Take a look at this amazing array of divots. It is an extreme example, but even at the top Blue Canyon Country Club in Phuket, you can still find such conditions.
There are 2 things you can do. The first one, practiced by many of my fellow Americans is to lift your ball, clean it and replace it in the fairway without penalty declaring a preferred lie. This of course is cheating and will get you thrown out of any tournament and really only penalizes yourself.
The second action, and the correct one, is to play the balls as it lies,
While on course divots are unfortunate, they are common in Thailand, including the better courses, as most fairways are built on a sand base, making them soft and divot prone. Of courses, No one likes hitting from a divot, especially when you’re only a pitching
wedge or sand wedge away.
Plan on using the same setup for this shot as for hitting a full pitching wedge and follow these three tips:
1. Let your hands lead. Since hitting from a divot is similar to hitting from a downhill lie, let your hands lead the club head through impact.
2. Stay down longer on the shot. A good tip is to hit the shot and stay down for three full seconds before looking up. (This point is especially helpful to also prevent those ugly chunks and topped shots!)
3. Finish lower. You should end up with your club pointing at the target, not wrapped around your body.
The best way to practice this shot is to hit from divots at the range, duplicating fairway conditions, that is of course that you have access to a grass range (not all that common here in Thailand).
If you need more information or have any questions as to which if the Thailand course have grass ranges, please leave a comment or you can contact me using this pre-made email form from my Thailand golf vacation company.
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