Chip or Pitch Over A Bunker

Video Transcript

As you look at this situation the question is, would you play the shot with the same club. Even though there are two different pins on this green, one near the front edge and the other near the back edge. Would you use the same club simply because there is sand here in front of you? If you said yes, you are making the game very difficult because when playing the this shot to the front pin it is a pitch. That is a high shot with very little bounce and roll. To the back pin it is a chip, because once you have hit that lower shot over the bunker you want it bouncing and rolling a lot. Let me show you the two shots. While I was standing up there you will notice that I did not have a club in may hand, because if you pick the club first you have already decided the shot without knowing what the shot affords you to do. As I set up here for a pitch shot with my sand wedge I am going to have the ball slightly forward of center with my weight even and watch my finish. A pitch shot finish is an up finish. A chip shot finish is more of a down finish, so watch. Now I am going to the back pin, I am utilizing less trajectory because I am now using a 30 six degree club with more bounce and roll. In chipping I am going to choke down, I now play the ball back in my stance and watch this finish, it is much lower. I have hit it on a very low trajectory with a lot of bounce and a lot of roll and instead of pitching it over the bunker, which is the mistake many of you make, I chipped it over the bunker. Why? 30 six degrees of loft looks like that and that is going to go over every bunker in the world assuming you have room for the bounce and roll on the other side. Don't always pitch it.