A long cool club from a tight lie

By T.J. Tomasi

A wedge isn’t the only club in your bag that’s good for chipping. From a tight lie near the green, if you have a clear path along the ground to the hole, try a 7- or 8-iron and set up for an easy chip-and-run.

Address the ball so that it’s between your back heel and the center of your stance, and keep most of your weight on your front side. The shot will be low and running, so take the club back with no wrist break and chip the ball with your putting stroke.

Another play in this situation is to use a fairway wood or rescue club, even your driver, if you’re really unsure of your ability to pull off the chip-and-run with an iron. Because these clubs are much longer than your irons, you can often get them down behind the ball without having to make wholesale changes in your stance, then simply use your putting stroke.

If you do use these longer clubs, forget trying to get the ball airborne. There’s about 15 degrees of loft on the 3-wood, so the ball will

be airborne even if you don’t see it.

Of course, you can only play this shot when there’s nothing but fairway and green between your tight lie and the pin. If you’ve got to clear an obstacle in front of the green such as a bunker or a creek, move the ball to the middle of your stance and use a more lofted club to give the shot more height.