Little disgusted with some greens

[flomarilius]

Hey guys thanks for all the advice on my last thread you dont understand how much I appreciate it.

But... I have encountered a problem with a few of the bermuda grass and ChampionTurf greens here in the South florida area. Its been unseasonably hot down here (High 85* today) and for some reason or another from 70 and in I cant seem to stick any greens. Its been deteriating because I hit these pitch shots that you would think, would take a few hops check and roll a foot or two except these things are landing 2 paces on the green and rolling off the back.

Can I get any advice to why these shots arent spinning?

I truly understander its harder to do this out of the rough but I mean my dad a 30+ handicapper can stop them and me a single digit is having insane trouble trying to get these to stop.

Thanks,

flo

[ThatCanadianGuy]

Originally Posted by flomarilius

Hey guys thanks for all the advice on my last thread you dont understand how much I appreciate it.

But... I have encountered a problem with a few of the bermuda grass and ChampionTurf greens here in the South florida area. Its been unseasonably hot down here (High 85* today) and for some reason or another from 70 and in I cant seem to stick any greens. Its been deteriating because I hit these pitch shots that you would think, would take a few hops check and roll a foot or two except these things are landing 2 paces on the green and rolling off the back.

Can I get any advice to why these shots arent spinning?

I truly understander its harder to do this out of the rough but I mean my dad a 30+ handicapper can stop them and me a single digit is having insane trouble trying to get these to stop.

Thanks,

flo

I'm thinking it Could be the ball, the grooves on your wedges, or..you..

Do you generally try to lob them in high, or do you try to "mash" the ball against the turf with a lower boring ball flight?. The latter seems to stop quicker for me and probably many others.

It's something that requires a little practice though.

Speed, acceleration, and clean ball first contact are key factors in spinning the ball.

[Eracer]

Originally Posted by flomarilius

Hey guys thanks for all the advice on my last thread you dont understand how much I appreciate it.

But... I have encountered a problem with a few of the bermuda grass and ChampionTurf greens here in the South florida area. Its been unseasonably hot down here (High 85* today) and for some reason or another from 70 and in I cant seem to stick any greens. Its been deteriating because I hit these pitch shots that you would think, would take a few hops check and roll a foot or two except these things are landing 2 paces on the green and rolling off the back.

Can I get any advice to why these shots arent spinning?

I truly understander its harder to do this out of the rough but I mean my dad a 30+ handicapper can stop them and me a single digit is having insane trouble trying to get these to stop.

Thanks,

flo

I think part of it has to do with the fact that the heat has dried the subsurface soil out, making the greens harder overall. They don't water the greens in winter nearly as much, because the bermuda goes dormant. If your greens are over-seeded with winter rye, then I would think they would water them a bit more. But with all the focus of water conservation in Florida, I think the supers are trying hard to minimize the amount of watering they do.

TCG is right, of course, in saying that there are other factors. My latest ball, the Srixon AD-333, is a great ball in so many ways, but it definitely doesn't seem to spin as much as a lot of other balls I've tried. I'm pretty used to my mid-irons stopping within about 4-5 feet of the pitchmark. Lately, though, it's more like 10-12 feet.

[emc]

Try cleaning the grooves and really smashing the ball into the ground. If that doesn't get you spinning, learn the bump and run

[Bama Duffer]

Here in 'Bama the greens are soggy with rain, so they're holding. But I hit a very high shot that comes almost straight down.

[LyleG]

oh boo fricken hoo, you couldnt make a dent in our greens with an axe right now its so darn frozen.

[Big_Bang]

HAHA!! That is funny! I'm a little pissed at my course lately too...except my problems are the teebox, and fairways. It is almost impossible to find a good level spot on my local golfcourses' teeboxes. There is either massive divots, or the frickin grass is a millimeter tall. The fairways are very thin, the grass is maybe about 3 millimeters tall is some places, so I am forced to take divots on every shot. That sucks. Sometimes you just need distance, not spin. Personally, I like fast greens, makes it more challenging.

[demon]

if you are hitting down on the ball and keeping your club low past impact then you should be a spin machine.

[flomarilius]

You see Im playing either Nike Platinums or Bridgestones B300-S and they just wont check up. I can alter low and high but neither of them will stop. Im just gonna try to learn the flop shot and forget about it.

[ThatCanadianGuy]

Originally Posted by flomarilius

You see Im playing either Nike Platinums or Bridgestones B300-S and they just wont check up. I can alter low and high but neither of them will stop. Im just gonna try to learn the flop shot and forget about it.

flop shot from about 70 yards? Are we going to use a 9 iron?

[ezra76]

Try hitting a 9.9 out of 10 wedge shot only to have it bounce and go 20yds. off the back. Frozen greens up here. Holy and hairy too. I don't even like to putt on them because I feel like it's screwing with my stroke.

I tried hitting some lower trajectory skip-stops the other day with some success on the hard (not frozen) greens. Other than that I try to hit a fade in. I've actually been able to get a mid iron to stop by bringing it in higher on a 5yd. or so fade. I just open the face (expose loft), square stance with a flared left foot and aim slightly left of my ending target.

[Sandpiper3]

Probly just trying too hard and its messing with your swing. Im guessing you understnad the mechanical part about spinning a shot in there, just let your stroke flow and itll come back.

In case youve forgotten, heres how i hit my one hop/stop shot. I have a really small stance anywayz for chipping, with it being slightly open. Forward press my hands a bit and ive found i can catch it a little crisper if i also ever so slightly open up the clubface. Then i just pick the ball off the (this shot works a lot better from the fw) fairway and keep speed through the stroke.

How do others hit (if they have it in their arsenal) the one hop/stop shot here?

[ezra76]

Originally Posted by Sandpiper3

How do others hit (if they have it in their arsenal) the one hop/stop shot here?

Ball back, feet close and open stance. Pick it and keep the clubhead in the strike zone forever, ie a low trajectory high spinning shot. I've had them pop up in the air and only go 4 inches from where they land. Now hit this shot with fade spin on it and it does some cool stuff, skips sideways. I used to hit this shot better with my 50 and 54 MP's. I may dump the MP-R if I can't hit this one consistantly with the sole grind.

[emc]

Originally Posted by ezra76

Ball back, feet close and open stance. Pick it and keep the clubhead in the strike zone forever, ie a low trajectory high spinning shot. I've had them pop up in the air and only go 4 inches from where they land. Now hit this shot with fade spin on it and it does some cool stuff, skips sideways. I used to hit this shot better with my 50 and 54 MP's. I may dump the MP-R if I can't hit this one consistantly with the sole grind.

I play an open stance, face open a bit but not flop style, all middle of the stance and I just hit down on it. I don't use that shot very often, I much prefer to close down the face of my 60* and play a one hop, check, and run another foot shot, if the shot calls for check

[JEFF4i]

A tip, I think Ezra posted, that I liked for helping smash the ball against the ground(creating spin), was picture a tee an inch beyond the ball, and you're trying to dig it out.

Anyway, I'm with Lyle, there's been snow on the course for the past month, so I haven't gotten to go out.