chip.

Edited October 22 by dagolfer18

[sjduffers 147]

2 hours ago, iacas said:

Generally I prefer putting, but I'll join the chorus in pointing out that there isn't anywhere near enough information to give an actual answer here.

Guys, I get it, there weren't a lot of specifics described, but assume the most typical situation: the hole is at least 4 paces from the edge of the green and you're another 1-2 paces beyond that, so the hole is probably 20-60ft away and let's assume a flatfish green and not some crazy tier or slope to get to it... Also, no obvious GUR or sprinkler head or kidney shape that would promote chipping over putting. I was just asking about the average situation: going over some length of coarser grass with the putter or not? Some people prefer putting, including you @iacas, and some prefer chipping, including me. 

Sorry for not a suggesting a really creative question... 😞

Edited October 22 by sjduffers

[Bonvivant 38]

21 hours ago, sjduffers said:

Would You Rather… #2: Assuming your ball is around 1-2 yards from the green, on fairway length grass, but not the super-smooth cut that some high-end courses use near the greens.  Would you rather chip (with a wedge or short iron), putt (with a putter), or something else (e.g. hybrid or fairway wood with putting motion)?

Almost always chipping here. Usually with a longer club as well if I am close to the green and the pin is far. I don't like inconsistencies coming out of a fringe, or speed variance if it is a fairly long fringe cut. 7i-53^o depending on roll out that I want. Only exception to this is when I am very close to the pin, or moderately close (15-25ft) going downhill.

[Killa 36]

On 10/22/2019 at 1:55 AM, sjduffers said:

Would You Rather… #2: Assuming your ball is around 1-2 yards from the green, on fairway length grass, but not the super-smooth cut that some high-end courses use near the greens.  Would you rather chip (with a wedge or short iron), putt (with a putter), or something else (e.g. hybrid or fairway wood with putting motion)?

Almost always putt. Either with my putter or a club from PW-7 iron using the same putting stroke depending the pin location and grass condition. 

[ChetlovesMer 260]

Would You Rather… #3: Would you rather hit your best drive (i.e. if your maximum drive is 250, then hit it 250, if your max is 300, then its 300, etc...) to the center of the fairway every time you tee off from now on. OR would you rather hole every putt from inside 10 feet from now on? 

[David in FL 2,232]

1 minute ago, ChetlovesMer said:

Would You Rather… #3: Would you rather hit your best drive (i.e. if your maximum drive is 250, then hit it 250, if your max is 300, then its 300, etc...) to the center of the fairway every time you tee off from now on. OR would you rather hole every putt from inside 10 feet from now on? 

Not even CLOSE.  Hole every putt under 10’.  Even tour pros are only 50% from 8’ or so...

[Patch 886]

7 minutes ago, ChetlovesMer said:

Would You Rather… #3: Would you rather hit your best drive (i.e. if your maximum drive is 250, then hit it 250, if your max is 300, then its 300, etc...) to the center of the fairway every time you tee off from now on. OR would you rather hole every putt from inside 10 feet from now on? 

Making <10' footers for sure. Although I no longer have the distance I use to have, I still keep most of my current tee shots on, or close to center of the fairways.......when I aim for the center that is. Sometimes center is not where I want to be for my next shot.  

Making all <10' footers, and shorter, would probably drop me down to an 8 capper. I could easily live with that number.. 

[klineka 602]

13 minutes ago, ChetlovesMer said:

Would You Rather… #3: Would you rather hit your best drive (i.e. if your maximum drive is 250, then hit it 250, if your max is 300, then its 300, etc...) to the center of the fairway every time you tee off from now on. OR would you rather hole every putt from inside 10 feet from now on? 

Probably the drives. I'm not the most accurate driver right now, most of my penalty strokes and lost balls come from off the tee, so knowing that I would get to be ~320-330 yds in the middle of the fairway every single time would essentially eliminate all penalty strokes and lost balls from my game. 

I would have mid irons at the most into every par 5, and would rarely have more than a short iron into par 4s. 

My enjoyment of the game would increase so much more knowing every time I step on a tee box the result will be a 300+ yd bomb down the middle

[billchao 1,740]

1 hour ago, ChetlovesMer said:

Would You Rather… #3: Would you rather hit your best drive (i.e. if your maximum drive is 250, then hit it 250, if your max is 300, then its 300, etc...) to the center of the fairway every time you tee off from now on. OR would you rather hole every putt from inside 10 feet from now on? 

Drives for sure. If I can hit bombs that are guaranteed to be in the center of the fairway, I'd be a scratch player right now.

I have never hit a <10' putt OB, into a penalty area, or lost a ball from it. Most of my putts under 10' are tap-ins anyway 😉