‘Bump and Run’ With a Fairway Metal
By Dr. T. J. Tomasi, Keiser University College of Golf Senior Faculty and Director of Research
Even if you’ve played a lot of junior golf, it still takes time to add unusual shots to your arsenal.
In a recent tournament, an LPGA player was fighting for the win when she crushed her tee shot and hit a 5-iron to a par 5 that ended up just short, at the bottom of a steep slope. It was a tight lie with gnarly grain, and she made the mistake of trying to putt it. She ended up taking three strokes to get down from 20 yards, losing the tournament as a result. The safe shot this player should have used is a bump-and-run with a fairway rescue club — a unique shot that she won’t need often, but a handy one to have on board no matter what your handicap is.
The idea is to use enough loft to get the ball off the grass before it starts its roll up the hill. Even though it will be airborne as soon as it’s hit, it won’t look that way. In fact, it will look more like a putt than a chip.
Putters have about 4+ degrees of loft, while the rescue club in the photos below has 23 degrees, more than enough loft to give it the correct spin to drive the ball forward up the slope. This shot is like a chip in that the weight starts, stays, and finishes on the front foot to ensure that you make contact with your hands leading the clubhead. Unlike a chip, however, the ball is positioned just forward of the center of the stance, creating a flatter angle of attack for more roll. Also, if the shot is a longish one, you should employ a slight wrist cock on the backswing to produce more power. Cocking your wrists with a synchronized, small turning of the chest adds force so you can hit bump-and-run shots up to 80 yards through a heavy wind or under other conditions, such as hard, fast fairways and greens. But remember, never try a shot on the course that you haven’t practiced, so take a bucket of balls to a practice green area and experiment with this shot before you try it on the golf course. Once you get used to how the ball reacts in varying circumstances, the bump-and-run can save you strokes – and maybe even a tournament or two.
By definition, this is a bump-and-run — a low shot with spin that lands into the slope (the “bump” part), then bounces up the slope and rolls to the hole (the “run” part). Note how close this pro is to the ball, a posture that’s similar to her putting stance.
A rescue club (with, say, 23 degrees of loft) is an excellent choice for this shot, as it has enough loft to lift the ball out of difficult lies and its long shaft allows you a compact swing that’s low to the ground.
If you’d like to study with Dr. Tomasi and other PGA Master Professionals, contact The College of Golf today.
