PUTTING FROM THE ROUGH? THE CREATIVE GREENSIDE ‘ESCAPE’ SHOT, EXPLAINED
For most golfers, putting from just off the green is a better option than chipping the ball because your margin for error is much greater with a flat stick. While you might chunk or blade your worst chip, a bad putt from off the green will still get you somewhere around the hole.
But the assumption that underlies this approach is that you’re putting from tightly mown fringe. Andrew Rice, a Golf Digest Top 50 Teacher in America, is taking this a step further. A putter can be an effective tool to escape a bad lie in thick greenside rough, he says.
Yes, a putter. Let’s explain.
The trouble when the ball sits down in heavy rough around the green is that it becomes very difficult to make clean contact. The grass is blocking the path to the ball. With a normal chipping motion, you’ll catch too much grass before you reach the ball.
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That’s why one common approach to dealing with these lies is to use a wedge and steepen your angle of attack, or hit more down on the ball. We covered this shot in a recent episode of the Golf IQ podcast, which you can listen to here, but it’s quite simple. Move the ball back, open the face a little and throw the clubhead straight down right behind the ball, almost like you’re hitting a bunker shot.
Rice offers another approach to escaping these poor lies—one that appears even more approachable for the average player. Instead of opting for a high-lofted wedge, Rice suggests taking a putter if you’re less than two feet off the green in the rough.
Of course, a normal putting motion wouldn’t get the ball out of a bad lie, which is why Rice explains that you need to play this shot with the ball very far back in your stance. He says to move the ball position behind your trail foot. This will help you create a steep angle into the ball.
The key to this shot, he says, is to drive the ball into the ground, after which the ball will pop out of the lie. Deloft the putter and stab the ball as if you’re trying to hit it into the ground.
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If you’ve played it right, the ball will pop up just enough to get over the rough before landing and rolling out on the green. Rice notes that you often need to hit this shot softer than you expect, partly because you’re delofting the putter so much. Also, when the ball hits the green, it may have some topspin, which will cause it to roll out more than you’d expect.
It’s a creative shot that might take a few tries to dial in, but once you have, it can get you out of the worst lies around the green.
TLDR: What do I need to know?- Try putting from a poor lie in thick rough when you are less than two feet into the rough
- Play the ball back in your stance, behind your trail foot
- Deloft the putter and drive the ball into the ground
- Ball will pop out and roll out on the green
- Ball will come out faster than you might expect