Your approach shot just misses the green and manages to avoid the bunker on that side. Seems lucky, until you get to your ball and realise you might’ve been better off in the sand. Not only are you short-sided and in the rough, you have to carry the hazard that’s staring you in the face.
The one thing you simply cannot do here is get tense and decelerate the club as you swing into the ball. Just like in a greenside bunker, you must carry enough clubhead speed into the grass to power the ball over the sand and land it safely on the green.
To ensure you’re producing enough speed, think about where the club would need to finish to easily loft the ball over the bunker. Make that your focus. In most instances, a hip-high finish will do the trick. If you can nail that finish, swinging your hands from hip-high on the backswing (below) to hip-high at the finish (top), the club will provide more than enough energy.
JD Cuban
One more piece of advice: There are times when you can try to knock a pitch shot close, but this isn’t one of them. Aim toward the middle of the green to give yourself a chance to make a putt to save par. The only situation worse than a tough greenside pitch is ending up in the bottom of that bunker for your next shot.
Jordan Dempsey, one of Golf Digest’s Best Teachers in Florida, teaches at the PGA Tour Performance Centre at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach.
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Main Image: JD Cuban
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