Tight, uphill lie, front pin, which shot?
 

So here's the situation: elevated green, front middle pin location, and you come up short leaving yourself a tight, uphill lie with little green to work with. Smart play would be to putt... but let's assume the conditions aren't perfect and you have to go airborne. Bump it into the hill and hope it bounces towards the hole? Go up high and land soft? Or just get to the middle of the green and two putt?

What do you guys do/prefer? Thoughts?

What I do is take a little stab at it with almost no follow through the ball goes high in the air and has almost no roll out. very comfortable shot for me something I have tried to perfect it after years of missing greens.

Play the high/flop shot a few feet past the hole, and pray I don't skull it.

I used to say bump it into the hill with a 8 or 9 iron, but now I would take out the 58* Callaway wedge and pop it into the air and hopefully land short of the hole and roll out a few feet.

I used to think 'bump it' in just about every off the green situation. But my golfing buddy has shared some wisdom -- so, now I go for the 56* Cleveland and (try to) put the ball in the air.

If that doesn't "feel" right because the lie is too tight (beyond my skill) then I'll lean on a bump or even a putt.

I always turn to my flop shot. 60° wedge with a nice confident swing and try to land it just in front of the hole. On the other hand, nearly everybody I know would either bump it into the top of the hill and hope it gets close, or take a normal pitch shot and just aim for the fat part of the green.

The last two posts are the best haha.

I was just curious how other people approach this. I usually go with a little pitch with a sand wedge... But the worst is chunking it and having it roll right back at you

I'll use my magical flop shot which would be even floppier on the uphill lie. If there's slope behind the pin I'll go over and roll it back to the pin, if not stop it close.

Depends on how far uphill it is and the green surrounding the pin. Might be able to use a slope that is slightly away from the pin to get it closer. If it's pretty flat, I would probably try to bump it into the fringe and let it roll slightly past the hole.

If it looks ok, I might bump a hybrid up there...basically just putt with it. If I need more loft, maybe an 8 or 9 iron...

I'd hit a flop shot and try to land it just short of the pin. Depending on the lie obviously. I don't have much bounce on my wedges so little grass shouldn't affect it too much.

Depending on how far I have to carry I would hit the flop with either a full swing or just open the wedge and "stab" the club into the ground popping the ball up...that works well for really short shots

In all reality I'd play it like this. 60* opened flat to the ground, play the ball to the front of my stance (just inside of left heel), grip all the way down on the club, aim about 3-5 feet left of the target, full swing with as flat of a plane as I can possibly muster. Absolutely do not, i repeat DO NOT let your hands get in front of the club head. Bad juju will ensue! What I get out of this shot is a ball that flies at least 20 feet in the air and travels well less than that forward and lands with little to zero roll out. I like to call it the Phil-Mick.

Disclaimer: I practice this shot a LOT and will not be responsible for any broken windows or playing partners bruised and battered family jewels!


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Depends how much real estate is between the ball and the pin. For a shot that is maybe just 3-5 yards from the edge of the green I will always hit basically what amounts to a lag putt with a 52 or a 56 wedge. Slightly closed face and about a 1/4 'lag putt' type stroke with no significant opening or closing of the clubface going back and through, you have to stand about the same distance from the ball as you do with a putt also. And choke down some. If you take the club back away from the ball on the exact line you want the ball to travel on - just like a putt - you can make these from time to time. For a longer shot I will use a lob or sand wedge and keep the ball in the normal position for any pitch shot and just make a mini pitch swing on the ball. This eliminates the chance of blading the shot by trying to slip the club underneath the ball cleanly if the lie is extremely tight and also prevents popping the ball up and leaving it way short if you are on a fluffier lie. If you set up normally and hit down slightly like you do with any pitch shot you can adjust your backswing length and speed through the ball to change the length of the shot and hit this shot anywhere from 15 yards up to 40 or 50 and have it land and stop quickly. This longer shot you are just trying to get close enough to have a makeable putt.

I could be wrong but if you open up the club your adding bounce, therefore by playing the ball further forward in your stance there is a huge chance that you could just blade the ball across the green. From what your describing it sounds like a pretty straight forward flop shot which I always thought should be played from the middle of your stance. At least that's where I was always taught to hit it from.

How's your short game, and what are you most comfortable doing?

Depends upon when this situation comes up for me during the round. If it's later in the round and I am feeling confident in my short game that day, I'll take my 56 (or even my 64 if it's a really short shot) and try to pop it up and land it soft. Worst case scenario on a good day is that I hit it too firm and far and settle for a two putt. Now if it's early in the round or I'm not having the best short game day, I'll use my 8 or 9i and bump it into the hill to slow it down. Again, worst case scenario is that I bump it too far and two putt (or three putt...ugh)

Swing hard and hit it fat, and aim for the fat part of the green.

Too easy, hit the flop shot thin and chip it in from the other side of the green. That's what I like to call getting "over and down" for par!


Siri does my posting for me using Tapatalk.

I say bump it into the hill hard. Worst case scenario it bounces hard and you're left with a longer par putt. IMO it's the safer play.