Today we’re going to talk a little bit about what to do around the greens when you have a tight lie. A ‘tight lie’ in golf is when the golf ball is on a spot where the ground under the ball is compact or firm and there is very little grass or very short grass underneath the ball.
If you’re a high handicapper, the worst thing that can happen around the greens in this situation is that you chunk your chip shot and then you can end up two-putting for a bogey or even three-putting for a double bogey.
The Two Quadrant Bump and Run Chip Shot off Tight Lies
Many amateurs automatically grab a high lofted club like a lob wedge, or even a sand wedge when they go to chip. The green in this video has a false front, and the flag is towards the back of the green. So I’m going to do mentally divide this green into halves, with a front half, and back half. My job is to get that ball towards the back half of the green. That’s it, I’m not going for the flag although I am going in that direction. But really, what I’m looking for is to get that ball towards the back half of the green. Instead of grabbing a sand wedge or a lob wedge, I will use a pitching wedge or even a nine-iron and hit a bump and run shot.
I set up with the ball off the back side of my stance, and put some weight on my front side. The ratio is about 70% weight on the front, 30% weight on the back. I also choke down on the grip towards the club shaft. I choke down to almost the logo is on the grip and I keep my hands soft.
The swing itself is actually going to be pretty small. It’s going to be a short backswing and firm through the ball. The goal for a high handicapper is to make sure that the ball is going to be on the correct side or correct part of the green.
The Four Quadrant Chip Shot
If you are a lower handicap player and pretty good with your wedges, you can use a sand wedge or even a gap wedge. We are still looking to make sure that the ball is in the correct part of the green but with a narrower aim.
For this chip shot of a tight lie, I like to look at it divided into four quadrants instead of two. In the situation in the video, the flag is towards the left top quadrant. I focus on that and make sure with whatever club that I have, that the ball lands past the false front and then rolls out.
The setup remains almost the same, you set it up off the back foot, with the weight 70% towards your front foot. The key with this shot is because the lie is tight, you should open up your clubhead about two degrees. The way to do this is not by gripping it normally, and then turning the hands open or turning your body to twist the club open. Instead, you twist the club open inside of your hands and then grip on to it. This opening of the clubface will help you use the bounce of the club instead of the leading edge of the clubface.
The goal is going to get the ball in the air about halfway there, and let the ball roll out, spin, and stop. You can walk up all the way to the flag and pace it off and, if you are a lower handicapper, chances are you know your ball flight and roll out ratios. So take a look at that and make sure that you find a shot that is most comfortable. The number one miss in this situation is that you stand over the screen with a club and all of a sudden you feel intimidated or really, really challenged. We don’t want that, especially when it’s a tight lie.
The Lob Wedge Option Set Up
If you are a low handicapper or really good with your wedges, you have another option You can grab a lob wedge and fly the ball all the way to the hole and let it stop quickly.
With this lob wedge shot, my goal is to fly it about 70% of the way to the hole and let it roll out the remaining 30%. I make sure that the ball position is still towards the back side but more forward than before. It can sit in the back middle of your stance, and you should still have a little bit of weight on the front foot just so you have it a safety net. Make sure that the clubface is slightly open because, once again, you’re trying to utilize the bounce. The bounce is so important in any tight life situation.
