The Golf Slice

A friend of mine has the terrible habit of making huge divots when he’s taking practice swings. It irritates everyone so I thought I’d write today about proper divot etiquette on a golf course.

The common rule is to fix all of your divots after each shot. This is really as simple as taking the chunk of dirt you dug up with your club and putting it back where it came from. If you step down firmly enough the grass will eventually take root again in a few days. It’s also important to fix any divots or holes your approach shots make on the putting surface before you finish out the hole.

The reason for this courtesy is to prevent golfers playing on the hole later from having to deal with unplayable lies or difficult putting situations. If you maim the course with your club you should have the decency to fix the damage to make future golfers’ have an enjoyable game after you leave the course.

As for my friend, he eventually learned to take practice swings without trying to murder the grass and all was forgiven.

An old school golfer, who wants to rant and rave about hitting irons, will tell you that as the loft of the club increases you should have a different stance. So, in other words, as the position of the ball shifted to the right as the loft changed you would take a more open stance.

Today’s golfers, especially the professionals, use a much simpler system. In this simplified approached, the right foot moves closer to the left as the loft increases and the golf ball is positioned closer to the golfer (because the shaft on the club is going to be shorter).

So the moral here is that regardless of what club you’re playing make sure your stance is square to the line and your golf ball is always played off the heel.

I talk a lot about bunker shots here on this blog and today will be no exception. There are times when you’ll want to make a chip shot out of the sand. Take these things into consideration before attempting your shot.

The first thing you should worry about is the lie of your golf ball. If you can’t get the head of your club to make clean contact with the ball then you might want to reconsider trying a chip shot.

After you’ve decided the lie is right check the lip of the bunker. If the lip is too high the ball probably won’t be able to clear it. A lower lip equals a higher probability of success with a chip shot out of the bunker.

Last, but not least, is to figure out the distance between the bunker and the flag. You’ll need plenty of space between your ball and the pin because any ball chipped out of the sand is going to come out flat and without spin. That’s the perfect recipe for a golf ball that rolls right passed the hole and keeps on going.