Nancy Quarcelino School of Golf - Blog

With the new groove rules now in effect, golfers must go back to the basics with their short game. 

You will see more bump and run shots being executed and players using different clubs around the green to get the ball closer to the hole.  The bump and run shot is played with a less lofted club like a 7or 8 iron and even your hybrid.  The stroke is similar to the putting stroke and thus an easy shot to hit. 

Even tour players will hit a different style of shot around the green to stop the ball more quickly.  They have to be more creative because the new grooves impart less spin.  Here is one shot you will need to learn to stop the ball quicker on the greens.

Play the ball back in your stance and open your club face on your wedge.  Because you are opening the club face you will have to make certain to aim the face of the club to the target, and subsequently aiming your body left of the target. 

Now, hit this shot by quickly hinging your wrists on the back swing and finishing with a low follow through.  The back ball position will keep the ball lower, but the open face will put added spin on the ball stopping the ball more quickly on the green. This shot is easy to learn but requires some time to practice before you try it on the golf course. 

Many of you will still play with your old irons and wedges which will produce a lot of spin.  But, if you buy a new set of clubs, your new irons and wedges will have the new grooves.  You will only notice a difference with your wedges around the greens and when you hit full shots from the rough.

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I love teaching specialty golf shots.  These are the shots that you watch the tour players make during competition. They are shown over and over again during the tournament highlights on television. 

The high pitch shot around the green that lands softly and really close to the pin is the shot my students seem to want to learn the most. When Phil Michelson or Tiger Woods pulls off that shot to perfection we have no idea how many rehearsal swings they take to make that shot 7 out of 10 times.  The percentage will be lower for you as you may not even practice those shots until you get into that specific situation. 

When I teach this shot, I first tell my student the shot they really need to work on is the previous shot, the one that left you in this situation to begin with!  For example: When you have a pin placement that is tucked close to the side of the green you should aim to the middle of the green and leave yourself a long putt for birdie but a makeable par.

If you do aim at the flag and you miss your target you could be just off the side of the green with a very close pin placement.  You will want to hit that ball onto the green and get close to the pin for a spectacular up and down.  But what I want you to do is to hit the ball to the flag and let the ball roll 15 feet past the pin.  You will now have a better chance to make that putt for a spectacular up and down.  But if you try and place the ball just on the edge of the green to get the ball close, you may not make it to the green and have even a trickier pitch the next time.

Now, how do you really hit that flop shot?  You take a gap or lob wedge.  The sand wedge has too much bounce for this shot.  You open the club face and aim the club to the flag.  This will put your body slightly open or left of your target. Hold onto the club very lightly as this will give you a very quick wrist hinge action and put a lot of spin on the ball.  Hit this shot with a bigger backswing than you would imagine but with a slower speed.  The light grip, quick hinge, and slow speed back and through will have you hitting this shot just like the pros.

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