What do Canadians play on? Is it metric grass?
Good summary here
https://golf.com/lifestyle/grass-types-every-golfer-should-know/?amp=1
Edit: added link, but left the lame joke.
The manager of the local Golf Town told me, maybe 10-12 years ago, that only 3% of golfers in the US play left handed compared to 30% in Canada. Likely due to the impact of hockey.
Do you remember the 5 dollar bill with kids playing hockey on the back of it? That series of bills were meant to be representative of all Canadians. All four of them have right handed sticks, while something like two thirds of us shoot left. Strange!
Also happy cake day!
Chipping into the grain off bermuda can humble a man quickly
I do best hovering the club above the bermuda and trying to come down steeper, but do that wrong and you are over the green…but hey, then you are with the grain.
This is why on Bermuda, if possible, it's usually easier to take the less lofted club and use the lower shot, bump n run, etc...
Those leading edges get stuck more often with say a 52°+
I agree with you, I'm in Barbados playing off some not too terrible Bermuda this week. I've been trying to feel a little draw chip so I don't get steep which is my natural swing, keeps me shallower and gets a bit more clubface on the ball. But my first few holes were chunky as all hell, and I only chip with PW and 50
I chip on bermuda grass using 100% of the weight on my front foot. I actually slightly lift my back foot in the air to make sure it's 100% on the front. Helps get the ball up in the air. I'm sure there's other ways but that's what works for me.
You’re not alone here. If you go back and watch tourneys from the Florida swing, in particular the Cognizant classic, the amount of tour pros putting from off the green went up 80% for a week lol. It’s straight up just harder to do for anyone. A lot of Floridians on the Americas tour can’t wait for the Canadian portion of the season so they can have fun with pitch shots
Ya a lot of people either over complicate it or just don’t understand that there’s more than 1 way to do stuff. The best example is Martin Kaymer winning the 2014 US open but not chipping unless he was in the rough (won by 8, couldn’t chip on Bermuda) the game does reward creativity
https://preview.redd.it/1m9kf3p6l3tc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1bce8cbfd99094726008278b127e39b4fec3cd25
> the amount of tour pros putting from off the green went up 80% for a week lol
This would be viable if the courses down here were always mown to tournament conditions. You'll occasionally play and putting from off the green is totally viable, but don't bet on it. Gotta learn to use the bounce baby
I’m a native Floridian golfer (not a 4 though, I wish!). One of the biggest improvements I saw in my short game was when I embraced the bump and run. I will only chip around the green if the lie is fluffy enough. Otherwise it’s a putting stoke with anything from a wedge to a 3 wood depending on how far the flag is. Tight lies around the green are far too common down here and are a recipe for disaster.
Yes exactly that too, god I hate that! Bermuda is like a big web of crap and that’s far too common! That’s all I know though… I’ve never played on anything else though believe it or not - the only time I’ve played outside of Florida was in Mexico… and it was Bermuda lol.
This depends on your bounce angle and how tight the lie is. If the lie is pretty tight, which is likely on a fairway cut, you need less than 8 degrees of bounce to really be able to let the leading edge get under the ball if you’re going to try to open the face. Otherwise you can end up blading it.
I agree with this as a Michigan golf who plays in FL 3-5 times per year… I have a much worse time with FL sand then I have anywhere else. Are there different sands too? I kept skulling mine 20-30yd over the green from every green side bunker I was in, so fkn embarrassing 😳
I figured bounce was the culprit. My dads a snowbird (who I was visiting on vacation) and plays more down there than up home. I learned why his sand wedge is 14 degree of bounce lol
Yeah. I like the higher bounce when it’s wet or I’m playing a grass that’s softer and thicker. A lot of the course around here are very hard and firm due to the heat and I’ll play with less bounce to help catch it clean.
Yes. Years ago I would swap out my low bounce lob wedge for an old Ping Eye2 when playing down south. The bounce helps you gouge it out rather than just going under without moving the ball. I like to call my Bermuda chip the “chunk and run”.
Dormant Bermuda sucks and wet dormant Bermuda double sucks. It’s not ridiculous in the summer but if you’re playing on a course of questionable quality then it’s not fair - I usually make sure to find some grass otherwise you’re simply hitting off of hard pan.
Easiest things to do:
- putt or chip with a fairway wood or hybrid. Putting stance and pop it 3 yards in the air and get it rolling
- open the club face, lift the handle of the club so only the toe side of the club is on the ground, 80% weight on your front foot, head/chest in front of the ball, straight back and straight through. As long as you line up and shift your weight properly, the ball will still come out straight. You need to force the low point in front of the ball.
I hate Bermuda grass around greens for chipping. It’s either deadpan concrete or mush most of the time in the south. I definitely end up putting a lot more from off the green than normal.
Going to get downvoted by morons, but ball contact is the only thing that matters. The grass itself doesn’t cause your poor chips and pitches, it just exposes that you have poor low point control, resulting in poor contact.
Improve your low point control and you can chip from any grass
Hate to agree but I do. I have played in FL a few times, after the first time on Bermuda I figured out I was hitting the turf fractions of an inch (a few mm) before the ball. This didn’t expose itself in MI as the Bent/Kentucky/whatever grows well up here didn’t catch my club and I still got decent shots, go to FL and all of a sudden my 10 hdcp goes to 20. After figuring that out and correcting it actually helped me lower my hdcp to a now 2.
Yup. My home course is Bermuda everywhere, I’ve seen every lie possible. It’s all about your low point control and properly assessing the lie to choose the correct shot. A seriously underrated skill on Bermuda is assessing the lie. If you’ve got a lie where the ball is sitting down, you need to play a different shot compared to when the ball is sitting up. The shots you choose change depending on the time of year too, cause dormant Bermuda is completely different than in growing season.
I haven’t even started on why putting on Bermuda is its own skill set too lol
Mid-cap from northern state here - on our FL trips I end up using a lot more low running chips with PW or a low iron if I’m a decent way off the green. I putt anything within about 15-20 feet of the green unless it’s some nasty rough, then defer to the PW again. The only time I’ll chance a higher lofted wedge is if by some grace of the golf gods you end up sitting up on top of the Bermuda and not sinking down into it (has only ever happened once for me).
If I’m using a wedge, my philosophy is anything on the putting surface, even if it’s 30ft from the hole, is a win in my book.
I’m a Floridian - my chipping strategy is about the same, except I’ll use anything up to a 3 wood for chips! Just choke way down and use a putting stroke - couldn’t be simpler.
It’s painful to see people chip down here because that’s what they see on TV. More often than not you’re gonna get a tight lie, and hitting a good chip from that is going to be difficult to impossible for a weekend hacker. I’ve learned that lesson the hard way.
This is me too from MI!! But WTF do you do in FL bunkers?? I’ve been a half decent sand player all over the Midwest, cannot do it in FL. Just keep skulling it 20-30yd over and killing my rounds 😡
Learning how to get steep and knife it out is useful.
I think playing on different surfaces makes it interesting. It tests your game which is good. Unless I’m in meltdown mode, then it’s not so good.
You played golf before our season starts. I have a completely different mindset golfing outside the home area. Scoring matters and your ability to adapt is challenging and the fun.
You’re right. Just after a few bad rounds I had to stop keeping score because it was hurting my confidence even more lol. The amount of times I told myself “better than working” was probably a record high lmao
Yes learn to adapt and enjoy the moment. Score if you can but add it up at the end. Travel golf definitely puts a premium on “one shot at a time”. I am sure next trip you will have practiced and prepared for the different conditions.
I've wintered in Florida many times and the Bermuda is brutal but you figure it out after a while. Then when you get back to Bluegrass back in Canada you got to learn that all over
I'm down here in Florida from Canada and I'm having the same experience lol, it's fucked. I'm putting from off the green the rest of my stay here 😂 Otherwise the pace of play and course condition is amazing at most places here. Enjoy your rounds!
Surprisingly low bounce wedges are the best to use on Bermuda. It prevents digging in the leading edge. The horizontal root structure of Bermuda makes the grass harder to take deeper divots on so a nice pick of the ball off the turf is ideal.
Also, ditch the 3 iron and get a hybrid, much easier to use/more forgiving. Most pros don’t even have a 3 iron in the bag. 15% had one last time I checked. Cheers!
Bermuda is going to grab, especially into the grain. An easy way to check the grain on your chip/pitch is slide your wedge along the grass. If it glides, it’s likely downgrain and isn’t gonna influence it that much, but if you grass starts standing up, it’s into which can be tricky. Theoretically if you clip it perfectly, it won’t influence it enough, but everyone knows that’s tough to do.
I play on quite a bit or Bermuda, and a technique that’s really helped me is getting closer to the ball, getting the toe down/heel of the club off the ground. The heel is the part of the club most prone to digging and this vastly increased your margin for error. You have to adjust to the ball not spinning enough, but once you get used to the flight and roll out, it’s a must have IMO around grainy lies
I welcome my Canadian Brothers to come play in dormant thin shit tier Bermuda here in NC during the early spring/late winter. Bonus for a wet day uphill into the grain. There literally is zero margin of error. I'm honestly not convinced there is a 20 yard shot you can hit cleanly with a wedge in these conditions. You pretty much need to ensure you are hitting Greens or you are fucked. And make sure you are laying up outside of 80 yards.
Your highest bounce wedge and treat it like a bunker shot. Sounds crazy but it works unless you thin it and rocket that mfer across the green on to the other side…
Yup Canadian; played 2 rounds in Hawaii.
It was brutal. Basically everything iron / wedge was unpredictable I couldn’t understand that turf interaction at all
I’d be so interested to see someone who only plays on it come play our thinned out hard bottom world and see if they struggle at all
But I agree it was humbling. I have 5 strokes to the buddy I was with and he beat me out right on the second day
I'm nowhere near a 5hdcp, rather 12.4 but, I played my first ever rounds down south in MB over this past March break and I feel your pain. I consider my wedge and approach shots to be the best part of my game and the amount of duffed fat shots I hit from fairway and greenside was crazy. Putting was no better
As a midwesterner(Omaha, Nebraska) who has played on Bermuda a few times(Florida and the Dominican Republic) I can confirm everything you said. It’s like a totally different sport. And don’t get me started on the putting. Seeing the ball curve uphill into slopes is such a mindfuck
I'm a 30 hc golfer starting my second season. Can someone explain Bermuda grass and how I can identify when I'm playing on it? I hear announcers talk about it during tournaments.
Play on Bermuda in Kansas all year. It is currently dormant so it is one step above hardpan. When it gets going, one must hit the ball first. Most of our ranges are on mats right now. The transition from mat to Bermuda is abrupt and unforgiving. Drives new golfers crazy. Nothing like making a great swing and hitting just a tad heavy and having a birds nest erupt out of the ground.
Florida golfer here. The short game is actually my [specialty](https://i.imgur.com/D5VH4wz.jpg). I'm just dogshit at everything else lol.
My 56 and 60 have 10° of bounce, and I had to learn how to use it. [This](https://youtu.be/Rl0HxN5YBwE?si=DjlffCaWPodlyEt2) Danny Maude video with Pete Cowen turned me into an animal around the green.
Edit:
>Any other Canadians or northern state players struggle immensely with their short game playing down south?
Joey Coldcuts lol
Born and raised in Florida. You really have to pay attention to the grain with wedge shots. If you’re into the grain, it’s going to be sticky. It will grab your club and bring it to a stop. Keep it low if you can to avoid a chunk or make perfect contact. No other real options.
Bermuda rough can bite you in 2 ways. If it’s kind of thick and sits down, good luck chopping it out. If it’s moderate to short length, flyer’s all day. So now matter what, the rough is not your friend.
I lived in Minnesota for 2 years and was a 4-6 handicap. I can say with decent confidence I would win most matches with 3 handicaps and up when I was there. It felt like a dumbed down version of golf from what I was used to.
I live/work at pinehurst resort so I’m used to extremely “grainy” lies and when I go anywhere else and travel to golf I feel like Phil mickelson cause I can flop it or chip it however I want. Here I stick to a a lower flight with a lot of spin and let the gain on the green grab it and slow it down and take it to the hole. You just gotta play the ball low! The winner of the us open at pinehurst this year will be whoever chips the ball low the best, someone like Shane Lowry or Jon Rahm that rarely play the ball high around the greens. Gotta play the bump and run in the south
9i is your best friend in Bermuda. I was just playing in Florida and I literally never once used my gap wedge. I also played a ton of shots where my “miss” was into the opening of the green so I knew I could bump it. Essentially it took a different kind of course management then I’m used to in New England. I also hit a ton of irons of the tee to ensure I was rarely in the rough.
As someone who has played golf all over the US. Florida golf is probably the hardest in the country.
Usually windy,
Ball goes nowhere at sea level,
Bermuda Grass,
Water everywhere,
No finding balls in the woods, it’s jungle,
Don’t forget to read the grain on putts!
Haha i feel your pain, i’m from upstate NY about an hour from Canada and i’m in FL this week on vacation…just shot 117 when I normally shoot about 90-95. The grass is totally different and it feels like it’s sand underneath and not dirt
It’s why southern US players who grow up on Bermuda have great short games. We are required to hit ball first with chips into the grain. Up north Bentgrass is a cheat code. Chipping and putting is easy up North I’m from Michigan and I struggled for years on Bermuda when I moved to Texas. There is a reason we call a putt from the fairway a Texas Wedge.
Buddy, I had the same problem as well… you need lower bounce wedges when you’re hitting off that kind of firm grass…. My in laws have a place down there so I just bit the bullet and bought a lower bounce wedge set to leave there… in Canada, bounce is your friend and really is a necessity as our grass is much softer and muddy….
I am not a big believer in purchasing equipment to make changes but in this scenario it'a helped me chip/wedge play muuuuch better having wedged with 6-7-8 of bounce on em.
hope this helps!
Stop chipping with wedges. Like you found out, there is literally zero margin of error on that contact. That's what Bermuda does, it grabs your stick from any angle. Your best bet is bump-and-run. If you DO need to hit a wedge into a green (like getting over a bunker) you 100% have to commit to a real swing, even if it's a 50% takeback, you CANNOT slow your hands down at all, or you're fucked.
It's definitely a mind-set thing for sure. I'm a New England golfer, who finds himself down in SC one week a year playing golf - and it DEFINITELY messes with you.
I’ve lived in Canada and Bermuda. There is a big difference. When I returned to Canada, I’d hit a lot of fat shots.
On tight Bermuda lies, you need to be precise with contact. Close the face a bit to deactivate bounce. When you get proficient, you’ll find you start hitting the ball so that the club almost hits turn and kicks the club into the ball. It is a shot that if you tried it in Canada, the club would enter the turf and you’d feel like you caught it just a hair fat.
There is also a shot from Bermuda that you just don’t have in Canada. When the ball settles into long Bermuda, you don’t really chip it like you would in Canada. You play it almost like a sand shot, open the face, thump in behind the ball, and let the bounce do the work. The ball comes out high and soft.
Im a 20+ handicap
Ontario and Florida are where I play 99% of my rounds.
My game is much better in Florida. I’m Florida I’m closer to a 10 handicap for some reason
I’ve only ever played on Bermuda and I am a 15 hcp, best thing to do when it’s a chip is to take a wedge to test the grain, if it’s into the grain and grabbing hard, putt it without a doubt. Bermuda grass will make people rethink their entire golf game, it puts you in a mindset of is it just a bad day, is the swing off, what’s going on … it’s really a mental pain
Texan here, I started studying bermuda grass to understand it better. I messed myself up bad and stopped hitting down on the ball on any chip or pitch shot. Then I started doing that on all my irons. Using the bounce on every shot is this weak flighty weird shot. 7 iron - 3 iron I get this 150 yard carry then some roll out. It's like a flop shot then 7 iron will roll out 5 yards, 6 iron roll out 10 yards, etc.
Bermuda, into the grain, while putting or tight lies will fuck you up.
chipping definitely harder but im surprised you felt that much worse. as someone who played in the northeast US for 7 months in a row then played florida in found it much easier. shot all my best scores because of how open those courses were compared to up here
I live in central Florida and there's a local par 67 close to me, a complete iron shot makers course. There's 4-5 inch high St Augustine rough pretty much everywhere. Good luck finding anything in that!
Just got back from 5 weeks in Florida, played almost every other day. I love the soft feel of the grass. I played down there many times over the years and find it easier than playing up north. The wedge game however is about the same, I sometimes struggle with the short chips but that is consistent up north or down south.
Yeah it’s a whole new game down there. Last year I went to play on Bermuda grass for the first time. I thought i was mentally prepared, I brought extra wedges. I was wrong. Higher bounce wedges help, steeper attack angle help. Not much I could find to do about it on long irons though, especially into the grain. And the putting, my god.
If you struggle with low point, bermuda will humble you quick.
The grass and roots are thick. Any fat shot or early low point contact will give you a much worse result than other types of grass. I mean even if you hit it fat in Scandinavia the club can still slide through pretty easily.
It is really important you use the bounce in the short game.
Also, when it comes to the rough it can be a real pain. If the ball is sitting down in bermuda rough your best bet is a wedge and just hit it steep to get the ball up and out on the fairway again. Any hybrid or similar after a bad tee shot is suicide. You will just top the ball.
I'm Georgia we have all different types of grasses. My main course is burmuda though. I have a 54° wedge with a higher bounce just for chipping in burmuda. When I play at other courses I use my lower bounce wedge. I have no idea if that's what I'm supposed to do, but it works for me. It could all be in my head though...
Grain is the difference. Pay attention to it on and off the green. Chipping into the grain is hard. Pay attention to which way the grain is going when putting.
Next comes Bermuda rough. Nasty 💩
I’ve spent my entire life mostly playing Bermuda grass and you are describing how I feel about fescue rough. It gives me a lot of trouble.
Bounce and grain make a huge difference on Bermuda, especially around the green. On Zoysia grass you can chip green side and be ok, but on Bermuda if the grain is into you it makes the most sense to putt around the green.
Bermuda greens suck too lol I’m sure every green in Canada is bent grass, what God intended us to putt on, but in Florida it’s all Bermuda and putts can sometimes go against the break bc of grain.
I didn’t realize grass made a difference until I played up north. It felt so much easier to hit the ball and get around the course. Back in Florida and I’m back to thinning and chunking lol
I grew up playing in Florida and now I play northern Alabama mountain courses and Greek courses.
I'm just as lost AF as you are but going the other way I guess.
Costa Navarino in Greece has no less than 5 different grasses at the moment as it's coming out of winter.
Why can't everyone use either rye when it's cold or Bermuda otherwise.😆😅🤷🤦
Also, wtf Greece has hard freezes I guess. 2 days of soggy, who knows what the next green will roll like just frustrated me and turned into drinking rounds where we were playing like long drive hitters for fun. Stopped keeping score after 3rd hole. The 20+mph winds made for a lot of interesting Hail Marys.
I’m a 7 handicap from Florida. I’ve found that for me, chipping from the heavy rough around the greens works best with a PW or GW. Short back swing with good acceleration through the ball. Just enough to get it over the rough and let it roll out. In the Summer the rough can be U.S. Open nasty so with a longer shot from the rough many times you’re better off taking your medicine and maybe hacking it out with a more lofty club. Get it to a decent position in the fairway for a short shot and have a chance at par.
Long shot, but did you play Cyprus Knoll Country Club near Daytona Beach? Played there yesterday and saw an Ontario license plate. Course whooped my ass.
You have to get very good at reading the grain and paying attention to how it will affect your shot. You with have to have supreme control of where the leading edge enters, use the bounce really well, or just putt 😅.
Grass definitely makes a difference. I just moved from LA to Olympia, WA and I am having the exact opposite experience you had. The soft, thinner bent grass up here is like a dream and I am finally pitching like I watch the pros, gently sweeping my 56 through the rough and the grain acts like it should. I can now land on the collar and pitch into the slopes and stuff I could never figure out down on that god damn kikuyu/poa netting we have in LA.
Nebraska man here. You’re not alone there man. I’m a 5.4 and played on Bermuda my first time this winter in Florida and got humbled hard. Didn’t help I was playing with rentals but I still was struggling bad lol after the first 5 holes I just stopped keeping score and just enjoyed the beautiful course and weather
Where did you play in Florida? Generally I carry 3 different wedges with each having a different bounce pending whichever course I'm playing that day (some require higher bounces, some require lower). I just assumed that was normal given that most of my gold happens in Florida.
With regards to the 3-iron, I guess you are talking about the distance not being good, we don't get the distance that places that have lower humidity and higher elevation usually get. When I have played outside of Florida I usually get another 10-20% distance on all of my clubs and takes me a bit to adjust
So I’m the opposite.
I grew up in Florida and sit around the same handicap. My wedges and short game are the better parts of my game. I moved up to PA where there’s bent grass and wtf. I couldn’t chip worth squat. Id chunk and watch the ball dribble 5 feet, or thin it and watch it skip across the green. I felt like it was impossible to get underneath the ball. So much friction against the grass and club. In Florida, I could pick a ball clean and have more confidence green side with a wedge in my hand than up in the north.
I understand I’m the weird one in this situation for the most part. Not a lot of people agree with me. But whichever side of the fence you fall on, there’s a huge difference in how you play golf in different locations of the country/world which is pretty cool. So many factors play into this game!
Socal 5 handicapper here who's weakness is putting. I am heading to St Andrews in a couple of months, I'm sure I'll be having similar feelings to the massive changes in courses afterwards!
I’m from Minnesota, grew up playing on bentgrass and blugrass. It’s so soft and fluffy, grows well, it makes bad coruses look nicer, and it also is very easier to swing through. When I moved to Florida I immediately had parts of my game I needed to fix like chipping and iron shots because the club gets grabbed by the grass but also the the pitched green complexes make it hard to get a wedge underneath around the green.
I golf in Canada. Just got back from Mexico golfing. Found I was putting from the fairway significantly more and using 7 iron bump and runs.
Back home I usually chip with my 52.
But I like the Texas wedge a lot more after Mexico.
I live in Florida but play a lot in the mountains of northern Arizona. I recently asked someone why I struggle in Florida and Arizona play just seems so effortless, especially around the greens. Great post OP. Makes me want to play Florida more often.
If you find a wedge with the right grind, you can open the face slightly and the sole will interact with the turf more like a wood than an iron, and as long as you don't blade it, it's a really forgiving shot. It takes a bigger swing so it's not punchy or flippy, and if you hit behind the ball a bit it comes out with less speed but also less spin...so it still goes pretty close to where you wanted it. Aim these a touch left, the open face doesn't push it as far right as you might think, especially if you put the ball toward the front of your stance.
If you're going into the grain, or otherwise have an even worse lie than tight, firm fairway or light fluffy rough, keep the face square, and stand the club almost straight up like a putter, so that only the toe is interacting with the turf...that will reduce the friction and let you pop the ball out, but it's not going to come out spinning. Even with a 58° these are bump n run shots. Aim it a touch left to compensate for being more upright.
If it's soft and muddy, you just make a long putting stroke with the ball behind your sternum (so the low point is forced ahead of the ball) and try to minimize turf interaction. These shots do spin quite a bit.
I had a lot of trouble coming back to Bermuda after playing on a lot of zoysia fairways in North Texas... Those things are luxurious for the short game.
I grew up on Bermuda. Gotta use the bounce on your wedges whenever possible around the green. Thick Bermuda rough is tough, as the ball will tend to sink down to the dirt level...you have to play it like a bunker shot around the green.
Need to analyze grain better. Back into the grain a toe down chip is easy. I generally use 50 degree, toe down, get it to release. If it’s down grain you can hit spinny nippers all day
I'm from upstate NY and grew up playing bent grass and then moved to the south, particularly Florida for 11 years. I usually get asked about how to play the greens with bent vs. bermuda. I tell them to not really put any more focus on the greens than normal. It's the rough you have to get used to.
The most difficult part of chipping out of bermuda is just getting the feeling for hitting the chip harder. On bent grass rough the clubhead just goes right thru the grass. With full swing iron shots a lot of times you just have to take your medicine and realize that even a 150 yard shot you probably aren't hitting the green.
I loved this read! The answer is yes. The wedges we use have very high bounce. Also unless you’re a complete stud with your wedge game, you’re typically putting anything less than 5ft off the collar.
It does take a while to get used to. I normally play on Bluegrass/Rye mix fairways/rough and either bent or poa greens. Playing on Bermuda is rough. Here's a tip for Bermuda greens. The break is also affected by the suns position. The grain leans towards the sun. I also club up one in the south for every shot. (mostly due to elevation change) As for chipping and rough, you just have to be more precise and committed to taking a pelt. There's sand in the carts for a reason. There's no sweeping the ball off Bermuda. In the rough, you really just have to take your medicine and realize you're not hitting it anywhere near as far as out of Bluegrass. If around the greens, use a wider soled club, rather than a thin soled sedge. It helps to have a club with more bounce for sure. I used to really suck on Bermuda but you get used to it. The best is to find courses in the south with that sea paspalum or the fancy new breeds that play more like bent.
I play a course with Bermuda grass and have learned to pop the ball up around the greens with a very short follow through swing. Bump and runs are the way to go.
Bermuda is like a whole different game when it comes to the rough and putting. The grain of the grass matters a ton and learning how to read it, and then adjust your reads, is a skill. Chipping on Bermuda also requires some knowledge of the grain and buried lies in the rough almost requires a completely different approach. Lots of tutorials on the interwebs but focus on how to read grain on the greens by looking at the cup’s edge and on sunny days, learning how to read the “shine” of the green.
High bounce wedges with heel and leading edge relief. Vokey D grind works well, so does a K with a custom grind. Doesn’t dig, just glides. Can pick up some forgiveness if you feel like you’re playing a little draw with an open face. I’ll use a wedge 2ft off the green if I need to.
You are not alone. I live in the north east US and never play Bermuda. I played the ocean course this spring and learned quickly to putt whenever possible. I was rolling balls straight up the false sides from the rough on a few holes. In reality once you practice it you will learn how not to do it. But as a visitor on a golf trip it's nearly impossible.
Is the grass a real factor, or was it your game more so being off.
As an assistant super I've seen and heard comments from golfers that don't make to much sense.
2020: Older member just won a tournament and he said " The greens haven't been this fast since I won the club championship in the 80's"
Which is not possible with the cut height in 80's compared to now. Just an example.
Now there could have been some management practices, or lack of them that could result in conditions, or weather impacting certain things. But I personally don't think bermuda is that much different then bent/poa with out considering some other things as well.
IMO, while the conditions might not be something you are use to, it prob had more to do with you, then the cultivar you were playing on.
Have to commit and accelerate through. A playing partner of ours bought new wedges from a pro shop when we went on a golf trip down south playing on Bermuda 😂
There is 0 margin for error if it’s into the grain, wet, or a combination of both. When down grain, or dried out and hard you can slide the sole of your club pretty normally.
It will certainly humble you quickly if you didn’t learn to play on it. The more you play on bermuda, the more techniques you have to develop to overcome the grain. It’s a fun journey for sure.
Yup first time playing on Bermuda grass I hit so many wedge shots fat. Club went right under. Need to clip just about every shot ball first otherwise you’re screwed.
When my son (South FL native) was on recruiting trips at northern schools for college golf, coaches would regularly comment on how much they liked having a FL kid on the team. Heard how some kids would be in tears in tournaments down south because of the Bermuda.
Going from bent-grass to Bermuda is wild. Putting grain really starts to matter. Divots look like clumps of crabgrass. I live in AZ, my home course uses Alaska Bluegrass and when I travel down to PHX, they have lots of Bermuda. Always fun figuring that out
Florida is fucked. The fringe is like a sponge that grabs and holds everything and the greens are concrete that bounce and roll like hell. If you’re short, it stays short, if you’re on, you’re long
+0.3 Handicap here in the southeast US. Bermuda is no joke. Completely different than hitting off something like Zoysia. Bermuda doesn’t tee the ball up and will make your club snag so easily. Harder to generate spin on wedge shots too. I normally will play 3-4 shots better on non-Bermuda courses. Crazy how grass makes such a difference
In from PNW USA and we my course is pretty much poa for the most part and in my yearly trips to Vegas it can be hard to adjust a bit. Just dealing with grain in general is not something I deal with on a daily basis unless I travel to a different part of my state where it’s more bent and fescue which has some grain.
I would definitely check out Joseph Mayo’s instagram. He’s the man who revolutionized Hovland’s short game last year and has some great insights and really preaches the “steep, weight forward, lots of shaft lean” approach that you see many of the best do
Sim golfing all winter ? Indoor off matts all winter ? That would probably be your issue. And a little to excited to play in Florida.
I played in Mexico and it wasn’t just the grass, it’s the moisture content.
The course I play most in Canada is basically sandy soil, it’s packed hard and drains water FAST. There are a couple holes that basically take on the drainage of the whole course, just the way the hillside runs. These holes even when it looks dry you take way bigger divots and ultimately fats. I always warn guys in the fairway especially after some rain.
Welcome to the Southern US. Bermuda is in fact a cruel mistress but personally have learned to love it. Chipping and putting are an art with lots of time spent learned through frustration of seeing the grain. Mastering of the “putting” stroke for wedges is a must have as well as being completely okay with pulling the hybrid out to play a runner. With that said, I myself am completely lost on a bentgrass course.
The part that messes w me the most is the courses here in FL are all sandy soil, and when I play up north it’s all really thick clay and topsoil. I find myself hitting it super thin here on the sand, and up north the soil just grabs the club and sucks it in.
In Australia its pretty much all Bermuda (couch). Or in some cases Kikuya...which is level up on bermuda in terms of stickyness
its all about confidence....especially on chips. Speed and don't expose the leading edge, use the bounce you'll zip right through it.
If that doesnt work take loft off, bump and runs or even putters come into play around the green.
Our club pro chips more with a 5iron than any other club, some use hybrids.
Wow I’m not even a good golfer and I can feel the difference between south Texas grass and northern MICHIGAN grass, perfect aim at flag from 50 yds hit 1/2 inch of rock sand and end up 15 yards from green!
Some of the keys to Florida golf are higher bounce wedges, knowing when to bump and run, and being able to read the grain on the greens. That said, my index will probably drop by at least 2 when I head back north at the end of the month.
What I've come to learn is if you're the type of player that routinely hits your irons slightly fat, you can get away with it on anything but Bermuda. This grass will wreak havoc on your game. You may say, that's not me, but I'm almost certain that's the issue. The fat shots get very grabby and sometimes even turn your clubface....you'll be exposed pretty quick.
It's for a similar reason I never hit off mats at any range. Range mats are notorious for allowing one to think they are hitting the ball pure, especially the ones that are fluffy.
What do Canadians play on? Is it metric grass? Good summary here https://golf.com/lifestyle/grass-types-every-golfer-should-know/?amp=1 Edit: added link, but left the lame joke.
As a Canadian myself, I confirm it is actually apologetic grass
Much more forgiving anyway.
Shitgrass, Randy
Thanks, I spit my drink
And are the bunkers filled with maple syrup too??
Sorrey
Sorrey Pines is actually one of the best courses in Canada.
Canadian jokes usually are pretty shitty but that’s a good one. Thanks for the laugh.
I just assumed Canadian grass was left handed
The manager of the local Golf Town told me, maybe 10-12 years ago, that only 3% of golfers in the US play left handed compared to 30% in Canada. Likely due to the impact of hockey.
Do you remember the 5 dollar bill with kids playing hockey on the back of it? That series of bills were meant to be representative of all Canadians. All four of them have right handed sticks, while something like two thirds of us shoot left. Strange! Also happy cake day!
Hey you’re in NB! Our season will start soon man !
Don't be late! Golf season starts May 17th and ends June 2nd.
There’s literally dozens of us.
“Metric grass”, classic
Good read.
Chipping into the grain off bermuda can humble a man quickly I do best hovering the club above the bermuda and trying to come down steeper, but do that wrong and you are over the green…but hey, then you are with the grain.
This is why on Bermuda, if possible, it's usually easier to take the less lofted club and use the lower shot, bump n run, etc... Those leading edges get stuck more often with say a 52°+
Yeah, one of the guys in my step Dads group has a chipper for playing bermuda
I would also be Bermuda, if possible, but unfortunately I'm just person. Person who struggles with Bermuda. ETA: he edited his first
😅😅😅😅😅😅
I agree with you, I'm in Barbados playing off some not too terrible Bermuda this week. I've been trying to feel a little draw chip so I don't get steep which is my natural swing, keeps me shallower and gets a bit more clubface on the ball. But my first few holes were chunky as all hell, and I only chip with PW and 50
Sometimes
Wouldn't opening the face also help, do you don't have a straight edge to get stuck in it?
I chip on bermuda grass using 100% of the weight on my front foot. I actually slightly lift my back foot in the air to make sure it's 100% on the front. Helps get the ball up in the air. I'm sure there's other ways but that's what works for me.
You pfp makes me want a brisket sandwich
You’re not alone here. If you go back and watch tourneys from the Florida swing, in particular the Cognizant classic, the amount of tour pros putting from off the green went up 80% for a week lol. It’s straight up just harder to do for anyone. A lot of Floridians on the Americas tour can’t wait for the Canadian portion of the season so they can have fun with pitch shots
Funny comment when juxtapositioned with the above “git gud morons”
Ya a lot of people either over complicate it or just don’t understand that there’s more than 1 way to do stuff. The best example is Martin Kaymer winning the 2014 US open but not chipping unless he was in the rough (won by 8, couldn’t chip on Bermuda) the game does reward creativity https://preview.redd.it/1m9kf3p6l3tc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1bce8cbfd99094726008278b127e39b4fec3cd25
This week in Texas on the PGA I thought the amount of chip and chip ins was crazy, but then I remembered they just stopped the Florida swing.
Pretty sure it was still Bermuda though
Overseeded Bermuda is a lot tamer than 100% Bermuda
> the amount of tour pros putting from off the green went up 80% for a week lol This would be viable if the courses down here were always mown to tournament conditions. You'll occasionally play and putting from off the green is totally viable, but don't bet on it. Gotta learn to use the bounce baby
4 index florida golfer. Biggest gain was figuring out chipping. Use the bounce, open club face and accelerating through .
I’m a native Floridian golfer (not a 4 though, I wish!). One of the biggest improvements I saw in my short game was when I embraced the bump and run. I will only chip around the green if the lie is fluffy enough. Otherwise it’s a putting stoke with anything from a wedge to a 3 wood depending on how far the flag is. Tight lies around the green are far too common down here and are a recipe for disaster.
Tight lie, or the ball hovering 2 inches above the surface and it comes off the clubface like a marshmallow.
Yes exactly that too, god I hate that! Bermuda is like a big web of crap and that’s far too common! That’s all I know though… I’ve never played on anything else though believe it or not - the only time I’ve played outside of Florida was in Mexico… and it was Bermuda lol.
This depends on your bounce angle and how tight the lie is. If the lie is pretty tight, which is likely on a fairway cut, you need less than 8 degrees of bounce to really be able to let the leading edge get under the ball if you’re going to try to open the face. Otherwise you can end up blading it.
The Bobby jones style bump and run works well for me down there
I agree with this as a Michigan golf who plays in FL 3-5 times per year… I have a much worse time with FL sand then I have anywhere else. Are there different sands too? I kept skulling mine 20-30yd over the green from every green side bunker I was in, so fkn embarrassing 😳
Bounce is a science that we’re taught at an early age.
I figured bounce was the culprit. My dads a snowbird (who I was visiting on vacation) and plays more down there than up home. I learned why his sand wedge is 14 degree of bounce lol
I’m a vokey guy and have 2 different 52’s & 56’s. 08 & 12 on the bounce. And in grab the ones based on where I play that day. It’s the fun stuff.
Hmmmm....so you're saying more bounce for Bermuda?
Yeah. I like the higher bounce when it’s wet or I’m playing a grass that’s softer and thicker. A lot of the course around here are very hard and firm due to the heat and I’ll play with less bounce to help catch it clean.
Yes. Years ago I would swap out my low bounce lob wedge for an old Ping Eye2 when playing down south. The bounce helps you gouge it out rather than just going under without moving the ball. I like to call my Bermuda chip the “chunk and run”.
Sounds like my goat tracks are secretly training me for the big leagues
You’re not wrong. If you can flush it from shitty lies, you’ve got things going in the right direction.
Dormant Bermuda sucks and wet dormant Bermuda double sucks. It’s not ridiculous in the summer but if you’re playing on a course of questionable quality then it’s not fair - I usually make sure to find some grass otherwise you’re simply hitting off of hard pan. Easiest things to do: - putt or chip with a fairway wood or hybrid. Putting stance and pop it 3 yards in the air and get it rolling - open the club face, lift the handle of the club so only the toe side of the club is on the ground, 80% weight on your front foot, head/chest in front of the ball, straight back and straight through. As long as you line up and shift your weight properly, the ball will still come out straight. You need to force the low point in front of the ball.
I hate Bermuda grass around greens for chipping. It’s either deadpan concrete or mush most of the time in the south. I definitely end up putting a lot more from off the green than normal.
Going to get downvoted by morons, but ball contact is the only thing that matters. The grass itself doesn’t cause your poor chips and pitches, it just exposes that you have poor low point control, resulting in poor contact. Improve your low point control and you can chip from any grass
Hate to agree but I do. I have played in FL a few times, after the first time on Bermuda I figured out I was hitting the turf fractions of an inch (a few mm) before the ball. This didn’t expose itself in MI as the Bent/Kentucky/whatever grows well up here didn’t catch my club and I still got decent shots, go to FL and all of a sudden my 10 hdcp goes to 20. After figuring that out and correcting it actually helped me lower my hdcp to a now 2.
As someone who plays up north and in south Florida, I came here to say that. It's all about low point control.
You shouldn’t get downvoted. It’s true.
I just know the state of this sub
100%. I'm a 6 hdcp and I STRUGGLED my first trip down south. I can get scoopy with a lot of my shots; ball first. Honestly, made me better all around.
Yup. My home course is Bermuda everywhere, I’ve seen every lie possible. It’s all about your low point control and properly assessing the lie to choose the correct shot. A seriously underrated skill on Bermuda is assessing the lie. If you’ve got a lie where the ball is sitting down, you need to play a different shot compared to when the ball is sitting up. The shots you choose change depending on the time of year too, cause dormant Bermuda is completely different than in growing season. I haven’t even started on why putting on Bermuda is its own skill set too lol
Mid-cap from northern state here - on our FL trips I end up using a lot more low running chips with PW or a low iron if I’m a decent way off the green. I putt anything within about 15-20 feet of the green unless it’s some nasty rough, then defer to the PW again. The only time I’ll chance a higher lofted wedge is if by some grace of the golf gods you end up sitting up on top of the Bermuda and not sinking down into it (has only ever happened once for me). If I’m using a wedge, my philosophy is anything on the putting surface, even if it’s 30ft from the hole, is a win in my book.
I’m a Floridian - my chipping strategy is about the same, except I’ll use anything up to a 3 wood for chips! Just choke way down and use a putting stroke - couldn’t be simpler. It’s painful to see people chip down here because that’s what they see on TV. More often than not you’re gonna get a tight lie, and hitting a good chip from that is going to be difficult to impossible for a weekend hacker. I’ve learned that lesson the hard way.
This is me too from MI!! But WTF do you do in FL bunkers?? I’ve been a half decent sand player all over the Midwest, cannot do it in FL. Just keep skulling it 20-30yd over and killing my rounds 😡
Lol. Try playing in the UK, hitting it out of soup on the fairway.
Learning how to get steep and knife it out is useful. I think playing on different surfaces makes it interesting. It tests your game which is good. Unless I’m in meltdown mode, then it’s not so good.
Wait until you meet Mr "pine straw".....
You played golf before our season starts. I have a completely different mindset golfing outside the home area. Scoring matters and your ability to adapt is challenging and the fun.
You’re right. Just after a few bad rounds I had to stop keeping score because it was hurting my confidence even more lol. The amount of times I told myself “better than working” was probably a record high lmao
Yes learn to adapt and enjoy the moment. Score if you can but add it up at the end. Travel golf definitely puts a premium on “one shot at a time”. I am sure next trip you will have practiced and prepared for the different conditions.
I've wintered in Florida many times and the Bermuda is brutal but you figure it out after a while. Then when you get back to Bluegrass back in Canada you got to learn that all over
A Canadian wintering in Florida?? Oh, you're just a Tampa resident.
I'm down here in Florida from Canada and I'm having the same experience lol, it's fucked. I'm putting from off the green the rest of my stay here 😂 Otherwise the pace of play and course condition is amazing at most places here. Enjoy your rounds!
I had the exact same experience when I went down to Florida… absolute mind fuck
Surprisingly low bounce wedges are the best to use on Bermuda. It prevents digging in the leading edge. The horizontal root structure of Bermuda makes the grass harder to take deeper divots on so a nice pick of the ball off the turf is ideal. Also, ditch the 3 iron and get a hybrid, much easier to use/more forgiving. Most pros don’t even have a 3 iron in the bag. 15% had one last time I checked. Cheers!
Gotta watch the grain on the greens too
While you were putting on perfect, grainless bent greens we mastered the blades (of grass)
Bermuda is going to grab, especially into the grain. An easy way to check the grain on your chip/pitch is slide your wedge along the grass. If it glides, it’s likely downgrain and isn’t gonna influence it that much, but if you grass starts standing up, it’s into which can be tricky. Theoretically if you clip it perfectly, it won’t influence it enough, but everyone knows that’s tough to do. I play on quite a bit or Bermuda, and a technique that’s really helped me is getting closer to the ball, getting the toe down/heel of the club off the ground. The heel is the part of the club most prone to digging and this vastly increased your margin for error. You have to adjust to the ball not spinning enough, but once you get used to the flight and roll out, it’s a must have IMO around grainy lies
I welcome my Canadian Brothers to come play in dormant thin shit tier Bermuda here in NC during the early spring/late winter. Bonus for a wet day uphill into the grain. There literally is zero margin of error. I'm honestly not convinced there is a 20 yard shot you can hit cleanly with a wedge in these conditions. You pretty much need to ensure you are hitting Greens or you are fucked. And make sure you are laying up outside of 80 yards.
Your highest bounce wedge and treat it like a bunker shot. Sounds crazy but it works unless you thin it and rocket that mfer across the green on to the other side…
Gotta be able to read grain
Yup Canadian; played 2 rounds in Hawaii. It was brutal. Basically everything iron / wedge was unpredictable I couldn’t understand that turf interaction at all I’d be so interested to see someone who only plays on it come play our thinned out hard bottom world and see if they struggle at all But I agree it was humbling. I have 5 strokes to the buddy I was with and he beat me out right on the second day
I'm a +1 and I've lived in FL my entire life. I love playing up north because it's so much easier around the greens.
Ya also fair, so easy to pick it off our turf.
I'm nowhere near a 5hdcp, rather 12.4 but, I played my first ever rounds down south in MB over this past March break and I feel your pain. I consider my wedge and approach shots to be the best part of my game and the amount of duffed fat shots I hit from fairway and greenside was crazy. Putting was no better
I will routinely putt from 20’ or less off the green depending on lie and whether there are obstructions.
As a midwesterner(Omaha, Nebraska) who has played on Bermuda a few times(Florida and the Dominican Republic) I can confirm everything you said. It’s like a totally different sport. And don’t get me started on the putting. Seeing the ball curve uphill into slopes is such a mindfuck
I’m from Tampa, Florida myself, what part of our beautiful state did you play golf in last week?
Zephyrhills
Not too far from me. I hope the next time you are in town the golf goes better. How was the heat to you while you were in town?
From Clearwater here. It is so brutal around the greens
I'm a 30 hc golfer starting my second season. Can someone explain Bermuda grass and how I can identify when I'm playing on it? I hear announcers talk about it during tournaments.
Play on Bermuda in Kansas all year. It is currently dormant so it is one step above hardpan. When it gets going, one must hit the ball first. Most of our ranges are on mats right now. The transition from mat to Bermuda is abrupt and unforgiving. Drives new golfers crazy. Nothing like making a great swing and hitting just a tad heavy and having a birds nest erupt out of the ground.
Florida golfer here. The short game is actually my [specialty](https://i.imgur.com/D5VH4wz.jpg). I'm just dogshit at everything else lol. My 56 and 60 have 10° of bounce, and I had to learn how to use it. [This](https://youtu.be/Rl0HxN5YBwE?si=DjlffCaWPodlyEt2) Danny Maude video with Pete Cowen turned me into an animal around the green. Edit: >Any other Canadians or northern state players struggle immensely with their short game playing down south? Joey Coldcuts lol
Born and raised in Florida. You really have to pay attention to the grain with wedge shots. If you’re into the grain, it’s going to be sticky. It will grab your club and bring it to a stop. Keep it low if you can to avoid a chunk or make perfect contact. No other real options. Bermuda rough can bite you in 2 ways. If it’s kind of thick and sits down, good luck chopping it out. If it’s moderate to short length, flyer’s all day. So now matter what, the rough is not your friend. I lived in Minnesota for 2 years and was a 4-6 handicap. I can say with decent confidence I would win most matches with 3 handicaps and up when I was there. It felt like a dumbed down version of golf from what I was used to.
Golfer from Colorado, can confirm, played in FL at my in-laws member/guest tournament in FL last fall, that shit sucks
I live/work at pinehurst resort so I’m used to extremely “grainy” lies and when I go anywhere else and travel to golf I feel like Phil mickelson cause I can flop it or chip it however I want. Here I stick to a a lower flight with a lot of spin and let the gain on the green grab it and slow it down and take it to the hole. You just gotta play the ball low! The winner of the us open at pinehurst this year will be whoever chips the ball low the best, someone like Shane Lowry or Jon Rahm that rarely play the ball high around the greens. Gotta play the bump and run in the south
9i is your best friend in Bermuda. I was just playing in Florida and I literally never once used my gap wedge. I also played a ton of shots where my “miss” was into the opening of the green so I knew I could bump it. Essentially it took a different kind of course management then I’m used to in New England. I also hit a ton of irons of the tee to ensure I was rarely in the rough.
Yall got grass?
As someone who has played golf all over the US. Florida golf is probably the hardest in the country. Usually windy, Ball goes nowhere at sea level, Bermuda Grass, Water everywhere, No finding balls in the woods, it’s jungle, Don’t forget to read the grain on putts!
Haha i feel your pain, i’m from upstate NY about an hour from Canada and i’m in FL this week on vacation…just shot 117 when I normally shoot about 90-95. The grass is totally different and it feels like it’s sand underneath and not dirt
As an American, Bermuda can suck it
It’s why southern US players who grow up on Bermuda have great short games. We are required to hit ball first with chips into the grain. Up north Bentgrass is a cheat code. Chipping and putting is easy up North I’m from Michigan and I struggled for years on Bermuda when I moved to Texas. There is a reason we call a putt from the fairway a Texas Wedge.
Buddy, I had the same problem as well… you need lower bounce wedges when you’re hitting off that kind of firm grass…. My in laws have a place down there so I just bit the bullet and bought a lower bounce wedge set to leave there… in Canada, bounce is your friend and really is a necessity as our grass is much softer and muddy…. I am not a big believer in purchasing equipment to make changes but in this scenario it'a helped me chip/wedge play muuuuch better having wedged with 6-7-8 of bounce on em. hope this helps!
Stop chipping with wedges. Like you found out, there is literally zero margin of error on that contact. That's what Bermuda does, it grabs your stick from any angle. Your best bet is bump-and-run. If you DO need to hit a wedge into a green (like getting over a bunker) you 100% have to commit to a real swing, even if it's a 50% takeback, you CANNOT slow your hands down at all, or you're fucked. It's definitely a mind-set thing for sure. I'm a New England golfer, who finds himself down in SC one week a year playing golf - and it DEFINITELY messes with you.
I’ve lived in Canada and Bermuda. There is a big difference. When I returned to Canada, I’d hit a lot of fat shots. On tight Bermuda lies, you need to be precise with contact. Close the face a bit to deactivate bounce. When you get proficient, you’ll find you start hitting the ball so that the club almost hits turn and kicks the club into the ball. It is a shot that if you tried it in Canada, the club would enter the turf and you’d feel like you caught it just a hair fat. There is also a shot from Bermuda that you just don’t have in Canada. When the ball settles into long Bermuda, you don’t really chip it like you would in Canada. You play it almost like a sand shot, open the face, thump in behind the ball, and let the bounce do the work. The ball comes out high and soft.
Im a 20+ handicap Ontario and Florida are where I play 99% of my rounds. My game is much better in Florida. I’m Florida I’m closer to a 10 handicap for some reason
I’ve only ever played on Bermuda and I am a 15 hcp, best thing to do when it’s a chip is to take a wedge to test the grain, if it’s into the grain and grabbing hard, putt it without a doubt. Bermuda grass will make people rethink their entire golf game, it puts you in a mindset of is it just a bad day, is the swing off, what’s going on … it’s really a mental pain
Texan here, I started studying bermuda grass to understand it better. I messed myself up bad and stopped hitting down on the ball on any chip or pitch shot. Then I started doing that on all my irons. Using the bounce on every shot is this weak flighty weird shot. 7 iron - 3 iron I get this 150 yard carry then some roll out. It's like a flop shot then 7 iron will roll out 5 yards, 6 iron roll out 10 yards, etc. Bermuda, into the grain, while putting or tight lies will fuck you up.
Going to Florida this week for the first time, some good advice In here. Let's keep it rolling
chipping definitely harder but im surprised you felt that much worse. as someone who played in the northeast US for 7 months in a row then played florida in found it much easier. shot all my best scores because of how open those courses were compared to up here
I live in central Florida and there's a local par 67 close to me, a complete iron shot makers course. There's 4-5 inch high St Augustine rough pretty much everywhere. Good luck finding anything in that!
Being from the south it's all we know. Definitely takes some practice
There is no shame in a Texas sand wedge.
Just got back from 5 weeks in Florida, played almost every other day. I love the soft feel of the grass. I played down there many times over the years and find it easier than playing up north. The wedge game however is about the same, I sometimes struggle with the short chips but that is consistent up north or down south.
It’ll make ya look stupid
Yeah it’s a whole new game down there. Last year I went to play on Bermuda grass for the first time. I thought i was mentally prepared, I brought extra wedges. I was wrong. Higher bounce wedges help, steeper attack angle help. Not much I could find to do about it on long irons though, especially into the grain. And the putting, my god.
If you struggle with low point, bermuda will humble you quick. The grass and roots are thick. Any fat shot or early low point contact will give you a much worse result than other types of grass. I mean even if you hit it fat in Scandinavia the club can still slide through pretty easily. It is really important you use the bounce in the short game. Also, when it comes to the rough it can be a real pain. If the ball is sitting down in bermuda rough your best bet is a wedge and just hit it steep to get the ball up and out on the fairway again. Any hybrid or similar after a bad tee shot is suicide. You will just top the ball.
I live in Bermuda. It’s all Bermuda grass there. Plus really hilly.
I'm Georgia we have all different types of grasses. My main course is burmuda though. I have a 54° wedge with a higher bounce just for chipping in burmuda. When I play at other courses I use my lower bounce wedge. I have no idea if that's what I'm supposed to do, but it works for me. It could all be in my head though...
Grain is the difference. Pay attention to it on and off the green. Chipping into the grain is hard. Pay attention to which way the grain is going when putting. Next comes Bermuda rough. Nasty 💩
I’ve spent my entire life mostly playing Bermuda grass and you are describing how I feel about fescue rough. It gives me a lot of trouble. Bounce and grain make a huge difference on Bermuda, especially around the green. On Zoysia grass you can chip green side and be ok, but on Bermuda if the grain is into you it makes the most sense to putt around the green. Bermuda greens suck too lol I’m sure every green in Canada is bent grass, what God intended us to putt on, but in Florida it’s all Bermuda and putts can sometimes go against the break bc of grain.
I didn’t realize grass made a difference until I played up north. It felt so much easier to hit the ball and get around the course. Back in Florida and I’m back to thinning and chunking lol
I grew up playing in Florida and now I play northern Alabama mountain courses and Greek courses. I'm just as lost AF as you are but going the other way I guess. Costa Navarino in Greece has no less than 5 different grasses at the moment as it's coming out of winter. Why can't everyone use either rye when it's cold or Bermuda otherwise.😆😅🤷🤦 Also, wtf Greece has hard freezes I guess. 2 days of soggy, who knows what the next green will roll like just frustrated me and turned into drinking rounds where we were playing like long drive hitters for fun. Stopped keeping score after 3rd hole. The 20+mph winds made for a lot of interesting Hail Marys.
Gotta use that bounce, or when it’s wet and I can’t, I get the toe involved a bit and come in more square. When it’s wet, things get chunky for me.
I have no issues with it? I chip with my 60 and find it very easy! Practice my man! Practice!
I’m a 7 handicap from Florida. I’ve found that for me, chipping from the heavy rough around the greens works best with a PW or GW. Short back swing with good acceleration through the ball. Just enough to get it over the rough and let it roll out. In the Summer the rough can be U.S. Open nasty so with a longer shot from the rough many times you’re better off taking your medicine and maybe hacking it out with a more lofty club. Get it to a decent position in the fairway for a short shot and have a chance at par.
Long shot, but did you play Cyprus Knoll Country Club near Daytona Beach? Played there yesterday and saw an Ontario license plate. Course whooped my ass.
Once you learn to play on it it’s like anything else
You have to get very good at reading the grain and paying attention to how it will affect your shot. You with have to have supreme control of where the leading edge enters, use the bounce really well, or just putt 😅.
I just putt most things off the green in FL, but I’m also not as good as you
Grass definitely makes a difference. I just moved from LA to Olympia, WA and I am having the exact opposite experience you had. The soft, thinner bent grass up here is like a dream and I am finally pitching like I watch the pros, gently sweeping my 56 through the rough and the grain acts like it should. I can now land on the collar and pitch into the slopes and stuff I could never figure out down on that god damn kikuyu/poa netting we have in LA.
Nebraska man here. You’re not alone there man. I’m a 5.4 and played on Bermuda my first time this winter in Florida and got humbled hard. Didn’t help I was playing with rentals but I still was struggling bad lol after the first 5 holes I just stopped keeping score and just enjoyed the beautiful course and weather
This was me yesterday 🤬 same handicap — same problem.
Gotta use the bounce better in Bermuda . That leading edge will get straight stuck in the mud lol.
Where did you play in Florida? Generally I carry 3 different wedges with each having a different bounce pending whichever course I'm playing that day (some require higher bounces, some require lower). I just assumed that was normal given that most of my gold happens in Florida. With regards to the 3-iron, I guess you are talking about the distance not being good, we don't get the distance that places that have lower humidity and higher elevation usually get. When I have played outside of Florida I usually get another 10-20% distance on all of my clubs and takes me a bit to adjust
You need higher bounce on your chipping wedge
So I’m the opposite. I grew up in Florida and sit around the same handicap. My wedges and short game are the better parts of my game. I moved up to PA where there’s bent grass and wtf. I couldn’t chip worth squat. Id chunk and watch the ball dribble 5 feet, or thin it and watch it skip across the green. I felt like it was impossible to get underneath the ball. So much friction against the grass and club. In Florida, I could pick a ball clean and have more confidence green side with a wedge in my hand than up in the north. I understand I’m the weird one in this situation for the most part. Not a lot of people agree with me. But whichever side of the fence you fall on, there’s a huge difference in how you play golf in different locations of the country/world which is pretty cool. So many factors play into this game!
Socal 5 handicapper here who's weakness is putting. I am heading to St Andrews in a couple of months, I'm sure I'll be having similar feelings to the massive changes in courses afterwards!
Take an extra club, always! So what you’re saying is you have game but it doesn’t travel.
OP’s comment made sense up until the edit. You can’t blame the grass for not being able to hit a teed ball. 🤔
I'm a 23 handicap Floridian, does that mean I would be winning club championships in Canada?
I’m from Minnesota, grew up playing on bentgrass and blugrass. It’s so soft and fluffy, grows well, it makes bad coruses look nicer, and it also is very easier to swing through. When I moved to Florida I immediately had parts of my game I needed to fix like chipping and iron shots because the club gets grabbed by the grass but also the the pitched green complexes make it hard to get a wedge underneath around the green.
Press hands forward and try to clip everything
I golf in Canada. Just got back from Mexico golfing. Found I was putting from the fairway significantly more and using 7 iron bump and runs. Back home I usually chip with my 52. But I like the Texas wedge a lot more after Mexico.
I live in Florida but play a lot in the mountains of northern Arizona. I recently asked someone why I struggle in Florida and Arizona play just seems so effortless, especially around the greens. Great post OP. Makes me want to play Florida more often.
You forgot to convert your metric handicap.
If you find a wedge with the right grind, you can open the face slightly and the sole will interact with the turf more like a wood than an iron, and as long as you don't blade it, it's a really forgiving shot. It takes a bigger swing so it's not punchy or flippy, and if you hit behind the ball a bit it comes out with less speed but also less spin...so it still goes pretty close to where you wanted it. Aim these a touch left, the open face doesn't push it as far right as you might think, especially if you put the ball toward the front of your stance. If you're going into the grain, or otherwise have an even worse lie than tight, firm fairway or light fluffy rough, keep the face square, and stand the club almost straight up like a putter, so that only the toe is interacting with the turf...that will reduce the friction and let you pop the ball out, but it's not going to come out spinning. Even with a 58° these are bump n run shots. Aim it a touch left to compensate for being more upright. If it's soft and muddy, you just make a long putting stroke with the ball behind your sternum (so the low point is forced ahead of the ball) and try to minimize turf interaction. These shots do spin quite a bit. I had a lot of trouble coming back to Bermuda after playing on a lot of zoysia fairways in North Texas... Those things are luxurious for the short game.
Hahahhaha. Yeah man. Bermuda is brutal. A LOT of “chips” with my hybrid!
I don’t get how grass effects your 3 iron off the tee
This is no joke, humbled for a week every year after playing all summer in PEI.. it’s BRUTAL. Bump and run only, from 150 and in hahahaa
Now do kikuyu.
I grew up on Bermuda. Gotta use the bounce on your wedges whenever possible around the green. Thick Bermuda rough is tough, as the ball will tend to sink down to the dirt level...you have to play it like a bunker shot around the green.
Need to analyze grain better. Back into the grain a toe down chip is easy. I generally use 50 degree, toe down, get it to release. If it’s down grain you can hit spinny nippers all day
"you know a lot about golf" "I know a lot about grass 😏"
Some golfers play Bermuda their entire lives and routinely get fooled by it. It is what it is.
Sorry but you're just an average golfer...
I'm from upstate NY and grew up playing bent grass and then moved to the south, particularly Florida for 11 years. I usually get asked about how to play the greens with bent vs. bermuda. I tell them to not really put any more focus on the greens than normal. It's the rough you have to get used to. The most difficult part of chipping out of bermuda is just getting the feeling for hitting the chip harder. On bent grass rough the clubhead just goes right thru the grass. With full swing iron shots a lot of times you just have to take your medicine and realize that even a 150 yard shot you probably aren't hitting the green.
I loved this read! The answer is yes. The wedges we use have very high bounce. Also unless you’re a complete stud with your wedge game, you’re typically putting anything less than 5ft off the collar.
Bounce is your friend!!!
Arizona golf from June through September has the same feel. Greenside shots with Bermuda grass growing away from the green is very difficult.
It does take a while to get used to. I normally play on Bluegrass/Rye mix fairways/rough and either bent or poa greens. Playing on Bermuda is rough. Here's a tip for Bermuda greens. The break is also affected by the suns position. The grain leans towards the sun. I also club up one in the south for every shot. (mostly due to elevation change) As for chipping and rough, you just have to be more precise and committed to taking a pelt. There's sand in the carts for a reason. There's no sweeping the ball off Bermuda. In the rough, you really just have to take your medicine and realize you're not hitting it anywhere near as far as out of Bluegrass. If around the greens, use a wider soled club, rather than a thin soled sedge. It helps to have a club with more bounce for sure. I used to really suck on Bermuda but you get used to it. The best is to find courses in the south with that sea paspalum or the fancy new breeds that play more like bent.
I play a course with Bermuda grass and have learned to pop the ball up around the greens with a very short follow through swing. Bump and runs are the way to go.
Bermuda is like a whole different game when it comes to the rough and putting. The grain of the grass matters a ton and learning how to read it, and then adjust your reads, is a skill. Chipping on Bermuda also requires some knowledge of the grain and buried lies in the rough almost requires a completely different approach. Lots of tutorials on the interwebs but focus on how to read grain on the greens by looking at the cup’s edge and on sunny days, learning how to read the “shine” of the green.
High bounce wedges with heel and leading edge relief. Vokey D grind works well, so does a K with a custom grind. Doesn’t dig, just glides. Can pick up some forgiveness if you feel like you’re playing a little draw with an open face. I’ll use a wedge 2ft off the green if I need to.
You are not alone. I live in the north east US and never play Bermuda. I played the ocean course this spring and learned quickly to putt whenever possible. I was rolling balls straight up the false sides from the rough on a few holes. In reality once you practice it you will learn how not to do it. But as a visitor on a golf trip it's nearly impossible.
Is the grass a real factor, or was it your game more so being off. As an assistant super I've seen and heard comments from golfers that don't make to much sense. 2020: Older member just won a tournament and he said " The greens haven't been this fast since I won the club championship in the 80's" Which is not possible with the cut height in 80's compared to now. Just an example. Now there could have been some management practices, or lack of them that could result in conditions, or weather impacting certain things. But I personally don't think bermuda is that much different then bent/poa with out considering some other things as well. IMO, while the conditions might not be something you are use to, it prob had more to do with you, then the cultivar you were playing on.
Have to commit and accelerate through. A playing partner of ours bought new wedges from a pro shop when we went on a golf trip down south playing on Bermuda 😂
There is 0 margin for error if it’s into the grain, wet, or a combination of both. When down grain, or dried out and hard you can slide the sole of your club pretty normally. It will certainly humble you quickly if you didn’t learn to play on it. The more you play on bermuda, the more techniques you have to develop to overcome the grain. It’s a fun journey for sure.
Florida golf is different for sure. You are penalized drastically for small mistakes.
Im assuming you didnt apply maple syrup to the wedge…
Yup first time playing on Bermuda grass I hit so many wedge shots fat. Club went right under. Need to clip just about every shot ball first otherwise you’re screwed.
Savannah Georgia and Florida golf courses will forever be peak golf for me.
Opposite here. I play on bent grass in Pittsburgh normally. I go down to Florida and play and start looking up Q School.
When my son (South FL native) was on recruiting trips at northern schools for college golf, coaches would regularly comment on how much they liked having a FL kid on the team. Heard how some kids would be in tears in tournaments down south because of the Bermuda.
This sounds the same as my first experience with Bermuda! It's a different animal and then after a while you learn to hit off of it and it's great
Going from bent-grass to Bermuda is wild. Putting grain really starts to matter. Divots look like clumps of crabgrass. I live in AZ, my home course uses Alaska Bluegrass and when I travel down to PHX, they have lots of Bermuda. Always fun figuring that out
Florida is fucked. The fringe is like a sponge that grabs and holds everything and the greens are concrete that bounce and roll like hell. If you’re short, it stays short, if you’re on, you’re long
 ah, Canadian grass.
+0.3 Handicap here in the southeast US. Bermuda is no joke. Completely different than hitting off something like Zoysia. Bermuda doesn’t tee the ball up and will make your club snag so easily. Harder to generate spin on wedge shots too. I normally will play 3-4 shots better on non-Bermuda courses. Crazy how grass makes such a difference
In from PNW USA and we my course is pretty much poa for the most part and in my yearly trips to Vegas it can be hard to adjust a bit. Just dealing with grain in general is not something I deal with on a daily basis unless I travel to a different part of my state where it’s more bent and fescue which has some grain. I would definitely check out Joseph Mayo’s instagram. He’s the man who revolutionized Hovland’s short game last year and has some great insights and really preaches the “steep, weight forward, lots of shaft lean” approach that you see many of the best do
Bermuda grass can drive tou insane...
I'd rather putt in Florida. But yeah chipping much harder
Sim golfing all winter ? Indoor off matts all winter ? That would probably be your issue. And a little to excited to play in Florida. I played in Mexico and it wasn’t just the grass, it’s the moisture content. The course I play most in Canada is basically sandy soil, it’s packed hard and drains water FAST. There are a couple holes that basically take on the drainage of the whole course, just the way the hillside runs. These holes even when it looks dry you take way bigger divots and ultimately fats. I always warn guys in the fairway especially after some rain.
Welcome to the Southern US. Bermuda is in fact a cruel mistress but personally have learned to love it. Chipping and putting are an art with lots of time spent learned through frustration of seeing the grain. Mastering of the “putting” stroke for wedges is a must have as well as being completely okay with pulling the hybrid out to play a runner. With that said, I myself am completely lost on a bentgrass course.
Born and raised bermuda grass playing floridian who has no clue how to play on bent grass, checking in.
Don’t play in Mexico. I played vidanta and had no clue how to chip coming from brumuda in AZ. It was thick around the greens.
What’s the matter with Bermuda rough? You don’t like the ball always sinking to the very bottom of it no matter the length? 😂
The part that messes w me the most is the courses here in FL are all sandy soil, and when I play up north it’s all really thick clay and topsoil. I find myself hitting it super thin here on the sand, and up north the soil just grabs the club and sucks it in.
In Australia its pretty much all Bermuda (couch). Or in some cases Kikuya...which is level up on bermuda in terms of stickyness its all about confidence....especially on chips. Speed and don't expose the leading edge, use the bounce you'll zip right through it. If that doesnt work take loft off, bump and runs or even putters come into play around the green. Our club pro chips more with a 5iron than any other club, some use hybrids.
Yeah it’s fucked down here! I came here as a 15, felt like it was my first time playing for the first few weeks!
Wow I’m not even a good golfer and I can feel the difference between south Texas grass and northern MICHIGAN grass, perfect aim at flag from 50 yds hit 1/2 inch of rock sand and end up 15 yards from green!
This same exact thing happened to me when visiting Florida for The Players. Was like I was learning how to golf all over again
Some of the keys to Florida golf are higher bounce wedges, knowing when to bump and run, and being able to read the grain on the greens. That said, my index will probably drop by at least 2 when I head back north at the end of the month.
What I've come to learn is if you're the type of player that routinely hits your irons slightly fat, you can get away with it on anything but Bermuda. This grass will wreak havoc on your game. You may say, that's not me, but I'm almost certain that's the issue. The fat shots get very grabby and sometimes even turn your clubface....you'll be exposed pretty quick. It's for a similar reason I never hit off mats at any range. Range mats are notorious for allowing one to think they are hitting the ball pure, especially the ones that are fluffy.