Blueman

I still think that shot is useful at least once or twice a round, although I dont know if it is possible on N Texas black gumbo greens. I appreciate all the inputs, and have come to the conclusion that until I play softer greens, pause and trickle is all I can hope for.

Normally I dont,although its tough to hold greens where I play. However, there are some instances where I would really like to back it up a few feet like pitching over a hill when the pin is close to the hill. If it would bite and roll back, I would have a little more room for error. I can only spin the 60* and sometimes the 52* on medium to light pitch shots, but every now and then I need it to come back some instead of rolling forward 10 -20 feet or more. If it would stop or come back some it would just be extra ammo in the arsenal of shots. Would be useful once or twice a round.

Pretty new to golf and the forum but I have gotten decent with a 60* around the greens. When I am really on, I backspin the crap out of the ball, yet it never bites and rolls backwards. It seems to pause and then roll forward, like a car spinning out. When I am messing around I snap my wrist while ball is on clubface to add extra spin(really soft shot). I can see it spinning like crazy but nothing. The other day I spun one and it hit the fringe and spun backwards towards me. Not what I wanted. Seems like it "bit" on the fringe grass but it wont bite on the green. I can back up a whiffle ball on carpet. Just dont get why it wont roll back on a green. Green too hard or do I need supermassive backspin ?

Most people just putt it. If its 10 fringe and 10 green, I would putt a 60* or 52* depending on how I felt it would fall. A hard putted 60* is good for 10-15 ft depending on how hard I hit it. If it is 18 fringe and 2 green, then I would lean towards the 60* as the 52 will roll past, then go kick the groundskeeper in the shin. Where I play, they overwater the greens and you do not chip or pitch from the fringe unless absolutely necessary.

Was on a drivable 380 yd par 4.(strong wind at back) The 1st 2 guys crushed and were within 50 of the green. I toed it and caught some luck as it hit the iron rod fence and was still in play. 190 out, i hit a solid 4 iron that hooked, sailed way left of pin. Was pin high to the left 40 yds out and down in a gulley. Severe downhill lie and needed loft to clear the top of the other side of gulley which was above green. Had 25 ft of green to work with. Normally I 60* lob over the hills but knew this wouldn't work due to lie. Chose to hard putt a 4 -iron to skip the bottom of gully hoping it would have a putt-like roll once it hit the opposite hill. Worked perfectly, had even played the break of the green correctly as ball was curving right to hole. Stopped 4 ft. short and I salvaged a par. My playing partners were baffled, not because they managed to bogey from 50 out, but how nice a shot this was. The rest of the day was like that. Pulling pars and bogeys out of nowhere with miraculous chipping. On the back 9, I started driving straight although I never did cure the iron hook that day. The 4 iron chip solidified a strong start on scorecard that carried through the day.

Joined last night. Live in south DFW and golf is my new obsession. Been playing for 6 months. Not sure what my handicap is as my scores were 132,121,110,111,106,103,105, 102,101 and my last round was 90. (practiced putting, who knew ?) Waiting to get back out and see if I can repeat the 90 to see if it was a fluke. Anyways, am a bit of a mad scientist golfer and I look forward to reading the comments and insights here. There is always room for improvement .

Get help from a pro and practice short game. I have been playing for 6 months and stuck in the low 100's. Practiced putting for a week and went 47/43 last week on my local 18. Putting shaved a minimum 12 shots off my game. A month ago, I shot a 48 on the back 9 and 3 putted every single hole. Still havent figured that one out. These seem like good numbers for a guy who has only been playing for 6 months and has had no instruction, however I live on a par 5 hole. I practiced every day for 4 months on irons and slowly worked on driver. I am down to 4 days a week practice. And yes I almost quit one time. This is a very difficult game where a mm can be the difference between success and failure. Unless you live on a coarse, get a pro ! I probably should as well but I am hard headed.