It has long been believed that golfers should putt whenever the opportunity presents itself because a bad putt is better than a bad chip, right?

Well, no, not exactly.

Yes, I concede that a putt is generally more controllable, but I do not for one second believe that golfers, regardless of ability or handicap should be putting from the 1st or 2nd cut of rough.

This belief comes down to the number of golfers I see regularly putting from the rough only to complain the ball didn´t react the way they thought it would, or that it took a jump offline. 

If you are not a good chipper, then I can understand why you may choose to putt from the fringe of the green rather than risk chipping it, but from the inconsistency of the rough, I believe you are leaving the result entirely down to luck and at some point, luck will always let you down.

If we look at the most basic of chipping actions, we can see immediate similarities to the putting stroke;

• Hands ahead of the ball

• Little or no movement from the wrists or hands

• Smooth pendulum-like action

There are only two differences

1 - The ball position; the putting action requiring a more advanced ball position to that of centered or slightly back ball position of the chipping action.

2 – The posture; you will be more upright, as per your usual full swing with the feet closer together and the body aligned open to the target line.

Adopting this simplistic chipping action, almost putting stroke with the irons and wedges opens up a variety of options for playing from the rough, all options that are better suited to the shot and conditions.

To simplify further this shot, you only need choose a club that will carry the ball over the initial cuts of rough so that the ball can then roll out to the hole, as it would if you were putting.

The technique can be an amplification of your putting stroke, back and through the ball with no aggression or need to “hit” the ball towards the target. It is finesse and control that you are searching for.

I am not talking about always using this approach, as mentioned previously if you are a proficient putter and your ball lies on the tightly mown fringe grass then, by all means, carry on with your putter.

We are aiming to improve the options that you have on the golf course and having the belief that a bad putt is better than a bad chip is not conducive to becoming a better golfer. You need to increase your shot arsenal and having what I consider to be an out-dated thought process, brought about by the quality, or lack of quality of the courses of yesteryear will do nothing but hold you back from reaching your true potential.