What's the hardest shot in golf?

[Stretch]

Originally Posted by Gerald

I would say a pitch shot from the rough that has to travel over a bunker and land just between the bunker and the hole ....... so difficult to have some stop on these, next might be hitting a ball out of a waterhazard ......

Just hit a really high cut lob precisely the right distance. Where's the problem?

For the amount that I stuff it up, you'd think the straightforward running chip from the fringe of the green was the hardest shot in golf.

[blackxpress]

The downhill lie greenside bunker is a tough one but what about when the ball is up against the lip of the bunker, especially a deep bunker beside an elevated green? Mighty hard to get up and down from there.

[Sai-Jin]

I think for me the hardest shots are 3-wood downhill shot and when there's a bump / up slope right behind the ball, so I can't really have a n even striking surface, scares me as

it feels like I have to use a descending blow.

2nd is when my ball landed in a deep bunker and it's about 100yds to the green over a big pool of water. I had to really remain still and balanced to strike the ball totally pure.

[Kieran123]

Bunker shot with 3 feet off green to work with.

[Mattplusness]

Hands down - fairway bunkers. Still can't get them right.

[sean_miller]

It really depends on the lie, stance, and the pin position. Some shots seem harder because people are greedy. Just get the ball on the green somewhere and try to make a putt.

My toughest shots (odds of making the shot are low):

1.) 4 foot sliding putt for eagle

2.) up and down after short siding myself on the back slope, sidehill lie in long grass and the green sloping away

3.) any putt on #12 at River Bend

[Sean Dainty]

The best part about hearing your answers is that it's pretty much different for everyone....although the downhill lag putt might have swayed me to change my mind.

[Sean Dainty]

For fairway bunker shots, what I try and do is to keep my lower body very still (little weight transfer). You will lose some distance, but it is amazing how much more consistent your contact will be. Just take a club extra....try it next time you are playing.

[BostonSully]

The Putt for the win!

[allin]

Originally Posted by JetFan1983

Downhill lie greenside bunker shots are pretty challenging for me a lot of the time. I am working on it though.

Toughest for me also, as a short hitter I hit a lot of 3 woods so I am comfortable with it.  The downhill bunker shot if you don't execute can mean 2 or for me occasionally three more strokes, I have been known to tense up and skull it.

[Sean Dainty]

Originally Posted by allin

Toughest for me also, as a short hitter I hit a lot of 3 woods so I am comfortable with it.  The downhill bunker shot if you don't execute can mean 2 or for me occasionally three more strokes, I have been known to tense up and skull it.

Hey Allin, I find that if you angle your shoulders to the slant of the sand (or any lie) will really help you make more solid contact. This automatically puts you in a better position to stay down on the ball vs. lifting up and skulling it.

[inthehole]

Originally Posted by TitleistWI

3-wood off the deck.  IMO its the hardest shot in golf.

100% totally agree !!!!!!!!!!

[inthehole]

Originally Posted by Uber$winG

For me it is the first shot on the first tee.

I stand corrected to my previous post - I wholeheartedly agree - I would actually rather hit a 3 wood off the deck than the first drive of the day !!

[B-Con]

Hm, I'll take "hardest" to mean "most difficult to make the expected progress on". Probably one of the bunker shots. A ball up under the lip of a bunker is downright annoying, there's no way to hit it out and make progress toward the hole. There are very few shots that guarantee a lack of progress. Barring bunker shots, I'd say that it's the 40 foot downhill lag putt with a slight break. If you leave it short, you have a second putt from a few feet that's also downhill, a great way to 3-putt. If you go long, it's easy to blow by the hole by 10 feet, another great way to 3-putt. When there's a slight break, it makes the read just that much more difficult. It's very difficult to hit the proper lag that gives you a 95% chance of making the next one. From the fairway, I'd say it's carrying a 3-wood or long iron/hybrid over a distant hazard. Little room for error punishes a short shot, and the extra pressure makes it easy to fall short. Thank goodness those are rare on the courses I play.

[dunn2500]

i wouldnt hit a 3 wood in that lie...........i would go wedge, wedge into the green, 9 out of 10 times i would post a lower number

[sean_miller]

Originally Posted by dunn2500

i wouldnt hit a 3 wood in that lie...........i would go wedge, wedge into the green, 9 out of 10 times i would post a lower number

That's kind of what I meant earlier by people being greedy. Regardless of what any particular player's 3-wood distance is (can vary as much as 100 yards I suspect) it's not a club designed to hit and stick from a downhill lie. Wedge, wedge (or something like that - for me a 3-wood distance is 9-iron, 9-iron) is the prudent play.

[augafan48]

Originally Posted by itching4scratch

yeah those are all hard, but what about a 50yd shot from pine needles played low enough not to hit branches, while missing tree trunks and rolling onto the green within range for a par-saving putt? lol it's tough, I tell you.

I had literally the same exact shot today haha, boy is it hard.  ended up low and left....

[Cut68]

Any shot over 90 yards with the ball above my feet. It's been a mental thing for me for a while............. Although recent signs say I may be getting over it, finally