Chipping from last years dead rough.....??

[PEI Golfing]

Is anyone else out there having trouble chipping around the greens from "last years" dead matted down rough. My chipping has been horrible from this rough as it seems to grap my club and I either hit it across the other side of the green or barely get it out of the rough. I have made an effort to hold onto the club firmly but loose my touch and usually blade it across the green.

Would I be better to use a utility club this time of year until the new growth comes up and I can get my club flowing smoothly through the grass.....?

All help appreciated

[jvincent]

It can be tough this time of year. What is usually the biggest problem is that there are lots of depressions that the ball sits down in, making it hard to get at the ball cleanly.

The best I've come up with is to use my SW, which has more bounce, and try and hit more grass, kind of like a blast, instead of picking it clean.

[East Coast Golf]

sounds like you might be decelerating on your chip shots.. Try takking a little shorter backswing and focusing on accelerating through the shot.

[BC MIST]

Is anyone else out there having trouble chipping around the greens from "last years" dead matted down rough. My chipping has been horrible from this rough as it seems to grap my club and I either hit it across the other side of the green or barely get it out of the rough. I have made an effort to hold onto the club firmly but loose my touch and usually blade it across the green.

Would I be better to use a utility club this time of year until the new growth comes up and I can get my club flowing smoothly through the grass.....?

You are not blading the ball because of the lie but because, as your come through, your lead wrist does not stay perfectly flat, an absolute essential to good chipping. Using the hybrid may help, but playing the ball back, even outside your back foot, and hitting down on the ball, will help. My assumption is that your "chip" runs father than it flies.

If the shot is question is a "pitch" a ball that flies farther than it rolls, then a longer, slow motion type swing, still hitting down on the ball, with no obvious acceleration, and swinging to a full finish will help you improve.

I practice these shots hitting balls off a board, where there is NO margin for error. Spooky at first but in time and with practice, it can be done. Makes the on course shot seem very simple.

[byerxa]

I practice these shots hitting balls off a board, where there is NO margin for error. Spooky at first but in time and with practice, it can be done. Makes the on course shot seem very simple.

I go one step further. I hit balls off my back deck with the ball sitting in a crack between the deck boards. Less than no margin for error! Of course I don't care too much about my deck as I will be tearing it down soon

The dead grass this year reminds me on the dormant Bermuda down south. Tough to chip out of - you really need to keep the wrists quiet, follow through, and let the club do the work.