High Versus Low Chips and Pitches: Which Approach Yields Better Results?

Do you always pull the same club out of your bag to try and get up and down around the green? A lot of golf professionals talk about keeping the ball lower around the greens. I agree but I wanted to see some data to back this up. Yes, we know there is less room for error with lower-lofted clubs but what does that look like from an up-and-down percentage? We asked Shot Scope to pull some data on the most-used clubs and the up-and-down percentages they produce. Here’s what we found.

A little bit about the data

The data in the table below is for golfers within 25 yards of the green. It excludes putts. You’ll notice we gave data for using the putter from off the green to get up and down.

25-handicap golfer

The higher-handicap golfer is most likely to use the putter to attempt to get up and down and that’s a really smart choice. You’ll also notice that the sand wedge is the next most likely club to use but offers one of the lowest up-and-down percentages.

When you have the opportunity to use a lower-lofted club, take it. If your usage percentage looks like this as a higher-handicapper, move away from the lob and sand and more towards the 9-iron and 8-iron.

Club	Usage %	Up and Down %
Putter	41	62
LW	13	16
SW	19	17
GW	8	22
PW	10	23
9-iron	4	25
8-iron	4	25

15-handicap golfer

Mid-handicappers have a lot of success using the putter. We see the same trend. The higher-lofted wedges don’t have higher up-and-down percentages. Also, you’ll notice the usage data for the 15-handicappers shows a real decline with lofts higher than the sand wedge.

Try breaking out the 9-iron or 8-iron a little more often for bump-and-run shots. Your up-and-down percentages should increase significantly.

Club	Usage %	Up and Down %
Putter	38	71
LW	20	25
SW	22	27
GW	9	32
PW	8	33
9-iron	3	35
8-iron	3	36

5-handicap golfer

Low-handicap golfers have good success using the putter. You see more stability in their up-and-down percentages across the board. Even though these players are less likely to use a 9-iron or 8-iron than any other handicap range, they still have better luck than those with the lob wedge.

Sometimes, it’s not just a matter of having the skill; it’s making the correct choice.

Club	Usage %	Up and Down %
Putter	32	78
LW	31	39
SW	22	42
GW	8	49
PW	4	48
9-iron	2	48
8-iron	1	47

Pulling it all together

Some pretty clear conclusions can be made from this analysis.

• For all handicaps, the club most used for shots within 25 yards (not on the green) is the putter. It’s also the most successful club for getting up and down.
• The 25=handicap and 15-handicap golfers use the sand wedge more than any other club, even though lower-lofted clubs give a much higher chance of getting up and down.
• The lower-handicap golfers use the lob wedge quite a bit but they have a 10 percent less chance of getting up and down than they do with their gap wedge.

What changes should you make?

Maybe you have tracked data like this using Shot Scope CONNEX or similar tools for your own game to see where you have the most success. The key is that when you find yourself in one of those situations with room between you and the pin where you aren’t sure if you should fly it or roll it to the hole, you now have your answer.

Keeping the ball lower to the ground will increase your chances of getting up and down.