It’s wet out there but the course is playable…
We all have been there. You are on a golf tour and there has been heavy overnight rain. It is clearing up and the course is declared open for play. But the ground is still wet. You know from experience that this carries it’s own difficulties with timing and just generally adapting to the conditions. Here are ten tips for playing on a soggy golf course.
1. It’s all about your atitude
It is an outdoor sport. It is never meant to be played in a dome. Whether it is foggy, windy or soggy: accept, adapt and adjust. Look upon it as way to increase your versatility as a player. No one else is probably going to be shooting the lights out, so relax. Take more club and swing more smoothly.
2. Keep the clubface dry and clean
Whether it a driver or an iron, water on your clubface is always going to affect distance and spin. So before you hit, wipe the clubface dry. Have a towell attached to your belt or at the very least one on your bag to get quick wipe in. You see players like Tiger Woods and Jordan Speith get a towell from thier caddie to wipe the clubface down before they hit. Do this on a dewy or soggy morning. Also keep your ball clean of dirt and mud. Scratches don’t affect a ball’s direction on a putting green but dirt and grass does.
3. Read the lie
If the course is damp in places, take time to read the lie. If it is damp but you cannot bring up water with your foot, you have to play the ball as it lies. Have a look at the ground around the ball and determine whether the ground is soggy or not and whether a normal shot will work. Play the percentages and adjust if it is.
4. Adjust your chipping
Robbie Taylor from Gold Creek Golf Academy says that coming in with the handle well forward on wet lie chips is probably going to result in a chunk. At address he puts club face on it’s toe so as to stop the bounce interacting with the ground. You take the club face out low and bring it back low. You could also concentrate on narrowing the stance, which reduces the chance of error (ie hitting the ground first).
5. Go the hybrid!
If you are not a confident wedge player and you have an open green in front of you like above, then use something without any bounce, the hybrid. Run it along the sodden ground and up onto the green. Also a smart play in winter time when the lies are not as good.
6. Perfect the knock down
Robbie Taylor from Gold Creek Golf Academy says from the fairway on wet ground, he will put the ball one ball back is his stance, weight slightly on the front leg and swing smoothly and hit a knock down shot.
7. Play it like a fairway bunker shot
Another tip from Golf.com is to play a fairway shot like it is from a fairway bunker. Choke down on the club to raise your arc, hover the club at address and keep your eye on a spot an inch in front of the ball.
8. Take more club
Most people when they get on wet lies tense up and try and hit down agressively on the ball as a way of hitting the ball first. Most of the time that will result in a fat shot that goes no where. Take more club and swing more smoothly. Let the body naturally uncoil through the ball rather than force it.
9. Wet Bunkers
Again this is matter of reading the lie. If the sand is wet, it is just going to be like hitting a shot out of a bunker with not much sand in it. You could even use a wedge with less bounce (8° or less) and don’t open the blade as much as the bounce is not going to help you. Weight well forward on the lead foot will ensure the club digs in rather than bounces off the wet sand. The ball will come out lower but if you stand square to the target line and finish with your hands near your lead hip, you will be able to extract some spin.
10. Practice will breed comfort
If you live in a region where golf courses are wet often, don’t run away from the game in those times. Vary your chipping practice to include those times when you have to nick it off the surface. Play when the courses are wet to develop that experience. Get to embrace the amazing ways you can play this great game!
