Do you struggle chipping out of greenside rough?
There are 3 common lies a golfer will face around the greens & if you don’t know how to play them, you’re screwed!
- Ball Sitting Up
- Ball In A “Cupped Lie”
- Ball Sitting Down
Let me show you how to play each of them.
Each of these lies require a different way of playing them. Different angle of attacks, different club paths, different ball positions
I’d recommend using a 60 deg or 56 deg wedge for these shots. Let’s get stuck in.
The first lie is when the ball is sitting UP on the grass.
You’ll see here that the ball has finished on the top of the grass & hasn’t buried itself under the grass
The first thing you need to understand about this lie is how the ball is going to react when you hit it
Because you don’t have much grass between face & ball when you hit it, the ball will still spin close to the same as a normal fairway lie. It’s quite common for this ball to come out low with a fair bit of spin, so you need to plan for that.
Now we know what the ball will do, how do we play it?
You want to make sure you control your arc depth. That is very important here.
You don’t need to hit DOWN on this ball at all. Remember, this ball is ON TOP of the grass. If you try to hit down too much, you’ll lower your arc depth & hit the top of the face
You can place the ball middle to forward in the stance & actually try to feel like you are hitting a DRAW. This will help you AOA stay very shallow & help avoid the club moving down too much. I actually like to feel like I’m hitting UP on the ball with these.
The second lie you’ll face is a lie that I would call a “Cupped Lie”.
This is where the ball isn’t sitting on the top of the grass, nor is it all the way at the bottom. This is the simplest lie to play when in the rough.
When you strike this ball, you will have a fair bit of grass between your club face & the ball. This takes away “friction” which reduces spin. When we reduce spin in the short game, the ball launches higher so be prepared for this ball to pop UP more than a regular fairway lie
This lie is very predictable. The ball pops up due to lack of friction & doesn’t spin much. You don’t need to open the face that much on this shot due to the lie making it easier for the ball to launch higher
You can of course open the face if you wish, just understand that it will pop up higher & you’ll need more energy to make the ball go towards your target.
How do we play this shot?
You want to make sure you are coming into the ball a bit steeper than a normal chip shot. We need to make sure this club is working UP & DOWN more so than wide back & through so we can avoid having “too much” grass between face & ball
Ball middle/back, pressure on the lead side & feel as though you hinge the club UP a little more steeply than the shot where it was sitting up
Think of your swing as more of a V shape, as opposed to a U shape at the bottom of the swing
Your club path might be a fraction more out to in on this one to increase the steepness
Try do make your swing finish quite abruptly. Don’t have a long follow-through.
The third lie you’ll come across is a ball that is sitting down with the grass almost covering it completely
This is the most difficult lie & the one which requires a lot of touch & feel to control how it comes out.
How will the ball react when it comes out? This ball will have the least amount of spin out of all the lies around the green. You should be trying to stop this ball through trajectory vs spin or roll.
My recommendation would be to use your most lofted wedge for this shot.
How do we play this shot?
The easiest way to explain it is to treat it like semi plugged bunker shot EXCEPT you want to play this with an OPEN face, not a square face.
If you play this with a square face, the ball may come out low & hot, which will make it run forever & you won’t be able to stop it (if flag is back then this is fine)
You want to ensure you are taking a divot here. Make sure your arc depth is all the way to the bottom & your angle of attack is steep.
Your ball position can stay middle/forward in the stance because you are trying to hit behind this ball. Widen your stance, place pressure on the lead foot & use some wrist hinge to create the steepness you need.
Don’t have any follow-through. Try to stop the club head as fast as possible post impact to allow for the ball to pop straight up. All the energy of this shot needs to go into the ground.
So, there you have it, 3 common lies you WILL face around the green when in the rough.
Having the technique to play them is only half the battle. Knowing how the ball is going to react out of these lies is equally important. Now you know.
If you are interested in more information like this that is designed to help you become a better golfer, not just have a pretty swing, become a member of my online academy, where I can help you with over 500 videos covering all areas of the game.
