subject: Favor Chipping over Pitching When It's Possible to Chip-and-Run [print this page] Favor Chipping over Pitching When It's Possible to Chip-and-Run
Mark Blakemore says the chip-and-run should be the work-horse of your off-the-green short match. And Blakemore should understand he's a Class A PGA Professional with more than 20 years teaching experience. Blakemore is usually moreover the author of PGAProfessional.com, where you should visit to discover many more suggestions.
"I would estimate that at least 95-percent of my short game shots (from within 20 yards of the edge of the green) are played with a chip-and-run," Blakemore says, "and the other five percent include putts from off the green, pitches, and bunker shots with Callaway X-24 HOT Irons."
Blakemore says that getting the ball on the ground and rolling as soon as possible is the key to more predictable behavior from the golf ball.
Some people make use of their most lofted wedge for this style of shot in situations where more loft and less roll are called for, which might then be called a pitch-and-run.
Yet pitching the golf ball into the air decreases the odds of controlling the shot for most golf players with discount golf clubs. Especially when hitting from a marginal lie, Blakemore says, pitching can be often a poor choice when the chip-and-run option can be available.
Blakemore offers these three general principles for short match play:
1. Putt whenever feasible (that means whenever the golf ball might roll instead of bounce).
2. Chip and run when you can't putt with PING G15 Driver.
3. Pitch only when you have no other choice.
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