Of course, pine straw is an integral part of many golf courses. If you can play off of it, you can really show off to your playing partners. (Or win a Masters, if you're Phil Mickelson.) Fortunately it's not hard to learn how to play it, and I found a couple of videos that cover the shot.
The first one was shot at Pinehurst, which is only about 2 hours from where I live:
And this second one is more of a checklist of things to keep in mind when you have to play off pine straw:
The main points you need to remember are these:
- You want to hit the ball before you hit the pine straw, so think of this as a chipping motion. Set up so you're sure you'll hit the ball first. Essentially you'll use your short game setup -- ball back in your stance, weight a bit more on your front foot.
- Get a solid footing, but be careful not to move the ball when you do. You don't want a penalty shot added to your score.
- Don't ground your club. Again, if the ball moves because you moved the pine needles, that's a penalty.
- If you can, determine whether there are any roots or rocks hidden by the straw. You don't want to hurt yourself.
- Did I mention that you don't want to accidentally move the ball? Be careful!
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