For any golfer who wants to play great golf
30 Day Challenge: Wedges – Day 13
The last couple of days of practice have been really productive. Yesterday I worked on pitches from about 15 to 30 yards with 60 degree wedge and today I worked on bump and runs with a 9 iron from the same distance.
With the 60 degree, I worked on controlling both the distance and the trajectory. I found that to hit good shots (i.e., those that stopped within 5 feet of the hole), I really needed to control both the trajectory and the distance very well. The margin for error was pretty small. I was able to get a lot of them close, and I learned how to get better contact. That shot will be important when I have little green to work with and need some height to get over a bunker or a thick patch of rough etc.
Today I really enjoyed working on the bump and runs with the 9 iron. One of the best thing about it was that I could hit them from further off the green than I initially thought. Which gives me some confidence going into future rounds of golf. The other great thing about bump and runs is that it is a very forgiving shot. The ball doesn’t need to travel very far in the air which makes it easy to control. I also found that it was overall a very forgiving shot. I could miss my target by a yard either way and still end up with a good result.
As I said it was surprising to see how far from the green I could be and have an effective bump and run.
To take part in the 30 day challenge: wedges, click here.
April 8, 2010 - 11:43 am
I too have found that the bump and run is a low risk, high probability shot when there are no hazards in front of your view and there is lots of green to work with. I’ve found much success with the bump and run using my mid (7,8, and 9) irons when there is a lot of green to work with respective to the pin placement. As the OP stated, this shot is much easier to control than higher trajectory pitch and lob shots and definitely helps to keep your ball close to within putt saving range.
April 8, 2010 - 8:18 pm
Hi Elliot,
Thanks for the comment. I had never really used the bump and run. For some reason I thought it would be difficult to become good enough to use it. I should really have used it before. It really is pretty easy and so forgiving. I’m going to experiment with the 7 and 8 iron too. The lob shot really is so much less forgiving in comparison.