Chipping Versus Putting From Greenside

[saevel25]

This topic was resurrected after 17 years 😉 

I thought I'd start a new topic. 

1 hour ago, LilPorkiePie said:

not me. putter in my hand is 50% chance of holing out, even from 40ft. 2-putt is about 90%. chip - no more than 10% for hole-out, maybe 75% 2-stroke finish guarantee... however - if I'm on a fringe or just in the fairway - I prefer to chip rather than putt over "stuff". I guess it's very personal thing how you like to deal with it and what are you more comfortable with...

I read this from 16 years ago and almost spit my coffee out, and no one addressed these odds?! Either this guy struggles with math or does not golf. 10% chip in and that's "bad", 50% make, and 90% 2 putt from 40 ft? LMAO. 

Yea, those stats are completely off and delusional, lol. 

I think a decent leave for lag putting is inside 10% the distance you hit the 1st putt from. So, if it is 60-ft, then a 6-ft circle is good. Which is a 20-yard chip shot, so not a short shot. That could be across the entire length of some greens. 

If you want to putt versus chip it depends on some factors. Like, is the green crazy and it is better to chip over mounds. Is the turf between you and the green bad. Maybe there is a sprinkler in the way. For me, If I am a few feet off the green, I am putting most all the time. I think I can lag it inside of 6-ft more often than I will pitch or chip it. I know some might think they can hole out more by chipping, since you are taking out some bad bumps between the ball and the green. It is up to you short game. I think putting is easier and better most of the time. 

I wish there was some stats from PGA Tour players on this, but I think most of them would chip it over putt it. Unless they are like 1-ft off the green or something like that. 

 

[billchao]

I almost always prefer putting whenever possible over chipping. I’ll even putt from the rough if the conditions are right. Now that Spring is in full swing and the greenside rough is growing in, though, I find myself chipping more often.

38 minutes ago, saevel25 said:

I wish there was some stats from PGA Tour players on this, but I think most of them would chip it over putt it. Unless they are like 1-ft off the green or something like that. 

They have much better control over their short game shots and chipping/pitching takes a lot of the randomness out of putting through taller grass and playing every contour of the green.

[p1n9183]

As always in golf, is all about misses. Most of the time a bad putt is better than a bad chip but sometimes you get a pretty good lie and grass between your ball and the green that is hard to predict the roll over it so a bad chip becomes better than a bad putt in this scenarios. 

[Ty_Webb]

Lou Stagner was just talking about this in one of his podcasts I think. He said that for anyone above about a 5 handicap, it's virtually always better to putt from the fringe than chip. For scratch players, it's mostly better to putt as well, but it flips when the amount of fringe to cover is more than about 5 yards I want to say it was. Then they're better chipping. These are averages of course, so there will be some outliers, but generally speaking, the sooner you get the ball on the ground, the better. 

[saevel25]

25 minutes ago, Ty_Webb said:

Lou Stagner was just talking about this in one of his podcasts I think. He said that for anyone above about a 5 handicap, it's virtually always better to putt from the fringe than chip. For scratch players, it's mostly better to putt as well, but it flips when the amount of fringe to cover is more than about 5 yards I want to say it was. Then they're better chipping. These are averages of course, so there will be some outliers, but generally speaking, the sooner you get the ball on the ground, the better. 

His opinion might be based on the pristine courses the PGA Tour players play on. 5 yards on your average course might be a bit too beat up for amateur golfers. I agree. Heck, I've putted from 10 yards off the green, with the green 10-FT above me. 🤣

Not a fan of trying to flop it or punch it into the bank. 

[Ty_Webb]

17 minutes ago, saevel25 said:

His opinion might be based on the pristine courses the PGA Tour players play on. 5 yards on your average course might be a bit too beat up for amateur golfers. I agree. Heck, I've putted from 10 yards off the green, with the green 10-FT above me. 🤣

Not a fan of trying to flop it or punch it into the bank. 

It's based on arccos database, so players on all courses and conditions. 

[4zim]

Fringe? Putt.
 

Fairway or rough, I’ll usually chip but use a bump and run putting stroke. I do enjoy putting from off the green with my hybrid as well. If I putt from fairway or rough I usually find the distance control really difficult.