Staying on the green!!!

[8.5_Drive]

Ive been playing at a new course recently.

The greens are good, (good cut and soft) but they are shaped like upside down saucepans that roll off the edges.

So it is very hard to keep the ball on the green from about 100 yards.

I'm can get enough bite on the ball to stop it usually, but 1 yard too much and its off leaving a awkward downhill 5 yard chip.

Its extremely annoying. Anyone else played a course like this?

[James_Black]

I have, up in galway.
Front nine was links, back nine was parkland.

The parkland part of it had the type greens you talked about.
I'm an 19 handicap so a bogey is ok for me, my uncle (a 10 handicap) who plays the course 2-3 times a week hit bump and run shots onto the green. I wouldn't advise it though, unless you have really good feel.

I was trying to lob the ball into the air and get it to stop, worked around 1/2 the time.
Try bump and run shots the next time you play it, you might see an improvement.

[Zeph]

Pretty much how my home course plays. Short, but small and difficult greens. I just look at it as a way to improve my accuracy. Having a rangefinder helps a lot, since I can more accurately find the distance to the flag.

[Gordon McTavish]

My home course is exactly like this on virtually every green. Every green is effectively smaller than it appears (and the greens are quite large in their total size).

[JohnQVegas]

Ive been playing at a new course recently.

Work on accuracy with your wedges? I dunno, being an 8 handicap like your sig says you are, I'd think you'd have some decent accuracy already, and maybe know how to control your spin a little bit more than the average player. Hone those skills and don't go so far towards the edges that the ball rolls off??

[Stretch]

The 8th at my home course is like this. Short par 5 with a dome-shaped green surrounded by short cut run-off areas. The regulars like to joke that if the holes were named in the British tradition, this one would be called "Chipping Practice."

[CalBoomer]

What you describe is a classic Donald Ross green. They are hard--intentionally. And give even the pros fits. It's like playing miniature golf on a real course. This was what gave the pros fits during the US Open on the 14th at Pebble Beach. I occasionally play a very hard course on which I always shoot at least ten shots over my handicap. When some aspects of a given course are designed to challenge the skills of pros, it is a given that they will give us amateurs fits.

[SouthernILGolfer]

I play at this short course, Summertime Nine just south of salem, il. The holes are real short, its only 9 holes but the greens are super tiny, I swear some of them you could barely park a car on them. You can drive the ball to within 50 yards of the green on most every par 4 without even being a long hitter and still miss them, getting up and down is key to making pars there. I play there because you can play 9 holes real quick(handy during the week) its seldom crowded and its cheap, $10 for 9 or $15 for 18 with a cart any day of the week. Its not by any means the nicest course around but for what you pay its not bad.

[Deryck Griffith]

3 things you can do that can hopefully help.

1. Play for the dead center of the green every time vs. firing at pins that are tucked or that are at the back or front of the green.
2. If the middle of the green is 150 yards away, play 140 to account from the roll on the green. In some cases, you may have to play the distance even shorter if the greens are as crazy as you say they are.
3. Play a ball that spins a bit more. This suggestion however really only applies if you are a good ballstriker and if you are hitting short irons or wedges onto the green. With a ball that spins a bit more, when it lands, the forward momentum will be reduced by the spin and if you are a good striker, you can at least "hold" the green with good contact. You can even get spin with average contact. Keep in mind however that if you are hitting mid or long irons onto the green, the 2nd point above still applies (even with a ball that pins) as the trajectory and forward momentum will be at a different angle then when with a short iron or wedge.

[Chief Broom]

Classic turtleback greens. Playing into these kinds of greens the first thing to remember is that the bump-n-run is your friend. When the distance becomes too far to play the B-n-R you want to play a high full shot to the front of the green (if the green is big enough) or play your shot just short of the green so that your ball lands and then releases onto the green. Nothing like hitting a beautiful full shot that lands perfectly on the green only to see it bounce off the green like you hit the cart path.

[chrisronline]

I have this issue too and I'm thinking it's not the green now (since it has happened on two different courses). I feel like I strike the ball well, make a divot, create a nice, high trajectory, but the ball just literally bounces on the green and typically rolls off the back. I started just clubbing down when going into a green assuming it'd bounce on the front part and roll to the middle. I need to speak to my instructor about it since I'd like to really understand if it's me, my equipment, or the greens.