Chipping from a hard brown lie

[THException]

I play on public courses in CT most of the year. If anyone else plays similar courses you will understand the frustration you feel when your ball ends up sitting on packed down dirt in the rough.

Today, I came up short on a long par 3, and I had about 15 yds to the green. The lie in terms of the ground's flatness was fine. But what I hated was that the ball was sitting on a patch of packed down dirt with very little grass, it was even in a bit of a crevasse of dirt. I took out my 56 but couldn't get it on the green. I sent the ball flying over the green.

Is this just an unfortunate reality of playing on public golf courses? It seems impossible to make a good shot with these kinds of lies.

[David in FL]

Try this.... [CONTENTEMBED=/t/39411/quickie-pitching-video-golf-pitch-shot-technique layout=block][/CONTENTEMBED] Welcome to the site! :beer:

[MS256]

I actually prefer the ball sitting on hard pan with no grass if it's a flat lie. It's like there is nothing there to mess up my contact. (Almost like cheating). "In a bit of a crevasse of dirt"? Probably not, depending on how deep the crevasse was. In very much of a crevasse it sounds like bump and run time, maybe even with a hybrid. (Or stab and hope). ;-)

[LuciusWooding]

I like to lean the toe of my lob wedge down a bit, shut the face, and use more of a putting stroke with stiff wrists. That club has such a wide sole near the toe that it glides through anything. Works great for bumpy areas or bunkers as well, comes out low and dead with a little spin and rolls out a decent bit. I'd rather have hard dirt than thick rough though. It may punish you for poor contact more than rough, but it's a lot easier to consistently get the ball cleanly. Most of the difficulty is in our heads.

Also, sometimes intentionally hitting it a bit thin or just putting it out isn't the worst idea. You can almost always control that shot if your lie is bad, but other kinds of shots require no grass behind the ball, ball sitting up, etc.

[dchoye]

I like to lean the toe of my lob wedge down a bit, shut the face, and use more of a putting stroke with stiff wrists. That club has such a wide sole near the toe that it glides through anything. Works great for bumpy areas or bunkers as well, comes out low and dead with a little spin and rolls out a decent bit. I'd rather have hard dirt than thick rough though. It may punish you for poor contact more than rough, but it's a lot easier to consistently get the ball cleanly. Most of the difficulty is in our heads. Also, sometimes intentionally hitting it a bit thin or just putting it out isn't the worst idea. You can almost always control that shot if your lie is bad, but other kinds of shots require no grass behind the ball, ball sitting up, etc.

That how I would do it from hard lie from 15 yards Use the toe of the wedge like a putting stroke. However if I have dried up fairway to the green and it fast downhill I think the percentage shot would be putter or belly the wedge and just stroke the ball above the hole and let the ball roll the rest of the way

[mvmac]