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Ok, you just missed the green on your approach shot. You end up with a chip up to an elevated green (about 3-4 feet up a steep slope) and the pin is only about 2-3 feet in. (No green to work with.) What do you do?!

That shot, or something similar to it, was killing me yesterday! I either hit it too soft and didnt make it up the slope or too hard and it went rollllllling.

pull out a 3,4,5,6, or 7 wood or a hybrid and bump it up the slope. i've been working on that shot with my 7 wood, and once you get used to it, its pretty easy. just grip down on it and make a putting stroke.

Wow, seriously? I'll have to try that out. I never would have thought about trying that. Thanks

lol, no problem! be a bit patient while working on it, cuz you won't get it right the first few times. I havn't had to use that shot on the course YET, but i know i have that shot in my arsenal now... Good Luck!

Another way is to use a putter but hit it down ( putter behind your right foot ) around 30-40 degrees. It's not normal putting from the fringe. It works for your situation as well as from a deep rough as long as it's not too far from the green. Try it. It saved by bacon many times. A short chip is a very hard shot to execute it properly.

I would use my lob wedge.
It is a bit inconsistant for me at the moment, it either bumps up and stops by the hole, or I hit the middle of the ball and it shoots off the back of the green.
Just practice I guess.

exactly pull out the L wedge, open the club face and take a full swing to hit a huge flop shot, if you cant just hit a wedge into the hill and itll pop up.

What type of lie is it, are you in deep rough, or is it a closely mown area? Also, is the ball on the upslope, or do you just have to get it up the hill to the green? What is the wind doing, is it blowing in to you, at your back, or side to side? These are some of the details that I would have to take into account before deciding on a shot to hit.

First of all, the most important thing for me is to get the ball on the green and make my next shot a putt. For a shot that is in the rough and sitting up, I would hit a little lob with an open stance and open face. A lot of wrist action to pop the ball up in the air and have it land soft, hopefully right on the apron of the green to let it trickle down to the hole. If it is nestled in deep rough, I would try to hit a shot into the hill about halfway up and get it to hop up and roll out, this is a shot that I would be happy to get within five feet of the hole. Off of a tight lie I would most likely use a putter or a hybrid to get the ball rolling up the hill and then down to the hole. If there is a wind into my face, I would play a higher shot and try to use the wind to slow the ball down.

First a question... the hole is cut 2-3 feet from the edge????? What sort of maniac is setting the course up? Even 8 or 9 feet is considered very tight... anything less is nuts.

If we stipulate that your estimate is correct, then you shouldn't be aiming anywhere near that flag. Shortsiding is slow death even with a course that is properly set up, and what you describe is NOT proper. When a hole is cut close to the edge, you should always favor the wide side of the green. Aim for the center, or at worst a spot between the flag and the center, based on your normal ball flight. The idea is to make sure that your likeliest miss will still land on the green somewhere. Even a pro wouldn't be shooting at the sort of flag you are talking about. If you are leaving this sort of shot regularly, then the first thing you need to do is work on your course management skills.

Once in such situation, you may or may not have any possibility at all of getting the ball close from your predicament... depends on your lie, on what difficulties lie between you and the edge of the green, on the slope of the green once you get there, and on your ability to hit some very delicate chips. The only advice I can offer is to find a way to practice it, and use your imagination. Try different clubs to see how the ball reacts from them. What you are describing would normally be a classic bump and run situation, but you have so little green to work with that judging the power needed is going to be extremely difficult. This a shot that will be left short by 8 out of 10 amateurs, and the other 2 will hit it 30 feet past the hole.

If I'm faced with this shot, I make absolutely certain that I get the ball on the green, because anything short is likely to leave you in the same predicament all over again. So I would probably take my SW or PW and try to bump it into the top of the rise... if I execute it perfectly, I might get lucky and hit it close, but I make sure that at worst it ends up on the green somewhere.

And I learn from my mistake... next time I don't go for that pin...

Thank you for all of your suggestions. I cant wait go work on my short-short game. Well, the course wasn't a standard course. It is a nice little PAR3 course. No hole over 150 yards. Very small greens. The pin was honestly only a few feet from the edge of some of them.

It was a very windy day, and most of the time I was chipping out of the deep stuff.

I'll practice what you guys mentioned and get back to ya. Thanks again.

I was wondering the same thing. Most pins are no closer than 8 foot to the fringe and even that is tight and if it is that tight then he should have been taking an extra club to ensure he didn't end up short.

I have played on a short par 3 course like that once(!), and I take your word for the distance from the pin. On the 'course' I played the longest hole was perhaps 80-100 yards, and they had literally shrunk down all normal coarse features proportionally! Mini tee-boxes, mini fairways, mini sandtraps, mini water hazards, and mini greens, and pin-placements like the one you describe. The 'course' was nice enough, but looked more like a gardening project than a golf course!

play the percentages.. if u cant hit the shot 8/10 times, just chip the ball to the middle of the green and 2 putt. better than leaving it short.

Sound words of advice. Take the big number out of the equation.

That is a pretty brutal shot you are talking about there. What you do is partly determined by what the grass is like on the slope up to the green. If the grass is thick, putting it with a putter or hybrid is more risky. Depending on how far off the green, you could use the slope to your advantage. Take a nine iron and hit it into the slope and let it pop on to the green. It is a very hard shot any way you look at it. Putting a hole three feet from the edge of the green is pretty crazy. As a last resort, make sure nobody is looking, pick up your ball, and pitch it on the green.