Lofted Putters/Chippers

[mdl]

5 hours ago, MattM said:

Lol...those are always weird statements...Im not sacrificing any club!  I have a driver, mini driver (my 3wood), 9 wood, 5iron through gap wedge, 58 degree, 62 degree, hybrid wedge and putter.  I have no real gaps and didnt need to "sacrifice" a club.  Again I havent sacrificed any club...

Obviously whatever works well for you is great. But I gotta say I'm confused by having a chipper and a 62˚! I can't say I've ever seen anyone who's decent to good with a 62˚ who can't also hit perfectly reasonable putter motion chips with mid irons or hybrids (or 9w) or the like.

By which I just mean it's hard to believe using the chipper over your 9w or a 7i is an improvement given you hit a 62˚ well, and it sure looks like you could use a SW!

Edited August 11, 2021 by mdl

[MattM]

3 minutes ago, mdl said:

Obviously whatever works well for you is great. But I gotta say I'm confused by having a chipper and a 62˚! I can't say I've ever seen anyone who's decent to good with a 62˚ who can't also hit perfectly reasonable putter motion chips with mid irons or hybrids (or 9w) or the like.

By which I just mean it's hard to believe using the chipper over your 9w or a 7i is an improvement given you hit a 62˚ well, and it sure looks like you could use a SW!

My 58 degree is my sand wedge...it works well actually for pitches up to 100yards.  The 62 is great for short sand shots and flop shots etc..

Where I play (range end) they oftentimes allow the rough to get up to about 3.5 inches and the greens are small with no fringe.  So in a lot of cases you have to either hit a sand bunker type shot out of the rough or pick it perfectly clean if it sits on top.  The chipper is good for if it sits on top.

If I have a straight forward chip/ pitch I use the typical technique with the 58 or 62 if not I go with the utility wedge/chipper.  Also it's a great club for under trees etc.

It's definitely not a one trick pony as others have stated.  Also trying trying to use a putt motion with a wood or long iron adds an additional difficulty since they are both way longer than my putter.  Plus I dont have or need another club right now (might change later) for now I like my setup.

That said we have a two day tournament this weekend and it looks like they've lost some rough due to being dry so at least it wont be super thick.  Should make it a tad easier (although I'm sure something I'm doing will screw up on me like putting chipping or iron swing where I wind up shooting and 83-90 like always).

[ncates00]

2 hours ago, MattM said:

I like to use my utility wedge from 130 in when under trees etc..

🤣 good call; chipper is certainly the best club for that shot. It’s totally worth a spot in the bag for this shot.

 

2 hours ago, MattM said:

I'm usually not using it that much to traditionally chip it..

Makes sense 🙄. Gotta use that chipper for when you’re in the trees!

[NM Golf]

On 8/9/2021 at 4:31 PM, Jack50 said:

What's the deal with more amateurs (male and female) not having these in the bag to use around the green? Am I missing something? 

What are you missing... like besides the amount of crap I would receive from the guys I play with if I showed up with a chipper? Only the appearance of a ball retriever in my bag could be worse. I would be a laughing stock. To each their own though, my group is pretty brutal.

5 hours ago, MattM said:

Lol...those are always weird statements...Im not sacrificing any club!  I have a driver, mini driver (my 3wood), 9 wood, 5iron through gap wedge, 58 degree, 62 degree, hybrid wedge and putter.  I have no real gaps and didnt need to "sacrifice" a club.  Again I haven t sacrificed any club...

Maybe you don't have a gap, but you most definitely have two clubs that do the same job (chipper and wedge(s)), which to most people is a waste. Seems odd to me there isn't a gap between that 3-wood and 9-wood, or between the 9-wood and 5 iron.

[ncates00]

2 minutes ago, NM Golf said:

What are you missing... like besides the amount of crap I would receive from the guys I play with if I showed up with a chipper? Only the appearance of a ball retriever in my bag could be worse. I would be a laughing stock. To each their own though, my group is pretty brutal.

Maybe you don't have a gap, but you most definitely have two clubs that do the same job (chipper and wedge(s)), which to most people is a waste. Seems odd to me there isn't a gap between that 3-wood and 9-wood, or between the 9-wood and 5 iron.

Exactly. 

[boogielicious]

26 minutes ago, MattM said:

My 58 degree is my sand wedge...it works well actually for pitches up to 100yards.  The 62 is great for short sand shots and flop shots etc..

Where I play (range end) they oftentimes allow the rough to get up to about 3.5 inches and the greens are small with no fringe.  So in a lot of cases you have to either hit a sand bunker type shot out of the rough or pick it perfectly clean if it sits on top.  The chipper is good for if it sits on top.

If I have a straight forward chip/ pitch I use the typical technique with the 58 or 62 if not I go with the utility wedge/chipper.  Also it's a great club for under trees etc.

It's definitely not a one trick pony as others have stated.  Also trying trying to use a putt motion with a wood or long iron adds an additional difficulty since they are both way longer than my putter.  Plus I dont have or need another club right now (might change later) for now I like my setup.

That said we have a two day tournament this weekend and it looks like they've lost some rough due to being dry so at least it wont be super thick.  Should make it a tad easier (although I'm sure something I'm doing will screw up on me like putting chipping or iron swing where I wind up shooting and 83-90 like always).

Do you swap out clubs depending on the course or conditions? I can see a chipper working on hard dry course in lieu of another club. But I often use a lower lofted iron in those cases. 

[MattM]

Yes.. When I play Dauphin highlands its a wide open links course with short rough and huge greens.  I play there from the blacks at 7200 yards and score probably 5 strokes On average lower than at Range End even though on the handicap scale Dauphin Highlands is like six strokes harder than Range End from the whites since Range End is only 6500 yards or so.

Unfortunately all my association's tournaments are at Range End so I gotta taylor stuff to there..

[phillyk]

31 minutes ago, NM Golf said:

Maybe you don't have a gap, but you most definitely have two clubs that do the same job (chipper and wedge(s)), which to most people is a waste.

Didn’t Phil Mickelson play 2 drivers in a major?

If it works, it works. Whatever makes a person happy. 

[NM Golf]

46 minutes ago, phillyk said:

Didn’t Phil Mickelson play 2 drivers in a major?

If it works, it works. Whatever makes a person happy. 

And he used them to win a couple tournaments and then still abandoned the idea. Why? Because he had two clubs that basically did the same thing, and thats a waste. I would even argue the chipper is a bigger waste of space as Phil used the two drivers to hit different types of shots, whereas a chipper and and a wedge basically produce the same shot.

[MattM]

1 minute ago, NM Golf said:

And he used them to win a couple tournaments and then still abandoned the idea. Why? Because he had two clubs that basically did the same thing, and thats a waste. I would even argue the chipper is a bigger waste of space as Phil used the two drivers to hit different types of shots, whereas a chipper and and a wedge basically produce the same shot.

They actually don't.  I can't hit a wedge 130 yards 4 feet off the ground the whole way.  Also, any other club I would use for that type of shoot wouldnt give me the same type of lie interaction with the ground as well.  Trying a wood or driver for that shot brings in the length of the club as issues as well.  

I get it though...if you havent tried it you wouldnt know.  Perhaps try it once to see, before making judgements?

[NM Golf]

16 minutes ago, MattM said:

They actually don't.  I can't hit a wedge 130 yards 4 feet off the ground the whole way. 

So a punch shot? I can pretty much pull that off with multiple clubs in my bag, although I prefer the 7 iron, which is ironically the same loft as most chippers. The cool thing about that 7 iron is I can also use it to hit 195 yard full shots.

20 minutes ago, MattM said:

 I get it though...if you havent tried it you wouldnt know.  Perhaps try it once to see, before making judgements?

I have actually used a chipper before as we used to have contests on slow days at the course using clubs to play golf holes that they weren't really designed for. I've made a par 4 using nothing but a chipper. At the end of the day it would have been much easier to use a driver, wedge, and putter to complete the same hole. 

Dude, you can use your chipper, it makes no never mind to me. All I am saying is it's a crutch and IMHO you have multiple clubs in your bag that can do the exact same thing, possibly even better. I have never seen a good player use a chipper, much less a TOUR pro. At the end of the day chippers remain squarely in the types of equipment relegated to the "hackers". 

[MattM]

3 minutes ago, NM Golf said:

So a punch shot? I can pretty much pull that off with multiple clubs in my bag, although I prefer the 7 iron, which is ironically the same loft as most chippers. The cool thing about that 7 iron is I can also use it to hit 195 yard full shots.

I have actually used a chipper before as we used to have contests on slow days at the course using clubs to play golf holes that they weren't really designed for. I've made a par 4 using nothing but a chipper. At the end of the day it would have been much easier to use a driver, wedge, and putter to complete the same hole. 

Dude, you can use your chipper, it makes no never mind to me. All I am saying is it's a crutch and IMHO you have multiple clubs in your bag that can do the exact same thing, possibly even better. I have never seen a good player use a chipper, much less a TOUR pro. At the end of the day chippers remain squarely in the types of equipment relegated to the "hackers". 

Sounds good!  

[ncates00]

8 minutes ago, NM Golf said:

So a punch shot?

I gotta get me a chipper. Apparently, I’ve been doing punch shots wrong my whole golfing life. I’d say a punch shot out of the trees with a high lofted wedge/chipper far exceeds any other club in my bag on punch shot ability. 🤣

[MattM]

2 minutes ago, ncates00 said:

I gotta get me a chipper. Apparently, I’ve been doing punch shots wrong my whole golfing life. I’d say a punch shot out of the trees with a high lofted wedge/chipper far exceeds any other club in my bag on punch shot ability. 🤣

It's funny, now that I've been given the inside info on you/your antics/your troubles here I can now chuckle at every one of your posts.  Quite comical actually.

[ncates00]

10 minutes ago, MattM said:

It's funny, now that I've been given the inside info on you/your antics/your troubles here I can now chuckle at every one of your posts.  Quite comical actually.

Lol

As many have already stated, use a chipper. We don’t care. We think it’s objectively foolish, but you do you. As long as you’re having fun and enjoying yourself, then that’s all that matters. 

[Alx]

10 minutes ago, MattM said:

It's funny, now that I've been given the inside info on you/your antics/your troubles here I can now chuckle at every one of your posts.  Quite comical actually.

You can dislike him and the way he has expressed himself but his point about the gapping is valid. Mini driver to 9w is a pretty big gap and the upper end seems a bit wacky aswell.

Dont chippers have like crazy upright lie angles? How do you even swing that to hit a 130 punch? Im pretty sure its easier with a 7 or lower iron.

[Jack50]

21 hours ago, NM Golf said:

What are you missing... like besides the amount of crap I would receive from the guys I play with if I showed up with a chipper? Only the appearance of a ball retriever in my bag could be worse. I would be a laughing stock. To each their own though, my group is pretty brutal.

Maybe you don't have a gap, but you most definitely have two clubs that do the same job (chipper and wedge(s)), which to most people is a waste. Seems odd to me there isn't a gap between that 3-wood and 9-wood, or between the 9-wood and 5 iron.

If you care what others think, and live your life by others, then that's your problem. It's funny you quoted me and Matt. +1.5 index and care what others think, your mental game isn't as good as mine and never will be.

[boogielicious]

15 minutes ago, Jack50 said:

If you care what others think, and live your life by others, then that's your problem. It's funny you quoted me and Matt. +1.5 index and care what others think, your mental game isn't as good as mine and never will be.

He’s a +1.5. His mental game is fine. He just doesn’t think chippers are worth it because they are uni-taskers. I tend to agree. I had 5/7 up and downs today using my wedges to chip and pitch. I also used those wedges for long shots and sand. They can do multiple tasks. Chipping with proper technique is pretty straightforward.

If you like your chipper, great. But don’t disparage others for not liking them.