Should more golfers putt more often from just off the green?

There’s no doubt there are many circumstances from just off the green when using a putter is the obvious choice. Most amateurs with even a modicum of skill in course management will utilise that shot whenever it’s sensible to do so.

The problem is that many amateurs use the shot when it’s not sensible to do so. How often do you see an amateur attempt to putt from a tuft of long grass, or through and across two different cuts of rough and a fringe? The chances of judging the speed correctly are minute.

I wouldn’t advocate that amateurs reach automatically for a lofted wedge and attempt the aerial route from just off the green. Often, more prudent is that most straightforward of little shots – the wrist-free chip-and-run.

By taking out a 7-iron and making a putting stroke, one can loft the ball (ever so slightly) over the fringe and/or rough and on to the putting surface, thereby taking out the unpredictability of rolling through longer grass.

If a player reaches for the putter too often, they create a vicious cycle. They’re too nervous to use any loft, so they don’t. Next time, they’re even more nervous to chip. By the time they face a situation where chipping is the only viable option, they’re a bundle of nerves and the results are ugly.

Yes, using the putter is the percentage play in many ‘just off’ green situations. But to rely on it too heavily creates a chink in the armour. To play to full potential, golfers of all abilities need a go-to shot that takes out the variables of rolling through different cuts of grass. By playing that shot regularly, be it chip-and-run or other, they will become comfortable and will get up-and-down far more frequently.

It may be a bit of a generalisation, but from my experience, the higher the handicap, the more likelihood there is of a player reaching for the lob wedge when their ball is lying on the fringe. But why would any golfer seeking to put together the best possible score, let alone a less-skilled player, choose to make any shot more complicated than it need be?

Maybe they’re worried that putting from anywhere other than the green will be seen as a sign of weakness, telling others that they haven’t quite mastered the art of chipping yet. Padraig Harrington, a triple Major winner and highly regarded shortgame exponent, would disagree. He told me years ago that the first question he asks himself when he gets to the ball is, “Can I putt it?” If the answer is yes, he invariably will, even from beyond the fringe sometimes.

The reason it makes such good sense is that there is no clubhead/turf interaction to factor into the strike – the single reason that so many chips go wrong. It’s pretty hard to fat a putt, while any slightly thin contact will be far less catastrophic with a putter. All you have to judge is pace, line and how the putt will roll through the first few feet of fractionally longer grass.

There’s no landing spot to work out, either – something often overlooked by the ‘chip from the fringe’ brigade. Add a tier or two into the equation, land it in the wrong place and there’s scope for things to go far more wrong than if you’re simply rolling the ball along the ground.

So, why not start saving yourself the odd shot or two here and there by whipping off the putter headcover just a little earlier?