The Sad State of My Short Game

[Chilli Dipper]

I went out today and hit 10 out of 13 fairways. I broke 100 by only a stroke. Here is the hole-by-hole breakdown:

1. Par 5, 505 yards: Driver to fairway, 4-wood to in front of green, chip through green, chip to 8 feet, 1-putt -- 5
   
2. Par 3, 165 yards: Topped 6-iron, full lob wedge over green, chip to green's edge, 2-putt -- 5
   
3. Par 4, 393 yards: Driver to fairway, topped 8-iron to 60 yards in deep rough, pitching wedge to 50 feet above hole, 3-putt -- 6
   
4. Par 4, 430 yards: Driver to fairway, pushed 5-iron left of green, pitch short of green, chip through green, putt caught in fringe to 15 feet, 2-putt -- 7
   
5. Par 4, 394 yards: Drive caught in tree left of fairway, 3-iron punch under branches to 80 yards in deep rough, pitching wedge to 10-foot plateau behind green, pitch off plateau to green's edge, 2-putt -- 6
   
6. Par 3, 126 yards: 9-iron over green, chip to 35 feet, 3-putt -- 5
   
7. Par 4, 366 yards: Driver to monkey grass left of fairway, 3 shots to 50 yards in rough, pitch short of green, chip to 15 feet, 2-putt -- 8
   
8. Par 4, 450 yards: Driver to fairway, pushed 3-iron to fescue marked as lateral hazard left of green, bladed lob wedge from margin over green to wetland marked as lateral hazard right of green, pitch from margin to 20 feet, 2-putt -- 8
   
9. Par 5, 516 yards: Driver to fairway, topped 4-wood, 4-wood to right of green, chip to 12 feet, 2-putt -- 6
   
10. Par 5, 504 yards: Driver to fairway, 4-wood to cross hazard, 4-wood from behind margin in front of green, chip to 18 feet, 3-putt -- 8
    
11. Par 3, 103 yards: Pitching wedge to 12 feet, 2-putt -- 3
    
12. Par 4, 370 yards: Driver to fairway, 8-iron to fringe, 1-putt from 25 feet -- 3
    
13. Par 3, 150 yards: 8-iron short and left of green, pitch over green, chip through green, fringe putt to 6 feet, 2-putt -- 6
    
14. Par 4, 389 yards: Driver to fairway, 6-iron to 5 feet, 1-putt -- 3
    
15. Par 3, 184 yards: 5-iron to fescue left of green, drop for unplayable lie, pitch to 20 feet, 2-putt -- 5
    
16. Par 5, 546 yards: Driver to left rough, 4-wood to 75 yards, sand wedge to 25 feet, 2-putt -- 5
    
17. Par 4, 362 yards: Driver to fairway, pitching wedge to 30 feet, 2-putt -- 4
    
18. Par 5, 495 yards: (Main) Driver off tree to fairway, 4-wood stymied behind tree, pitch out to 70 yards, sand wedge to 8 feet, 2-putt -- 6; (Provisional) Driver to fairway, topped 4-wood, 4-iron through green, chip to 25 feet, 2-putt -- 6

On 3 and 5, I made the same mistake of taking a pitching wedge instead of a gap wedge through the thick rough and hit way long. The snowman on 7 could have been avoided had I made the smart play and bailed out instead of trying to make forward progress from those gnarly lies. Those things happen, so I'm not too upset about those scores. What I am very upset about are the strokes I wasted around the green.

It wasn't just that I had missed the green from good lies in the fairway; it seemed like every time I did leave an approach shot off the green, I was left with a slippery chip or pitch shot running away from the hole that I seemed to have little chance of getting close, unless I risked being too delicate and leaving short of the putting surface. I had to carry bunkers on 8 and 13, forcing me into failed attempts at making solid contact with my lob wedge from the rough. (The lob wedge on 2 was solid, but took a hard bounce near a back hole location.)

I need to work on two things moving forward. I have to slow down my tempo on iron shots to avoid leaving them well left, but far more importantly, I have to get some touch around the green.

[alf174]

Find a challenging par 3 course nearby and play as often as you can during the week to get you more confident for the weekend. Doesn't take long, I walk 18 near me in 2 hours and I feel it helps.

[Chas]

Find a challenging par 3 course nearby and play as often as you can during the week to get you more confident for the weekend. Doesn't take long, I walk 18 near me in 2 hours and I feel it helps.

I've just decided to do this myself, so naturally I think it's really good advice. Challenging par 3s are just the ticket for players like our OP (and myself). What we need is to hit the green reasonably consistently from 140 - 180 yards, and to go up and down consistently when we don't manage that.

But the walking-18-in-2-hours part - fuggedabaudit!

[Scottydoint]

Are you chips and pitches solid? If you are not hitting them consistently sold with the same trajectory, then you are probably flipping your wrist or doing something where your hands aren't in front of the ball at impact. Practice short shots where you hinge your wrist and try and hold that angle through impact. You must rotate your forearms and keep your right hand somewhat on top of the club and the back of your left hand should be slightly bowed or flat going towards the target. Doing that will ensure your hands are in front at impact. You will never hit consistent shots if your hands aren't in front of the head at impact. Just look up "lag". This goes for all shots, not just pitches.

[Lotok]

I often find myself at the side of the green in 2 or 3 and then walk away with a 6 or 7. My shortgame is really really bad. my chips always seem to go miles away from the hole and then I end up 3 putting! or worse!

I need some solid time at a par 3 myself. My wife hates that I spend time playing golf so often so its hard to get out much midweek.

My point is, it could be worse, it could be like mine

[Zeph]

Practice, practice, practice, you could also pick up a short game book by Peltz or Utley f.i.

Chipping is something that is easy to practice. There is not a lot of motion going on, you are not looking for a 100mph swing and can do it almost everywhere. Take time to practice it, using different clubs if you like. In time you will become a lot more confident and start expecting the chips to get close enough for an easy up-and-down.

[mruseless]

My typical round is in the 90's. I started keeping stats (plug for Scorecard 2.0 here), and found that I'm only getting up and down about 27% (last 20 rounds). If I could get up and down 50% of the time, I could save about 6 strokes per round!

[David in FL]

There's certainly some opportunity with the short game, but what really strikes me is that you hit 10 fairways and only hit 4 greens all day. Add the 10 fairways to the 5 par 3's and you only hit the green 5 of 15 times that you were in the fairway or had the ball on a tee with an iron in your hand.....hell, you only hit one of five par 5's !

I agree that you want to practice the short game and can likely save some strokes by improving your chipping, but I'd really work on ball striking too. Hitting greens is the best way I know to take the pressure off that short game. You lost a lot more strokes getting to the green than you did once you were there.....

BTW......2 birdies. Nice!

[TN94z]

It sounds like your ball striking needs some help as much as your short game. The topped iron shots are what puts you in many of these positions. That would be the first thing I would work on. Also, what club are you chipping with? If you are using a wedge around the green, try using a hybrid, or a 9I to chip with. The only time I ever use my wedge for chipping is if I have to carry over something. If I can get the ball on the ground quickly then I use my 9I with a putting stroke. It is much more consistent IMO.

On your wedge shots, make sure you get a good chest turn and keep your head down!

[mruseless]

There's certainly some opportunity with the short game, but what really strikes me is that you hit 10 fairways and only hit 4 greens all day. Add the 10 fairways to the 5 par 3's and you only hit the green 5 of 15 times that you were in the fairway or had the ball on a tee with an iron in your hand.....hell, you only hit one of five

I would respectfully disagree in one aspect: Make chipping and putting your first priority. Ball striking will improve over time. I'm an 18 handicap (index) right now, and my GIR rate is only 17%, which is about 3-4 greens per round. By becoming a better chipper, you effectively increase the size of the green. In fact, I usually would prefer a chip over a long putt (<30 ft).

For me, there are few things more satisfying than chipping to about a foot away and having a tap in for par.

[TN94z]

I would respectfully disagree in one aspect: Make chipping and putting your first priority. Ball striking will improve over time. I'm an 18 handicap (index) right now, and my GIR rate is only 17%, which is about 3-4 greens per round. By becoming a better chipper, you effectively increase the size of the green. In fact, I usually would prefer a chip over a long putt (<30 ft).

I guess it just depends on how you look at it. I would work on ball contact first and this will also help the feel for the chipping and pitching as well. But I see your point as well.

[CarlSpackler]

I would suggest buying the Short Game Bible book by David Pelz.

[Chilli Dipper]

There's certainly some opportunity with the short game, but what really strikes me is that you hit 10 fairways and only hit 4 greens all day. Add the 10 fairways to the 5 par 3's and you only hit the green 5 of 15 times that you were in the fairway or had the ball on a tee with an iron in your hand.....hell, you only hit one of five

The difference between my ball striking and my short game is that I know what I'm doing wrong when I hit bad iron and wood shots. I topped the first two iron shots of my round while searching for the right contact with the ball, but then got over it; A little time on the range before the round would help me find the sweet spot. I blocked all my iron approaches to the left on the front nine because my tempo was messed up and I wasn't turning through the ball at impact; I slowed down my swing a little on the back nine, and my approaches on the two and three-shot holes were a lot better (though I still rushed it on the last two par 3s). I topped my 4-wood off the fairway because my swing came off-plane trying to muscle the ball a little closer to the hole; I loosened up, and immediately followed those bad shots with good shots on 9, 10, and my provisional ball on 18.

My tee-to-green game is not very far off; I just need to identify those particular mistakes a lot sooner and concentrate on the proper execution, so I don't lose so many strokes from them. But with the exception of 8 and 15 (which went way offline and found big trouble), I still had a chance to get up and down from where my bad approaches ended up. I'd love to hit greens in regulation and have birdie looks all the time, but I feel that recovery skills are more important to shooting lower scores right now. My problem is my lack of feel gives me a very small arsenal from which to work..

[beachbreak]

Sounds like a classic case of too tight a grip and no swing.

Loosen up your grip and swing the club!

Feel the clubhead, let it work.

This will develop feel which is everything in the short game.

[shankapotamus]

I would suggest picking up The art of Chipping/Putting By Stan Utley. Helped my short game insanely.

[mruseless]

I would suggest picking up The art of Chipping/Putting By Stan Utley. Helped my short game insanely.

I second that. I used to be a Pelz guy, but last season switched to the Utley style. My chipping and pitching improved immensely.