Chipping with short irons - Is it a lost art?

[EaglevsFalcon]

This something that my grandfather was a master at and something that I'm working to incorporate into my game. Long chips are one of my major weaknesses and I'm searching for answers. I play as a single a lot so I get paired up with people all the time and I can't say I see many people that do it. A lot of the old timers around the courses I grew up on were great at it and really allowed them to score well.

So who out there does this still? Do you have certain yardages you use for different clubs or just one longer club to get the ball going and swing harder or lighter depending on distance? Would love to hear some thoughts on this.

 

[ArmyGolf]

I wish I was better at it and I started to practice this quite a bit but I can't bring myself to start using this method during a round.
More practice is needed for me, but I can definitely see how It would save people strokes.

 

[Nebgolfer]

I use all sorts of clubs around the green depending on how far I need to carry and how much room for rollout. Just today I used a PW and a gw to bump over a small patch of grass and release to the hole. I'm much better at that than using higher lofts and judging carry.

 

[Six4three5]

My father still does this, and he's better at it than anyone else I've seen. He regularly chips with the PW through 6 iron and he's deadly with em.

 

[EaglevsFalcon]

I'm talking even down to 6, 7, and 8 irons too. I've seen it used to such great effect but it can feel like mysterious voodoo magic when trying to work it out for myself.

 

[Akrobby]

I've done this quite a bit. I particularly like my 7 iron around the green, especially when I don't want much lift. It's been fairly successful, I just need to practice it more.


THP #theking #imwithchad

 

[dhartmann34]

I use the same club from 105 yds and in. Every now and then I'll throw in a random club depending on the situation....but for me it's easiest with one club.

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[MWard]

I'm talking even down to 6, 7, and 8 irons too. I've seen it used to such great effect but it can feel like mysterious voodoo magic when trying to work it out for myself.

I'll still use the short to mid iron every once in a while, but the problem that comes up a lot is the fact greens aren't as flat as they were back when this was used all the time. With all the slopes and undulations in some of the newer built courses, slopes become more about luck than skill. Or, they become so impossible to get close going the low route that it's just easier to throw it up in the air to kill a lot of the distance to cover, and let the slopes just bring it down to the hole for you with enough to get it there but not race it by.

I used a 5i from 100yds out earlier this year as a bump and run under branches that rolled up the fairway, onto the green, and a foot away for par. Would likely never work again in a million years, but it sure worked once.

 

[EaglevsFalcon]

I'll still use the short to mid iron every once in a while, but the problem that comes up a lot is the fact greens aren't as flat as they were back when this was used all the time. With all the slopes and undulations in some of the newer built courses, slopes become more about luck than skill. Or, they become so impossible to get close going the low route that it's just easier to throw it up in the air to kill a lot of the distance to cover, and let the slopes just bring it down to the hole for you with enough to get it there but not race it by.

I used a 5i from 100yds out earlier this year as a bump and run under branches that rolled up the fairway, onto the green, and a foot away for par. Would likely never work again in a million years, but it sure worked once.

thats a really good point on the undulations. Alot of those old eastern courses had one undulation which was the slope of the hill.

 

[Paladin]

I don't want to call it a throwback, but it does sort of hearken to the days when carrying fewer wedges was common. Inside 100 yards, you simply couldn't make the same swing with a different club to get the ball where you want it. I followed my coach's advice and have been sticking with 2 clubs for chipping and really working on getting a feel for distance. The vast majority of my work around the greens comes from my 59 and my 56. If I'm reaching for an iron around the green, it's probably a 4 or 5 iron, and I'm planning to chip it with a putting stroke and I want the ball to stay as low as possible. That's the shot I use when I feel like there's no safe place to land the ball except right on the nearside edge of the green, but there's a fair amount of roll involved.

 

[Brianbigoats]

I ever once and a while will pull an 8 or 9 to chip with but most of the time it is the 52*or 58* in the US the flop is a more common an thing than in Europe where they play a lot of links golf where you have to keep it down or the wind will take your ball when you watch the PGA the european player seem to keep it on the ground more

 

[MWard]

thats a really good point on the undulations. Alot of those old eastern courses had one undulation which was the slope of the hill.

Which in that case, heck yeah I'll take a 7-8i and bump it into the hill so it goes on through. If I ever go over to Europe to play, that'll be a great shot to have in the bag. US though, too many situations where it'll backfire on you. You'll be trying to fly it 12in in an example just so it can ride all the undulations to the hole, and if you fly it even half a foot too far you're in deep trouble. You're more likely to chunk it in that situation because you're so scared of hitting it too far you decel on it.

 

[EaglevsFalcon]

I ever once and a while will pull an 8 or 9 to chip with but most of the time it is the 52*or 58* in the US the flop is a more common an thing than in Europe where they play a lot of links golf where you have to keep it down or the wind will take your ball when you watch the PGA the european player seem to keep it on the ground more

yeah, gusting winds are pretty common here too. The conditions are definitely conducive to bump and run golf. I imagine that softer areas where you can attack pins with pitches would render low iron chip less useful

 

[Brianbigoats]

yeah, gusting winds are pretty common here too. The conditions are definitely conducive to bump and run golf. I imagine that softer areas where you can attack pins with pitches would render low iron chip less useful

I played a course today where the greens were hard as rocks and the only way to get close was bump and run flops got some funny bounces

 

[tanker337]

I use everything from 6i-SW around the greens.

 

[Drumdog]

Depending on the conditions and the length of the chip, I will use everything from 7 iron to 58* wedge. I will even use a choked down 3 wood at times.

 

[Paladin]

I'll still use the short to mid iron every once in a while, but the problem that comes up a lot is the fact greens aren't as flat as they were back when this was used all the time. With all the slopes and undulations in some of the newer built courses, slopes become more about luck than skill. Or, they become so impossible to get close going the low route that it's just easier to throw it up in the air to kill a lot of the distance to cover, and let the slopes just bring it down to the hole for you with enough to get it there but not race it by.

I used a 5i from 100yds out earlier this year as a bump and run under branches that rolled up the fairway, onto the green, and a foot away for par. Would likely never work again in a million years, but it sure worked once.

I guess I think about it the opposite way. If I see a bit undulation in the green, I'd rather roll the ball to it than have the ball hit a side-hill on the bounce. I'm much more likely to take a low-runner chip than a pitch or flop if I think the landing area might create a big kick. Some of this ties back to how accurate I feel I'll be with a chip (I'd say I can put the majority of my chips into the same hulahoop). If I feel like, somewhere in that hulahoop there's a big danger spot where I won't be able to even 2-putt when all's said & done, I may well look for a landing area short of the danger, and that may involve a low-lofted iron, like a 4-7 iron. If I'm dealing with an undulation in the green, unless it's one that's guaranteed to roll the ball past the hole, then I'm looking to have my ball move more like a putt than flying in the air where it might kick off an undulation in the green or check in an unexpected or unanticipated direction.

 

[Maddog701]

My father still does this, and he's better at it than anyone else I've seen. He regularly chips with the PW through 6 iron and he's deadly with em.

thanks for the props, i grew up with a pw and sw in the bag, did not have 4 wedges like they do today. i had to figure out how to make/shape shots on the fly. had a great teacher, my grandfather steve reamer. he taught me how to use pw to 6 ir for chipping, bump and runs and knock downs. when i am "on" i can be deadly around the greens and it helps saves a lot of strokes!!!!!

 

[baldguy]

I haven't been playing golf very long, but most of the time I used the bump and run because I read so much about how it's the best way. I got decent with it, but I had too many issues with speed control when switching to different clubs, and if I was dealing with an against the grain stroke I tended to get the club face caught up in the grass enough to slow the shot down significantly. In the past month or so I've been working on using the bounce of my wedges to deliver higher, softer shots that land closer to the hole. This has worked out very well for me, although if I start to lose confidence in it during a round I will revert to the bump and run. For the most part, the higher softer shot is the way to go for my game.

 

[Ernie Dimeo]

I use everything from 6i-SW.

 

[Golf 'N Gator]

I use most of the clubs in my bag from hybrid all the way thru my irons and wedges for chipping. Just depends on the distance and the situation.

 

[Philly]

Depending on the conditions and the length of the chip, I will use everything from 7 iron to 58* wedge. I will even use a choked down 3 wood at times.

This

I actually use a hybrid both from just off the green in heavy rough as well as in the fairway if there s significant green to work with…..practically a putting stroke

I am too inconsistent with the wedge and the above prevents the "add a stroke" mistakes (Fat not on the green, thin, over the green).

 

[AMart]

I've pulled hybrid and short irons around the green in the past. I think hybrid or fw are great with a putting stroke if the ball is in the collar and putter won't work.

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[O'Carroll]

I wish I practiced this more and got a better feel for it. I'd like to have the mid iron chip in my arsenal of shots, but at the current moment, I can never decide 6, 7, or 8 and either come up really short, or roll it 10 feet past.

 

[Trout Bum]

Man I used to use the 7 and 9 irons all the time and got away from it. I think the shots were more predictable when I did it and your reminder just may cause me to go revisit it, hmmm.

Good thread!