Where do your approach shots end up?

[Bigvivec]

There is the older than dirt saying from some old bones golfer (too lazy to open a book and check the reference) that was and answer to the question by a student...
"Why do you need backspin if your approach shots are usually short of the pin?"

This thread doesn't have anything to do with backspin...rather, I'm curious about average approach shot landing areas...do you usually hit the ball short of the flag, pin high, or past it? Lately I have been hitting past the hole, sometimes over the green...I attribute that to not trusting the distance gained with new clubs and improved play...still, every time I hit one long, the above expression rattles around my head...

Where do your average approach shots end up, is it on purpose, and why do you think that your shots wind up where they do?

[CG8]

Originally Posted by Bigvivec

There is the older than dirt saying from some old bones golfer (too lazy to open a book and check the reference) that was and answer to the question by a student...
"Why do you need backspin if your approach shots are usually short of the pin?"

This thread doesn't have anything to do with backspin...rather, I'm curious about average approach shot landing areas...do you usually hit the ball short of the flag, pin high, or past it? Lately I have been hitting past the hole, sometimes over the green...I attribute that to not trusting the distance gained with new clubs and improved play...still, every time I hit one long, the above expression rattles around my head...

Where do your average approach shots end up, is it on purpose, and why do you think that your shots wind up where they do?

The course I play on just re-seeded the greens so you can pretty much go at the pin . Approach shots used to hit the green and keep going so you had to land everything short . Sometimes when I am around 90 to 100 yards I use and sandwedge and swing hard and where the ball lands the ball stays
Using a sand wedge I take dead aim at the stick . Other clubs I try and land it short and let it release to the hole .

[Wazmankg]

I'm pretty good with distances. It's rare for me to come up way short unless I really chunk one and even more rare for me to go over, unless I blade it. If I back one up more than a couple feet, that's very unusual. They usually stay right around where they hit too, notwithstanding green slope or unusually firm conditions. These are 2 things that I actually do right for some reason.

[Golfaddict]

My shots end up short, long, right, left, and sometimes they manage to get on the green. My iron play is my bane.

I'm decent off the tee, my wood play is good, my chipping and pitching are above average, and my putting is good. If I coul solve the mystery of my iron play I would immediately become very competitive.

[DIETER]

It depends, but mostly I want my approach shots to land short and roll up to where I want it to be - of course that doesn't always happen. Like most amateurs, I have a tendancy to under-club so I rarely go long.

[arbitrage]

5% - on the green pin high
30% - on the green short of the pin (ego thing)
10% - on the green past the pin (wind aided most of the time)
30% - short of the green (ego thing, need more club)
5% - past the green
5% - left of the green
15% - right of the green

[Darth Fader]

If not on the green then generally pin high or slightly beyond and to the left of the green. Its the best place to miss at the majority of holes at my home course.

[Walker]

I use a skycaddie and am pretty good with my distances so I am usually pin high. It is the right or left thing I need to work on.

[PA PLAYA]

In years past, I'd be more than happy with center of the green. That theory works well on small greens, but when I play courses with significantly larger greens, it's not such a great plan.

Skycaddie has helped me dial in my approach distances. Not so much for reassurance of the proper club being chosen, but equally important -- the distances to the front, middle, and back of the greens. Makes a huge difference when you know where the pins are located on any given day.

My typical miss is pin-high, right (which is a pull for me, since I'm a southpaw).

[CristieKerr]

All over the place. I'm pretty particular about where I intend to hit my irons (that doesn't mean I hit where I intend to). Being a 15 or so, I tend to miss, so I have "go zones" so to speak. Just try to weigh all the factors before hitting the shot. For instance if the pin is on the right, but there is water or a bunker just off the right edge, I'll aim for the middle of the green, but if the chip from that side of the green looks fairly normal and there isn't really any trouble, I'll aim for a region around the pin.

I would say I miss short or long equally as much. I used to miss right more than I missed left, but this past year it was the opposite.

[JPsuff]

.


I generally play to land short of the pin.

Most greens tilt towards the fairway so going beyond the pin generally leaves a downhill putt. This preference has been aided in great measure by my purchasing a SkyCaddie. With the SkyCaddie, I am able to know the front-edge distance as well as the center distance, so knowing where my "short-of-the-pin" landing area is has helped a great deal. If the green is level (or relatively so) then I have no problem shooting at the flag.


-JP

[GolfSavage]

With anything above 8 iron I push a lot of shots right of the green, but they're pin high or close.

Get me within 150, I'm shooting at the pin or just short, unless there's a good reason NOT to such as a hole cut close to a bunker, a side next to water, etc. From 150 in to about 80 or 90, if I get it within 20 feet of my intended target with a full swing, I feel I hit what I was aiming at. Right now I hit what I'm aiming at about 40% of the time (still talking about golf!), with no particular pattern to the miss. It varies a lot due to my stance, lie, hole position, time of last meal, sheer luck or lack thereof, and random economic forces. But it's getting better!

[Bigvivec]

It's an interesting question...like JP pointed out most of the greens that I see slope back to front, so shots short of the hole will either give a chip into the slope or an uphill putt...both easier to control...part of what I have been doing lately has been an experiment in stragety...I used to take just enough club to "get there"...although I am struggling with trusting my new distance, I still have a pretty good handle, but am now taking the club that will get there with average contact...therefore hitting more greens, but also putting a fair amount past the pin...in short, my scoring hasn't changed a great deal, maybe a stroke or two, but my putting would have to improve tremendously to see a real difference, and part of being a good putter is positioning yourself for an "easier" look at the hole, being upslope, albeit on the green, isn't accomplishing that...

[JungleJ]

On the whole my approach shots pitch short of the hole and either stop or run on. Hitting past the hole is rare.

The greens where I usually play get quite hard in the summer and don't allow you to stop it quickly, so my game has tended towards landing it short so that I can run up to the hole. Very often the right shot has to land short of the green.

If I am close enough to be confident of controlling the landing area then I will do as BigV says and try to leave myself the easiest putt.

[Wazmankg]

Originally Posted by Bigvivec

It's an interesting question...like JP pointed out most of the greens that I see slope back to front, so shots short of the hole will either give a chip into the slope or an uphill putt...both easier to control...part of what I have been doing lately has been an experiment in stragety...I used to take just enough club to "get there"...although I am struggling with trusting my new distance, I still have a pretty good handle, but am now taking the club that will get there with average contact...therefore hitting more greens, but also putting a fair amount past the pin...in short, my scoring hasn't changed a great deal, maybe a stroke or two, but my putting would have to improve tremendously to see a real difference, and part of being a good putter is positioning yourself for an "easier" look at the hole, being upslope, albeit on the green, isn't accomplishing that...

Judging from your daily "What did you shoot today ?" posts, I guess it's working out ok for you. On that note BigV you already have 2 strikes against you because you get to play every day AND you have a caddie. Now you're not going to turn into one of those "I shot another lousy 76 today" guys are you ? I really go against the conventional wisdom on this, though. Most of the time not only are putts more difficult from past the hole but usually up & downs are much more difficult from over rather than in front.

[Samsquanch]

Usually, over the green, short of the green, right of the green, left of the green, the next tee box, in the water, or in the trees. Then the other 50% of the time I hit a green but leave it 40-50 feet away and stick the odd close one.

[Bigvivec]

Originally Posted by Wazmankg

Now you're not going to turn into one of those "I shot another lousy 76 today" guys are you ?

You play every day for a few years and you'll turn into that guy too...

I played today and shot a 78 and was completely disgusted because I was a hair off...I would have killed for that score this time last year...

There is no end of the rainbow and the pot of gold keeps getting further away...

[Bigvivec]

Originally Posted by Samsquanch

Usually, over the green, short of the green, right of the green, left of the green, the next tee box, in the water, or in the trees. Then the other 50% of the time I hit a green but leave it 40-50 feet away and stick the odd close one.

...says the three handicap...

At least you're modest...

[stlcard_25]

I play to land on the front of greens most of the time...especially here in the summer, the greens can be hard and the landing areas in front can be like bricks. Generally you can expect 30-50 feet of runout for anything lower lofted than a 7 iron and even 10-20 feet of bounce and roll on an average wedge shot. Besides, as I see JP mentioned earlier, leaving your shots short of the pin generally leaves you with an uphill putt at it, which in my experience leads to a lot fewer three putts.

[Texas Wedge]

Everywhere. Right, left, short, long. I hit them all. I even hit some that end up on the green! Unfortunately, my approach shots are not always that accurate. If I am between clubs, I will typically go with the shorter club rather than risk going over the green. Of course, if the flag is on the front edge of the green, I'll try to make sure I have enough club to get to the green, but even then I've intentionally played a club that might leave me short because of the flag placement and potential putt versus a short-sided chip from the short grass. Where I get into the most trouble is when my shot goes right or left, though. Short or long shots are usually more of a choice (unless I'm having a hard time judging distance because of high winds). I would say I probably choose to leave a shot short more than I go past the flag, though.

[Johneli]

Anywhere where the pin isn't.