aleph

I grew up playing courses that had no fairway bunkers and always found this to be a trouble spot in tournaments. Now at my home course there are fairway bunkers on every driver hole- and every one of them is relevant to me distance wise. Currently I'd say I hit 1 in 3 well, the miss is always fat when I try to strike it pure. My most successful thought for the shot is to try to hit it a little thin. I try to keep my legs quiet but it's very hard. My feeling is that I'm too active and sinking my feet further into the sand. I hit one club extra, try to choke up a bit, don't know whether to try to stay on top of the sand or just plant yourself like you would a greenside bunker shot?

I am nearly as skilled as I was as a junior golfer, but with the benefit of 20+ yards off the tee. So probably a better golfer than then depending on how you look at it. This year is also the most I've played in my 20s (Probably got out on average 8-10 times in previous years). My long game has improved in the last 2 years. Far fewer lost shots off the tee and have a one way miss with the driver since an equipment change. Irons are usually solid. My wedge game from 120 and in is pretty bad which was never the case before, my putting still sucks.

I did this for the first time playing 9 on my course from the back tees. I also shot par for 9 holes for the first time on this course. I hit 7/7 fairways and 7/9 greens. The closing hole is usually a grueling par 5 into the wind, 600 yards on the scorecard but the tee is often one block up. The wind was directly behind so it played much easier. Missed a 8 footer for birdie to break par! I typically shoot around 39-41 with at least one six on the card (usually this par 5).

Inside of 100 yards is where my game needs most work. My stock shot from 100 yards used to be a 52 or 56 delofted and flighted down with a 3/4 swing (basically the closest thing to a full swing for me with all wedges). Somehow my delivery has changed in the last year or so and I can't do that to save my life even if I have the ball miles back in my stance. Feels like I'm constantly fanning the face open and hitting these high weak nothing shots.

Ping or Titleist, MAYBE Taylormade would be the only clubs I could see putting in across the bag, even though I've never owned a Ping club, and only one Titleist hybrid. I love Mizuno/Bridgestone/Srixon forged irons and wedges, just have no interest in their woods (not enough advertising hype?) and any putters they do make seem more like afterthoughts.

Hi there; I have seen the pitching video, and the chipping with a putting motion from the fringe or 2nd cut off the green I've been doing more often for a few years now. This particular shot is from a not-good, not terrible in rough just over the back or side of the green to a back pin, maybe 20 feet from the hole total. Don't hit it there, I know, but it happens. As a kid I would hit this shot as a sort of half flop (guarding against the double hit... at least there's no penalty now) most of the time and got pretty good at it, within 5-6 feet usually. Then there's the occasional outlier skull that can lead to a double or worse, plus barring a perfect shot you're never going to hole one. I would see better players generally chip with a lob wedge from the same sort of lies and could plop the ball on their spot just past the fringe 7/10 times, usually scaring the hole, usually ending up closer than me. Could never work out this shot, I can't feel any sort of fluid/pendulum/float loady action with such a short swing.

My short sided chipping from just off the greens is one of the worst parts of my game. I'm pretty good at flopping it from most lies to within a 10 foot circle, but sometimes chipping is clearly "the shot", even if I can't do it well. For whatever reason, maybe every 1/4 times when I try to hit that shot that pops maybe 3-5 feet out of the rough, the club head catches up with the ball and pops more or less straight up for a double hit. The initial contact feels good, it's just that the tempo of ball and club seem to match up? The rest tend to be long where the ball comes off very hot due to delofting/too much force (guarding against the double hit). If I try to slow down, it's nothing but stubs. It's so ingrained in my head now that practicing last night I hit 3 of these in a row. What should I look to do with this shot? Should the club head be behind the ball at all times, or sliding underneath the ball and past it more like a flop, or?

I worked on a longer putting stroke (and it does feel more like a stroke) today. I am definitely more of a hitter than I thought. A couple where I accelerated and blew it a mile past the hole, a couple where I came up well short, but it's nice to see putts nestling up near the hole again. It feels like I have better control over the face (more important to me with short putts) when I hit at the ball, but that might be because it was windy today.

That second link is interesting. I am probably firmly in the "bad" category of accelerating too much as it is how I was always taught to putt. I don't have an egregious "hit/pop" in my stroke, but contact always sounds better than the times I feel decelerate (but probably wind up in that 3 foot circle despite coming up short).

There is a par 3 that is the opening hole at my course I have the same problem with, it plays 175 from the blue tees, 190 from the blacks, short and left is a huge fairway that goes up to the green, water is short and right with a fairly deep bunker in front of the green, with OB 10 yards behind the green. My miss is almost always a sweeping draw that starts at the flag and just keeps going left leaving a tricky downhill pitch. I think the bunker short would still be a better miss overall, but I can't seem to make myself stop guarding against the weak spinner that is wet every time if the wind gets it. The wind is almost always left-to-right and a little against. I usually don't have that huge overdraw except for this one bailout shot.

Generally 4 iron if I'm trying to get it somewhere up near the green, but anywhere down to 6 iron depending on the distance. I can't deloft a 7 iron enough to not make overhanging branches a concern. If I'm just chipping out I will use from 7 iron to PW depending on clearance height.

I can't seem to judge how hard to hit a putt from 20+ feet even on greens that I know well. Typically I will blow it past at least 5 feet if it doesn't touch the hole. From 40+ feet I am hopeless, it's almost a guaranteed 3 putt. Perhaps "lag putting" is inaccurate as I am generally trying to give the putt a chance to go in rather than knock it close. When I do actually have the goal of getting a 25 footer within a 3 foot circle, I can do it, but usually short or just barely to the hole where it dies and breaks. I just can't seem to find the sweet spot of rolling a foot or two past the hole. What have you done to improve your speed control?