Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club Dubai professional Jack Woods shows you how simple set-up tweaks can help you cope with uneven lies.
“I hit the ball great on the range but struggle on the course”. Does this sound like you? It’s certainly a refrain I regularly hear from amateurs, including members here at Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club.
One reason is that on the course we rarely enjoy the flat lies we get for every shot on the range. One such lie is pictured here where the ball is severely above my feet. This shot requires a couple of small changes to your set up and an understanding of how the ball flight will be affected.
This shot requires an understanding of how the ball flight will be affected.
Firstly, you must try to match your posture to the slope. This means you need to stand more upright whilst gripping slightly down the club, which helps the lie angle of the club sit more neutral to the slope. From here the lie angle is still going to be more upright than normal so you need to accept that the ball will, if hit correctly, curve right to left in flight (for a right-handed golfer). Instead of changing your movement to counter this, something that is very difficult to do, simply aim right of the target and allow the ball to naturally curve back towards the flagstick. The degree to which you aim right depends on the severity of the slope so this will require a little trial and error to master.
Jack Woods is a PGA Teaching Professional at Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club’s Peter Cowen Academy Dubai. For more information, visit dubaigolf.com
