Golf Digest says "You, too, can hit Gary Woodand's tight-lie green chip"

I saw this article and had to laugh. Now, once in my life I actually pulled off a similar shot to this. Back then I was playing just about every day, was a much better player than I am today, and had much better nerves than I do now. So, yes, it can be done. But, would I try it today....ahhh NO! First of all, I don't need our Maintenance Superintendent getting my butt kicked out of the club for destroying a green. Makes me wonder how many greens we are going to see in the next few weeks that looks like someone had a temper tantrum and took a divot(s) out of the green.

But, remember, Golf Digest say you too can pull it off.

iteach has a YT video showing how to do it "how to hit pitch shots from tight lies" or something like that. A couple years ago a nearby driving range was closing. The last night they were open I hit about 20 pitches from a practice green from the same spot using the iteach technique that I had practiced. Didn't even bruise the green.

Would I do that on a live green? Never!!! I'll take the strokes thank you.

It’s not that hard a shot if you’re not under U.S. Open pressure.

There’s a hole on Trumps Doonbeg course in Ireland with a bunker in the middle of the green ; two of us had it in our line, we chickened out and putted around thinking it was insane to divot a green

I remember Romo doing it during the AT&T.

Make sure to use the club's bounce with the shaft vertical at impact.

It's absolutely possible. Chips should be shallow, not steep.

> @"Carl Spackler3" said:

> There’s a hole on Trumps Doonbeg course in Ireland with a bunker in the middle of the green ; two of us had it in our line, we chickened out and putted around thinking it was insane to divot a green

I would chip off the green anywhere if it was the only way the get the ball in the hole. Especially with a bunker blocking the putt.

I doubt there's gonna be a surge of chipping in the greens. First, what's the circulation of golf digest? Second, few greens are designed to where this shot would ever enter your mind.

> @golfgirlrobin said:

> It’s not that hard a shot if you’re not under U.S. Open pressure.

This ^^^.

I might not have used an LW, and I certainly wouldn't have almost holed it, but the situation was the dominant thing, not the shot itself. PERFECT turf, without ANY possibility of the club getting stuck in a clump of grass, etc.; that's gravy, especially for those guys. If you gave 100 Tour pros that shot, they'd get it up and down more often than not. Even IF you hit it a little thin or a little fat, it's going to be decent.

But not in the US Open late on Sunday afternoon...

When I played college golf at Yale we were allowed to use wedge on the 9th green. Impossible to putt through the 6' deep gully!

> @Ripper212 said:

> When I played college golf at Yale we were allowed to use wedge on the 9th green. Impossible to putt through the 6' deep gully!

Good example. It's not a hard shot, and you can even mark and clean the ball because it's on the green. It's never sitting down, no mud, etc. This in NO way minimizes the excellence of what Woodland did on the back nine of the US Open on Sunday afternoon, and that he almost holed it was incredible, but he had a LOT of harder shots than that one coming down the stretch. With perfect turf, a clean ball, and a wedge with customized bounce, it's a playable shot, even for chops.

Of course, if you'd already had a heart attack from the pressure of the moment, it's a somewhat harder shot. But if you're that guy, you ain't in contention anyway, even in your club championship.

> @bluedot said:

> > @Ripper212 said:

> > When I played college golf at Yale we were allowed to use wedge on the 9th green. Impossible to putt through the 6' deep gully!

>

> Good example. It's not a hard shot, and you can even mark and clean the ball because it's on the green. It's never sitting down, no mud, etc. This in NO way minimizes the excellence of what Woodland did on the back nine of the US Open on Sunday afternoon, and that he almost holed it was incredible, but he had a LOT of harder shots than that one coming down the stretch. With perfect turf, a clean ball, and a wedge with customized bounce, it's a playable shot, even for chops.

>

> Of course, if you'd already had a heart attack from the pressure of the moment, it's a somewhat harder shot. But if you're that guy, you ain't in contention anyway, even in your club championship.

I can't imagine making a 3' putt under that kind of pressure, let alone the shot that he made!

It's really not hard especially if your wedge has enough bounce. It's like a perfect fairway lie. It's just the moment he did it made it special

In the super slow mo you can actually see the club make contact with the green a fraction behind the ball then bounce perfectly into the ball for great contact. Just shows you that you don’t have to be absolutely perfect.

Not a super hard shot by itself. You can hit the green as hard as you want and not make a divot, as long as the ball is forward in the stance and the face is a little open. I actually practice this to help with pitching technique and can hit a full blown flop off the green with no damage. Now under US open pressure, landing the ball on the downslope, it was certainly a great shot.

FACT; anyone can hit touch shots around or off a green surface similar to pro's using LW but you'd better put in the practice hours and have your head in the game. I've done it twice. The problem is with idiots that think they are better than they really are, try, then walk off leaving an ugly large damaging repair mark that will take a while to heal. The reason golf courses say 'no" to amateurs using a wedge off the green surface. Side note: You may recall Riveria's 6th green has a bunker in the middle. Members (doesn't matter who you are) are not allowed to use a wedge off the green surface to get over the bunker.