This age old question has confused golfers when they find their golf ball off the putting surface for years.  I am constantly asked by my amateur playing partners; do I putt, chip or pitch this shot?

Let’s first attack this by making sure we all know the difference between a pitch shot and a chip shot.  This often confuses golfers.  A chip shot is a low flying shot that gets on the ground quickly and runs most of the distance to the target.  A pitch shot flies high in the air and will usually travel most of the way to the target through the air and has minimal roll.  With those two shots explained let’s move on to the tough decision of when to use each shot.

The saying I always teach my students is: Always putt first, when you can't putt then chip and when you can't chip it's time to pitch.  As you approach the shot from off the green look at all the variables involving the shot.  Things like: grass height, distance to pin, slope of green and fringe will all impact your decision.

As I mentioned above we always want to try to putt if possible.  Most golfers will have a higher success rate when the keep the ball on the ground.  There is generally more room for error.  A bad putt is almost always better than a bad chip or pitch.  When deciding to putt the most important factor is the grass.  If you are on the fringe or fairway cut, the grass should not significantly impact your putt and the putt is the correct option. 

However, if your ball is in the rough or taller grass, putting is not a great idea.  It would now be time to consider our next option, chipping.  Let’s start by discussing what our goal is with any chip or pitch shot.  We always want to choose a landing point on the putting surface as close to us as possible.  This generally will be something 3 to 6 feet onto the green.  This is important because the accuracy of the golfer will always be greatest when aiming for a target that is closer to them.  As we mentioned above the chip shot is a low running shot.  This is the type of shot that will be played most around greens.  I would estimate that I hit 70 percent of my shots with this technique.  It has a high success rate because it is has few moving parts and gives the largest margin of error.  Don't be afraid to chip with all the clubs in your bag from lob wedge down to a 6 iron.  The correct club for a shot is the club that allows you to land the ball just onto the putting surface and have the ball still travel the correct distance to hole.  For holes close to you this might be your lob wedge and for holes across a green, it might be a 6 iron.

There are times when we do not have enough green to allow our chip shot to stop quickly enough even if we use our most lofted wedge.  This is the time when the pitch shot will be our only option.  Remember, this is the high lofted shot that travels most of the way to the target in the air with minimal roll.  This shot should be our last resort when the other two options are not feasible.  Situations when this shot is needed are generally when the green slopes severely away from you or the pin is tucked very close to the fringe.  This shot is the most difficult of the three to pull off because of the long swing and the many moving parts in the swing.  This means this shot will have the smallest margin for error.  If the situation dictates this play, then commit to it fully, pick a target and make an aggressive swing at the ball.

I hope this helps you next time you are green side and trying to make the decision about putt, chip or pitch.  Remember the saying: Always putt first, when you can't putt then chip and when you can't chip it's time to pitch