The Putter Is a Rescue Club, Too

Have you ever found the ball under a tree and the only way out is to chip under low-hainging branches?

A few weeks ago, I hit a drive off the fairway and right beside a tree with low-hanging branches. I mean a foot off the ground.

I thought I could hit the ball under those branches and back into and down the fairway by taking my 5-wood, playing the ball back to deloft the club, and hitting gently.

Didn’t work. The ball hit a branch and dropped straight down. A chip into the fairway that I now had room for had me hitting four right about here instead of hitting three well down the fairway.

A few days ago, I got into the same dilemma but behind a green. My only shot was toward the hole, because anything sideways would have been going from bad to worse.

I thought, I need even less loft, and the light bulb went on. My putter! With only about 4° of loft, a firm putting stroke would keep the ball low and get it back in the fairway.

So, I took out my putter and hit the shot. I was about twenty yards behind the green, and unfortunately hit it just a bit too hard. The ball got under the branch with room to spare, but ran onto the green like an out of control freight train going downhill.

I won’t say what happened next, but later in the round I had the same problem again! Out comes the putter, and this time don’t hit it so hard. I didn’t. My shot from green-high got under branches and rolled on to the green.

Remember, it’s a firm stroke, somewhat like you might make in hitting a 50-foot put. It is not a whack. If you try it that way, you are likely to mishit the ball and end up somewhere else where you don’t want be.

Now I have a new trouble shot, and so do you.

One thought on “The Putter Is a Rescue Club, Too”

  1. Good tip, Bob. Here’s another to consider. Say you’re stymied by low branches in a shot you have to hit from off the fairway. Lots of amateurs have a 6 iron as their lowest iron; and hybrids & fairway woods for what would be a 5 iron, 4 iron, etc.

    The 6 iron may still cause the ball to go too high, and hit one of the branches. So, a player can play his/her driver in this situation. Applying a good strike with the driver will keep the ball very low, and most likely stay under the branches.

    Now, to hit a driver off the deck, from the fairway, is quite another story. Haven’t quite mastered that one yet!

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