Sep 1, 2010
As I watched the tour players practice their shortgame day by day, as the greens firmed up, I was really impressed with their ability to adjust to the changing conditions – from all kinds of lies. As the greens firmed up and got faster throughout the week, the first bounce changed markedly – from “dead” to “wicked.” Also the rollout got a lot faster. So the players had to adjust on the fly from bump-and-run hand action to semi-cut and full flop shots.
Most of the players have tremendous control of both their hand action and their swing speed as they adjust to the ever thickening and deeper rough as the week goes on. Those who don’t posess this skill make a lot more bogies.
As a former assistant professional at Ridgewood who practiced often into the late evening (Iwas single at the time) learning the intracies of the up and down game at Ridgewood, I can attest to the fact that Tillighast’s design of the “ridge” greens on this course really does separate the men from the boys.
Practice Suggestions: First, work from good lies around the green. Practice hitting landing spots approximately 3-4 feet onto the green with each of your different clubs from 8 iron to lob wedge to learn how far each rolls after it lands. When you can repeatedly hit your landing spot with consistent trajectory and spin control, try this: hit a shot and go putt it in. See how many times you can get up and down out of ten tries. Your goal is to get to 8 of 10.
Next, practice from more difficult lies: from the first cut, from the deep rough and from various types of sidehill lies. Your goal here will be 5 of 10. As you practice you will learn the need for both semi-cut (cock and uncock along the “v’s” of thumbs/forefingers) and the full cut (left wrist and elbow collapse immediately after impact) to convert forward power into height power. When “bird nested” in deep rough, set-up to intentionally deliver the bottom of your swing arc slightly behind the ball so you trap lot of grass between the clubface and the ball. This actiom makes the ball float out softly and land like a cat with sore feet.
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