Mark Broadie: How to Survive The 'No Man's Land' From 60 to 100 Yards Out

[nevets88]

Pros average 1.5 shots/round from 60-100. Amateurs, 3.2. Didn't figure Jason Day to be this high in rankings. Hmmm, just hit the damn green. Where have I heard that before?

Not surprisingly, weekend warriors aren't very accurate or consistent with shots from this distance compared to Tour pros. Consider: On an 80-yard shot from the fairway, Steve Stricker leaves half of his efforts within 11 feet of the hole, and a typical Tour pro knocks it to 13 feet. For 80-shooters, half of their shots finish within 23 feet of the hole, while 90-shooters leave half within 31 feet. Why does this matter? Well, 90-shooters could save a half stroke per round if they improved to the level of 80-shooters from this range. (I admit, a half stroke doesn't sound like much, but these swings are worthy of attention. Bonus: You look like a real stick when you knock a three-quarter wedge to tap-in range!)

Rather than trying to knock down the flag with these shots, though, I'd suggest you focus on a simpler goal: Just get the ball on the green. Pros find the dance floor about 90 percent of the time on fairway shots from 60 to 100 yards out. For 80-shooters, it's 78 percent. Ninety-shooters only hold the green 65 percent of the time.

http://www.golf.com/instruction/mark-broadie-how-survive-no-mans-land

[Shindig]

I'm surprised how many people don't know their quarter- and half- swing distances with the high-lofted clubs. 65 yards for me is 9-iron to A3 and through roughly the same. It's so easy to learn and saves so much guesswork ... and stress.

[WUTiger]

Back in the 1980s, I took lessons from a public course pro down in Oklahoma. He taught his students to develop quarter- and half swings for all their clubs 7i up to SW (no lobs back then).

It worked find for a couple of seasons, but then I hit some years when I couldn't play much, and lost the touch.

[anthony]

I'm surprised how many people don't know their quarter- and half- swing distances with the high-lofted clubs.

Me too. This is crucial skill, imo.

The way I figured it out is by dropping balls at 50 and 75 yards on a hole with a flat fairway. Then, figure out how far "up the clock face" I need to take my back swing to hit the shot. For instance: 9 o'clock with my 50 degree is 50 yds. Need 60 yds? Go to 10 o'clock. It really is so much easier when you don't need to guess.

[isukgolf]

I practice the distance a lot ... its fun distance IMHO ... with that said I still manage to screw it up a lot ... mainly because I want to see where the ball goes.

[Jeremie Boop]

I practice the distance a lot ... its fun distance IMHO ... with that said I still manage to screw it up a lot ... mainly because I want to see where the ball goes.

What's that saying "If you look up to see how good your shot was, you'll be disappointed?" I did that last night.... It's always a heartbreaker to crush a drive and be so close to the green just to screw up the short shot.

[disco111]

Now I realize that there are many factors in deciding shots from this range (60 - 100), like bunkers, water, elevated green or whatever else should come to mind. I'm old, old school, which means that I was brought up on public course greens that measured 5 if we were lucky and wouldn't hold a grenade. The only way we could overcome these conditions or should we say lack of, was to play bump and run. Needless to say, that play has followed with me and has served well even in today's better conditioned courses. Now I should state that the B&R; has limited distance factors. From 70 to 100 yds, I'm going to hit a SW or even a 60, if the lie permits. If it doesn't, then I can still attempt a B&R; with a much more successful outcome than a bad wedge.The nice thing about playing the B&R; is that it doesn't take very much practice time to get a fairly decent feel for it, as opposed to attempting to fly shots into the green from varied lies. A B&R; really doesn't care what the lie is, the approach to moving the ball is the same, just decide on what club you want to use, put it back in your stance and hit slightly down on it. Now granted, if you have to hit over something, then it's a carry shot, but if the green is open in front of you, give it a try. Just might change your approach to these shots and if it's not for you, that's fine, just be careful of that bladed 60 or that fat 56.