Chipping on the Green

[False hopes]

I played a new course the other day and it had a few huge greens.  At one point I had a putt that was well outside anything I could even practice lagging.  I considered just chipping from the spot but didn't know if that was bad etiquette, due to the ball being on the green.  Also if I hit it real fat I might mess up what is a really nice green.  Is it okay to chip from there? Or should you just putt and deal with the hand that is dealt?  I'm not looking at this from a tournament perspective where anything legal goes to win.  What would you do?  I ended up putting four times.  Would love some input.

[ncates00]

Dude, don’t do this. Putt the ball. If you’re that far away, then just putt with a fairway wood or hybrid, but don’t go chipping and potentially taking divots on the green. Other people use the green too, you know. We all need to be good stewards of the course to allow everyone to enjoy it. If we do that collectively, then each time we go out, we’ll have a nice course to play on.  👍

[dennyjones]

Although the pros have done it on TV (Gary Woodland), I've not seen anyone attempt it.   I would believe it would be in bad taste unless you were absolutely sure you left no pitch mark. 

Now an interesting twist, at Forest Dunes #19, they have a sand trap in the middle of the green.   Go figure.

 

Edited July 10, 2021 by dennyjones

[False hopes]

1 hour ago, ncates00 said:

Dude, don’t do this. Putt the ball. If you’re that far away, then just putt with a fairway wood or hybrid, but don’t go chipping and potentially taking divots on the green. Other people use the green too, you know. We all need to be good stewards of the course to allow everyone to enjoy it. If we do that collectively, then each time we go out, we’ll have a nice course to play on.  👍

I didn't chip, I putted quite poorly.  I asked because I didn't know if it was poor etiquette, but thought it was.  I think it would've been better to chip for my score and that's why I asked.

[Double Mocha Man]

31 minutes ago, False hopes said:

I asked because I didn't know if it was poor etiquette, but thought it was.  I think it would've been better to chip for my score and that's why I asked.

My feeling is the poor ettiquette started with the golf course architect.  If he/she is going to design the possiblity of a back right pin with a short shot into the par 3 green to the right (I'm talking about you hole #14 at North Bellingham)  and you've got a trap between you and the pin then I'm pitching!  If you putt to miss the bunker then you'll end up 35 feet away from the pin because of the break.  Did it once... no regrets... made par.

[False hopes]

1 hour ago, Double Mocha Man said:

My feeling is the poor ettiquette started with the golf course architect.  If he/she is going to design the possiblity of a back right pin with a short shot into the par 3 green to the right (I'm talking about you hole #14 at North Bellingham)  and you've got a trap between you and the pin then I'm pitching!  If you putt to miss the bunker then you'll end up 35 feet away from the pin because of the break.  Did it once... no regrets... made par.

So the right thing to do is play it the best you can, right?  Not trying to make a stink. If course designers make the course where chipping is easier then we should chip.  I really just didn't want to piss anyone off lol

[Double Mocha Man]

25 minutes ago, False hopes said:

So the right thing to do is play it the best you can, right?  Not trying to make a stink. If course designers make the course where chipping is easier then we should chip.  I really just didn't want to piss anyone off lol

All is good.  It's just if the architect puts you in the position of having to chip/pitch on the green... then you should.  Just my opinion.  A sand trap in the middle of the green, as above, is certainly an invitation to chip/pitch.  Divots be damned...

[Chris Stewart]

I would always putt while on the green.  Shoot, I very often putt from a good bit off the green as well.  I always look at a chip shot and think, "will a bad putt or a bad chip be worse?"  It's almost always a better play for me to putt, obviously with exceptions to that based on what's between me and the target and the lie.

Anyway, to directly answer the question, I would never chip on the green.

[Zippo]

5 hours ago, Double Mocha Man said:

My feeling is the poor ettiquette started with the golf course architect.  If he/she is going to design the possiblity of a back right pin with a short shot into the par 3 green to the right (I'm talking about you hole #14 at North Bellingham)  and you've got a trap between you and the pin then I'm pitching!  If you putt to miss the bunker then you'll end up 35 feet away from the pin because of the break.  Did it once... no regrets... made par.

Ha! I played there last week. I remember that hole - that was my starting hole and first time I've played that course in almost 30 years. Yeah, it's a toughie. I'm pretty sure I bogeyed it. It's a short hole. A pro would have just added some backspin to the tee shot and sucked the ball back up to the hole! 

For the OP - I'm with you - I would have putted, too. I'm not good enough to chip on a green without leaving a hole large enough for a new bunker...

Edited July 11, 2021 by Zippo

[sjduffers]

If the shot calls for a pitch, I'd do just that. You don't have to take a divot with those shots: that's why the bounce of the club is there, to glide on the turf. It would barely leave a scuff mark, that can easily be tamped down.

[Double Mocha Man]

54 minutes ago, sjduffers said:

If the shot calls for a pitch, I'd do just that. You don't have to take a divot with those shots: that's why the bounce of the club is there, to glide on the turf. It would barely leave a scuff mark, that can easily be tamped down.

When the architect and the greenskeeeper put the pin in a position where you have to pitch over a trap then, like you, I'm going to do it.  I know it's sacrilegious but I took a divot (and I made par).  I don't think the greenskeeper ever put the pin there again.

[BHI 99]

Not a fan of a bunker in the middle of the green. 

[jlbos83]

If a chip is the shot, that's the shot.  I would try not to dig a trench, but you just hit the shot.  The greenskeepers fix holes in the green all the time, they know how to do it.  The bigger issue is probably people playing after you, so you should repair any damage, or at least flatten, the best you can.  I have not had to do it, but most of the times I have even considered it, the shot called for a clean clip off the grass, so little to no damage, anyway.

[pganapathy]

Unless I am playing a green with a bunker/water body in the middle, I will putt.  Part of that has to do with me not necessarily being able to chip/pitch so cleanly that I don't damage the green, but also because I rarely play on such large greens that putting length is an issue.

[arturo28mx]

I have seen it done two or three times on TV, but they are PROs and won't  damage the green

[Billy Z]

On a course that has hosted the US Senior Open, there is a particular par-5 that has a false front to the green. This false front is still part of the green but yet the pin is never cut in this area because it would be totally inappropriate due to the architecture. It is really nothing more than a capture area for those hitting the ball a bit short. When on this portion of the green, most everybody chips up to the hole, especially when the pin is cut on the rear portion of the green. If you try putting from this area it is like hitting into a wall and the ball hops up in the air and makes it extremely difficult to get it anywhere near the hole.

[caniac6]

I played Tot Hill Farm not long after they opened, and some of those greens almost required a chip shot depending on the hole location. I don't know if they have been softened since then, but they were the most ridiculous greens I've ever seen. I've played several Mike Strantz courses, and liked them, but I did not like this course.

[phan52]

I've done it and I will do it again if necessary. I rarely take a divot when I pitch and I have never damaged a green. If the pin is in a spot that is inaccessible from another spot on the green, whoever set the pin probably knows that. If you don't trust your pitching ability don't do it, but it is not "bad etiquette". Rub of the green, as they say.