Part III: The Short Game
Lesson #43: Blast from Bermuda, Putt the Rest

Let's say you're just off the green - not in the fringe but just beyond it in slightly thicker grass. You have a shot of about 10 metres. Most people would call it a chip, but I never view it that way. From Bermuda grass, which tends to snatch at your club on a normal chip shot, the best shot is a blast, just as you'd play a ball in a bunker. With an open stance and an open clubface, take a short, upright swing and slide your club - preferably a sand wedge -down into the grass about 2 centimetres behind the ball. The club will slip under the ball and pop it up.

From other kinds of grass, whether in the fringe or in slightly heavier lies, the proper method is almost like a putting stroke - a smooth pendulum-like strike against the back of the ball, to minimize the chance of a sudden acceleration into the ball. You can play this easy shot with anything from an 8-iron to a pitching wedge, regulating the length of a shot simply by changing the length of your backswing, as you would with a putt.

Illustration by Jim McQueen

Comments