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What would you do?

ntanygd760

ntanygd760

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Course management threads are usually interesting so I give you this shot.
tree shot1.jpg


I have 157 to pin cut 5 from back. The tree I circled is pretty close to me where trajectory is a massive issue. I am confident I can get a wedge over it 80% of the time but my PW on goes 135 or so, can get a little more out of the rough with a good lie which I have. I am not sure if I can get a 9 iron over the tree more than 1 in 3 times. The only easy pitch out leaves me 110 on a down hill lie. The blue area is worse off that I am so a tree hit that ends up over there is not good. Long is dead, guaranteed bogey or double. The red is a massive slope so the ball will stop when it lands. Above the ridge a bad bounce will send me long. If I flush the wedge I have a 50 foot putt. If I try to go around the tree I would need to hit a 30 yard cut shot with a short iron. Lie adds 2 yards or so with a left to right wind with a yard or two of help. I am playing with people so the round counts for handicap but there are no stakes and my ESC max is double.

What would you do and why?
 
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Honestly I hit a wedge I'm certain will clear the tree 100% of the time and then try to chip it close enough to get up and down. Lots of green to work with so should be a simple chip of maybe 40 ish yards (if I had your length and hit ?lets say a SW or GW? over the tree).
 
Any chance of punching one under that tree or are the branches too low? With enough room, I'd probably take a long iron and play the ball back in my stance and punch it into the fairway down near the green, or even onto the green if I judge it right. If not, I hit the wedge over the tree to the fairway and take my medicine for being in a bad spot off the tee. I play a third shot hopefully from the fairway and give myself a decent look at par or 2-putt bogey.
 
I punch under the tree. Pretty confident in that shot and my 150 punch is about 5 iron, especially with an upslope on the green.
 
I can see two possibilities but a lot depends on what the scenario looks like from the spot on the ground we are standing in.
One possibility is to punch a low runner under (if available) or to the right of the red tree and just try to run it up far as I can for a next shot and maybe even on depending on the club I feel I could use from the spot.

Another is to (if available option) to heavily fade (or basically slice) an iron out to the left of the red tree and turn it back into the fw and of course up closer to the hole as possible if even on if that's possible depending again on what the club is I would use and again based on what the view is like from actually being there in person.
 
I see a lot of room to the left of that green and you say it's a good lie in the rough ( I assume I can get face on the back of the ball) so I'm going for the full blown hero shot. I'm aiming left, clubbing up to an 8i and slashing it to the inside through impact hoping for a big fade.
Worst case in goes straight and I'm chipping uphill from the rough - NBD.
 
This is a perfect shot for my 4wood punch. It's predictably straight, and easier to keep under the trees than a 1/3 chance of a 9i
 
Open up my 9 iron and take my chances with a high fade. What's the worst that can happen

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I would have too see it in Person but most likely I would grab a 9 and go up and over or take my 2 hybrid and punch it as close to the geeen as i can.
 
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Not hat the results should matter to the decision but I stepped on a PW to the front of the green and 3 putted from 65 feet or so.
 
Based on that info and your skill, I'd hit the appropriate wedge to clear the tree and go from there.

I would probably try to punch under the branches (50%), hit a fade around the trees (20%), or hope that I figured out which iron/wedge would clear the tree (30%).
 
Just don't do what Jason Day did a few weeks ago at the PGA championships and you'll come out ahead.
 
What do I do? I wedge it over the tree. Here's how I processed this.
1. You CAN'T allow yourself to hit a tree. On this scenario that guarantees a big number.
2. I'm pretty good at hitting a low shot under trees, but in this situation I think it is a fool's errand. You've got at least 3 trees to avoid over the first 100 yards that are all pretty close to the line you need to take. You've also got bunkers right and left of the green. Plus as you say long is dead and a 150 yard low runner is by definition difficult to control the distance. Too many bad things can happen.
3. The easy pitch is my second choice. I'm not concerned about blading the next downhill sloping pitch shot of 110 yards, but a downhill lie delofts the club, which makes distance control more difficult, even if you hit it pure. If I don't get the next shot on the top tier, I am looking at a likely 2-putt. If I go over the green, double-bogey comes into play.
4. I've got a really good wedge game around the green and am great at 3-putt avoidance. So a high percentage shot over the tree likely ends in a 50 foot putt or 60-70 foot chip from the fairway. I will get the ball up and down from those conditions a high percentage of the time, and in the cases I don't it's a bogey. Par likely. Bogey is not the end of the world.
5. BONUS: Wedge over the tree is likely what I'd do in a tournament. So by doing this now I learn. If I clear the tree like I expect, I have confidence I can do so if I have this shot in a tournament. If I don't clear the tree, I know it requires a higher lofted wedge or an entirely different option.
 
That was basically my exact thought process
 
What would I do? Hit a better tee shot.
 
leftshot said:
What do I do? I wedge it over the tree. Here's how I processed this.
1. You CAN'T allow yourself to hit a tree. On this scenario that guarantees a big number.
2. I'm pretty good at hitting a low shot under trees, but in this situation I think it is a fool's errand. You've got at least 3 trees to avoid over the first 100 yards that are all pretty close to the line you need to take. You've also got bunkers right and left of the green. Plus as you say long is dead and a 150 yard low runner is by definition difficult to control the distance. Too many bad things can happen.
3. The easy pitch is my second choice. I'm not concerned about blading the next downhill sloping pitch shot of 110 yards, but a downhill lie delofts the club, which makes distance control more difficult, even if you hit it pure. If I don't get the next shot on the top tier, I am looking at a likely 2-putt. If I go over the green, double-bogey comes into play.
4. I've got a really good wedge game around the green and am great at 3-putt avoidance. So a high percentage shot over the tree likely ends in a 50 foot putt or 60-70 foot chip from the fairway. I will get the ball up and down from those conditions a high percentage of the time, and in the cases I don't it's a bogey. Par likely. Bogey is not the end of the world.
5. BONUS: Wedge over the tree is likely what I'd do in a tournament. So by doing this now I learn. If I clear the tree like I expect, I have confidence I can do so if I have this shot in a tournament. If I don't clear the tree, I know it requires a higher lofted wedge or an entirely different option.
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Perfect answer.
 
The high percentage shot is a wedge to the front of the green, two putt and walk away. The 50/50 is a low punch 5i that rolls into the green and back toward the pin.
 
Since I don't have any confidence in any of the other shots you described, I would punnch under the branches and chase it as close to the green as I could get it.
 
ID probably step on the PW to get to front of green.

Only because as of late my punch outs either get topped and still in trouble or overcooked into no mans land
 
mikedean441 said:
ID probably step on the PW to get to front of green.

Only because as of late my punch outs either get topped and still in trouble or overcooked into no mans land
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I think you may hit the longest wedges of anyone I know. Your 60 goes a mile so this would be easy for you.
 
Tadashi70 said:
I think you may hit the longest wedges of anyone I know. Your 60 goes a mile so this would be easy for you.
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lol I wish, I think that green front is only 135 which is by no means a bionic PW, I cant get anymore than 140 out of mine then I just have to pray I dont 3 jack from that far away, or greens are hard and ball bounces back towards pin.
 
As a super newb I end up behind trees a lot, LOL.

I short punch it out into the fairway and suck it up. Then try to hit a better shot from a fairway lie. From 150ish, I do pretty well with a 7i and can hit it quite consistently.
 
5 iron or 6 wood punch under trees and shoot for front left of green.
 
Tadashi70 said:
The high percentage shot is a wedge to the front of the green, two putt and walk away. The 50/50 is a low punch 5i that rolls into the green and back toward the pin.
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This is what I'm doing all day. My PW goes about 145-150, so if I hit that full, I'll be somewhere around the middle of the green and should be an easy two putt to the hole.
 
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