Even good approach shots can trickle off the green. Sometimes the ball rolls off the green into the light rough. Other times it rolls off the green into the second cut of rough. When it does, you can have a tough shot if the grass is somewhat high, you’re short sided, and the lie isn’t the best. With little green to work with, you have almost no margin for error. What you need is a shot that stops the ball dead.
Below are the keys to this shot:
- Set up in a narrow stance
- Shift your weight forward
- Position the ball opposite your front heel
- Close the club slightly
- Make a very short backswing
You have a few options here. You could chip with a lob wedge or hit a short flop shot. Or, you could try hitting a drop and stop chip—a shot Jack Nicklaus was a master at making. Here’s how:
Set up with a slightly open but narrow stance. Leave about 6-8 inches between your feet. And position the ball opposite your front heel. Now shift your weight to your front foot, as you would for any chip.
Now make a very short backswing. Make sure you close the clubface slightly as you go back. Then come forward through impact. As you do, you should feel like your sliding your bottom hand under your top. This adds loft to the clubface and produces short shots that fly high and stop quickly.
The ball should pop out of the rough soft and stop nearly dead when it hits the green, rolling forward just a bit. You should have an easy putt to make par.
Practice this shot a few times before trying it on the course. Use both a 60-degree wedge and a sand wedge. See which works best.