How would you play this shot?

[SiberianDVM]

Short par 4 with OB left, so I drill a 3 wood right down the middle, leaving myself 80 yards to the middle of a severely uphill green. I have a slight uphill lie.

The green is so elevated that I cannot see the pin. The pin is somewhere in the middle back 1/3 of a slopey Donald Ross green.

PW I hit 85 yards on a half (9 o'clock) swing, and 110 yards on a full swing.

52° I hit 90 yards on a full swing.

Feel free to make fun of any or all of my yardages.

[Irish]

i'm hitting a full swing here

[MCDavis]

Driver, 56º, 2 putt par is my first thought without seeing the hole.

For your scenario, full swing 52º

[Eracer]

If it's that much uphill, I would add at least a club-and-a-half to the yardage. So with your yardages I would hit a full pitching wedge from an open stance, aiming for the center of the green. The uphill lie will promote a pull, and the open stance will counter that, as well as adding some loft to the shot, which you need to hold a Ross green anyway.

[warbirdlover]

PW, full swing....

[SiberianDVM]

I hit the 52° with a little extra oomph. Probably shouldn't have, as I think I left my right testicle somewhere back there in the 18th fairway. Distance was perfect, but I pushed it a good 30 feet right of the pin.

So, I dropped 3 other balls in the same spot, and hit a 1/2 PW. Line was perfect, but all 3 were 15 feet short.

This is where the tour pros really have it over us: having an experienced caddy who can figure out how much the elevation affects the trajectory must be a godsend. Oh, a having a little talent probably doesn't hurt, either.

[Eracer]

I like this thread. Maybe we can keep it going with other situations that require a little "caddie work."

Here's one I faced yesterday:

My ball came to rest 15 feet from the left edge of the green, thirty feet from the pin, next to a bush that impeded my backswing. The ball rested on dirt, right in front of a cantaloupe-sized pile of pine needles. There was a bunker on the opposite side of the green.

How would you play this shot?

[King Par]

Originally Posted by Eracer

I like this thread. Maybe we can keep it going with other situations that require a little "caddie work."

Here's one I faced yesterday:

My ball came to rest 15 feet from the left edge of the green, thirty feet from the pin, next to a bush that impeded my backswing. The ball rested on dirt, right in front of a cantaloupe-sized pile of pine needles. There was a bunker on the opposite side of the green.

How would you play this shot?

Hit a better approach?

I most likely would have pulled out my 8 iron, and chipped it. With the 8 iron (depending on the speed of the green) you normally don't need to swing that hard. Thus requiring less backswing. With the loft of the 8 iron you should be able to carry the 15 feet between you and the green. If you needed to fly it longer, and had a little more room for your backswing you could use a 9. This is just me though. I love using 7/8/9/PW around the greens.

[SiberianDVM]

Originally Posted by Eracer

I like this thread. Maybe we can keep it going with other situations that require a little "caddie work."

Here's one I faced yesterday:

My ball came to rest 15 feet from the left edge of the green, thirty feet from the pin, next to a bush that impeded my backswing. The ball rested on dirt, right in front of a cantaloupe-sized pile of pine needles. There was a bunker on the opposite side of the green.

How would you play this shot?

Foot wedge.

[Eracer]

Originally Posted by King Par

Hit a better approach?

I most likely would have pulled out my 8 iron, and chipped it. With the 8 iron (depending on the speed of the green) you normally don't need to swing that hard. Thus requiring less backswing. With the loft of the 8 iron you should be able to carry the 15 feet between you and the green. If you needed to fly it longer, and had a little more room for your backswing you could use a 9. This is just me though. I love using 7/8/9/PW around the greens.

I couldn't get the club on the ball with a shallow chipping motion. The ball rested against a ball of pine needles eight inches in diameter.

[warbirdlover]

Here's one I faced yesterday:

My ball came to rest 15 feet from the left edge of the green, thirty feet from the pin, next to a bush that impeded my backswing. The ball rested on dirt, right in front of a cantaloupe-sized pile of pine needles. There was a bunker on the opposite side of the green.

How would you play this shot?

Eracer

I have this magic punch shot with a 3-iron (delofted) that I use in those situations and after enough of them you get a feel for how hard to hit it. I lock my wrists and stand at a 45º open stance to the target (chipping video by John Jacobs years ago) and it works.

[Eracer]

Originally Posted by warbirdlover

I have this magic punch shot with a 3-iron (delofted) that I use in those situations and after enough of them you get a feel for how hard to hit it. I lock my wrists and stand at a 45º open stance to the target (chipping video by John Jacobs years ago) and it works.

No way to get the clubhead on the ball in this case, except with an exceptionally steep backswing. The pine needles completely blocked the path to the ball.

[The Salt Vampire]

Two "rules" to look at here. For every yard of elevation or lack of elevation add or subtract a yard to the shot. Ray Floyd pumped that one into a Golf Digest many years ago. It's raw, but it works. (Those Leupold gizmos will actually do the math for you on this one, but who has $400 lying around?).

If it's a front pin, hit less club, but swing hard. The ball will go higher and spin more. If you tried to hit a hard sand wedge to a somewhat back pin, the ball might have spun off the front. It would have been hard to get close.

With the semi-back pin in your case, I would have hit the 3/4 PW and tried to skip it back to the flag.

You said, 15 feet short and uphill? You can make that.

[David Hillman]

Originally Posted by Eracer

I like this thread. Maybe we can keep it going with other situations that require a little "caddie work."

Here's one I faced yesterday:

My ball came to rest 15 feet from the left edge of the green, thirty feet from the pin, next to a bush that impeded my backswing. The ball rested on dirt, right in front of a cantaloupe-sized pile of pine needles. There was a bunker on the opposite side of the green.

How would you play this shot?

Why wouldn't a cantaloupe of pine needles be a loose impediment ( and removeable )?

[eclark53520]

Originally Posted by David Hillman

Why wouldn't a cantaloupe of pine needles be a loose impediment ( and removeable )?

cuz eracer is lazy and doesnt like bending over...