Chips Around Green(club)

[mike295]

I have been using a 60 degree wedge around the green. I have been pretty accurate with it. Just wondering if going down to a 52 would make sense ?>

[TN94z]

For chips, I use all the way up to an 8i as long as I don't have to fly something. But to answer your question, yes, it would make sense. I think you should have as many different shots in your bag as you can.

[mike295]

Ok, so the play is bump and run

[TN94z]

Ok, so the play is bump and run

It really just depends on you and which shot you feel most comfortable with. I feel that the bump and run is much more forgiving and you have a lot more room for error. I have seem more chips drop from bump and runs than a high shot.

[kpaulhus]

It really just depends on you and which shot you feel most comfortable with. I feel that the bump and run is much more forgiving and you have a lot more room for error. I have seem more chips drop from bump and runs than a high shot.

For me it also depends on the lie, and how the greens are playing. If the green is really fast, and Im in the rough, I use my 56 or 52 so I can bump and run it to the cup. If greens are fast and Im on the fringe Ill probably do the same thing. If I have a good lie on the fairway or fringe and the greens are slow Ill use my 60* to put it about 3 ft from the hole and it will check and sometimes stop where it hits. It really depends on the situation.

[TN94z]

For me it also depends on the lie, and how the greens are playing. If the green is really fast, and Im in the rough, I use my 56 or 52 so I can bump and run it to the cup. If greens are fast and Im on the fringe Ill probably do the same thing. If I have a good lie on the fairway or fringe and the greens are slow Ill use my 60* to put it about 3 ft from the hole and it will check and sometimes stop where it hits. It really depends on the situation.

I agree. Good points! It's just something you will have to play with and practice and get your own comfort level with each shot. But I highly suggest using more than just your 60*

[mike295]

Valid points. Thanks. I have been with out a 52 I finally bought one.

[Fourputt]

I have been using a 60 degree wedge around the green. I have been pretty accurate with it. Just wondering if going down to a 52 would make sense ?>

Greenside play is 100% situational. I can't say that I "always" use any particular club or shot. When possible I use my PW or GW most often, as I like to let the ball roll out. That gives it a better chance of hitting the hole. If necessary I use the SW for a higher, softer shot. But there might be a day when the SW just feels good to me, so I'll use it almost exclusively. When you're a feel player like I am, you just go with what the shot feels like at the time.

But there is nothing that is carved in stone. You can use the SW to get a GW trajectory, or vice versa, just by where you play the ball in your stance and how you open or square the clubface. The best suggestion is to practice often, and don't be afraid to experiment with using different clubs and different ball positions. Learn how the ball reacts to these different shots. Someday you will need that information.

[jamo]

I have been using a 60 degree wedge around the green. I have been pretty accurate with it. Just wondering if going down to a 52 would make sense ?>

I use a 60* for everything because I like the consistency. If I were to change which club I used I would be losing shots, because a flop shot is much harder with a 52*, but there are no shots that I lose my using only my 60*.

[Blades4me]

I have been using a 60 degree wedge around the green. I have been pretty accurate with it. Just wondering if going down to a 52 would make sense ?>

IMO the bottom line is, use what works best for you. Having said that it is nice to know how to use other clubs around the green. I will use a 3 wood, 8i, 9i, pw, sw or lw around the green depending on how much run out I want. In the case of the 3 wood, its a putting stroke when on the frog hair; hybrids are the best for this in a 17* or 21*.

[lumpuckeroo]

IMO the bottom line is, use what works best for you. Having said that it is nice to know how to use other clubs around the green. I will use a 3 wood, 8i, 9i, pw, sw or lw around the green depending on how much run out I want. In the case of the 3 wood, its a putting stroke when on the frog hair; hybrids are the best for this in a 17* or 21*.

I would agree, I tend to use my 52* the most but for me it's a matter of standing behind the ball and saying "if I toss a ball underhand, how hard do I need to throw it and where do I need it have it land". So for me, the 52* suits my minds eye the best.

[etlreams]

i always use an 8 iron for the bump and run chip shots. if i need just a little bit of trajectory on it, i just use my wrists a little more to sweep under and pop it up. I just use an exagerated putting stroke.

[ks8829]

Its fun to experiment with different lofts and release shots, but ultimately it's what you feel most confident using to get up and down. I practice a shag bag full of chips from lofted to pw and found pw is more forgiving on slight miss hits so the margin of error is in favor of the lower irons.

I tried turning over the club face close and keeping the club face open on my follow through and it fun to see the difference on ball releases. I also tried chipping slightly left and opening the club face so that it bounces right once it lands and checks up.

My goal is to make contact, then judge distance and finally direction. It also helps to talk to yourself and say I am going to chip this in. I believe your mind must believe before you body believe you can do it, it work for me on my last round, when I need to save par from 15 feet from the green. I was fortunate to read the green like a putt and landed the chip on my spot and it rolled like a putt and when in with perfect speed.

If I can do that anyone can, my chipping is my weakness in my game.

[Carts]

Since I often hit the ball square with my 60* and it goes further then a full swing with a 7i, I tend to stay away. I actually like using lower lofted clubs the closer I get to the green. I use my SW-8i.

[BostonSully]

i always use an 8 iron for the bump and run chip shots. if i need just a little bit of trajectory on it, i just use my wrists a little more to sweep under and pop it up. I just use an exagerated putting stroke.

This...

Something in the way? 60* Ability to run up w/in 6ft every time 8i for sure... Its funny i spent so long perfecting my 60* chipshots and I learned how to roll it up with an 8i in a day.

[zeg]

I've never been able to get a feel for distance on iron chips, so I only use those if I'm under trees and need to bump it into a bank or pitch out a long way under trees into the fairway. In those cases, even if I screw up the distance, usually I'm happy to be out.

I have found I have the best luck with my 56° sand wedge for chipping. The only time I've had trouble was on tight lies, so I picked up a very low bounce 52° for a few bucks used just to see if it helped. It did at first, but things seemed to fall apart with it.

I recently picked up Utley's Art of the Short Game and have been working on his chipping style, which I have to say suits me wonderfully. I'm not always accurate with it, but I have yet to really miss a chip the way I used to once or twice a round. If anything, I go long, which is generally an improvement. At some point I added the 60° in my sig, and my thought was I'd use that for most chips, but after a pretty intense test in the practice area, I found that I'm far more consistent with the 56° than either of the others. So for now, at least, that's my default chip club. The Utley chipping method negates the bounce problems I had before, so unless it's really hardpan, I haven't had any problem.

For really short stuff and the occasional floppy shot (I don't really have a true flop), I think I'll probably go with the 60°. It is a pretty good match to the 56° so it's not too hard to adjust between them. Also, I have not been practicing pitches much (one thing at a time...) so I've been thinking in cases where I'm tempted to try a short pitch to stop fast, I may instead chip with the 60° to get just a bit more loft, at least until I get the pitching technique down.

[WUTiger]

How many different courses do you play? If you mainly play on your "home" course, you may find the 60* doesn't give you all the shots you need on other courses.

You might try some chip and runs with 8i and 52* just to get the feel of other clubs.

Also, what is the bounce on your wedges? Are you a digger or a slider? Do you face tight lies much in your area?

[mike295]

One course I play is tight, the others tend to be open. Generally speaking I do not really take divots I tend to sweep, with some ground contact.