Tom F. Stickney II is the Director of Instruction and Business Development at Punta Mita, in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Punta Mita is a 1,500-acre golf and beach resort located 45 minutes from Puerto Vallarta on a beautiful peninsula surrounded by the Bay of Banderas on three sides. Amenities include two Nicklaus Signature Golf Courses with 14 holes directly on the water, a golf academy, four private beach clubs, a Four Seasons Hotel, a St. Regis Hotel, as well as multiple private villas and homesites available. Read on for Tom’s tip for pitching off slopes around the green.
As we all know pitching around the green can be perplexing off the flattest of lies, not to mention the uneven ones! There are four lies you must master in order to have a complete short game. In this series we’ll cover the uphill lie, the downhill lie, the uphill Sidehill lie and the downhill Sidehill lie. Understanding how the ball will react off these lies will make your life much easier!
Pitching off Slopes Around the Green: The Downhill Lie
It’s hard to get the ball in the air on this lie and if you follow conventional instruction you would tilt your shoulder with the slope. This reduces loft and will cause the ball to run. This is fine if you have green to work with, but usually you do not! So, if you have this lie and you have no green, I would suggest centering the spine or leaning it a touch rearward with an open club face. Doing these two things will add loft and cause you to hit softer shots around the green.
To see this in action, check out the video below.
For more information regarding Punta Mita, golf outings, golf schools and private lessons, e-mail tom.stickney@puntamita.com.
For more golf tips from Tom, click here.