Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth is an iconic stop on the PGA Tour. The course is 84-years-old and the holes are lined with mature, full-grown trees that make the fairways a bit more narrow than they appear.
One shot that tour players have at their disposal is the low punch shot. An errant drive will bring that shot into play this week as the PGA Tour is finally back in action after a 91-day virus-forced hiatus.
The field will face the same situations next week at the Harbour Town Golf Links — huge numbers of stunning live oaks and pines line those fairways.
So today we look to 2018 Colonial champion Justin Rose to demonstrate the low punch shot or knockdown shot if you prefer that moniker.
Okay, now that you’ve watched Justin show us the proper shot, let’s review his keys:
First, set up with a 60-40 weight distribution — 60 percent of your weight on your front foot, 40 percent on the back foot.
Ball position is well back in your stance.
Hands are forward, shaft lean is forward.
Your right side at address will be slightly higher than normal.
You will have less weight-shift than normal, Justin tells us its more of “hands and arms swing.”
Finally, your finish will be shorter, sawed off if you will.
If you watch Justin Rose this week, you will notice that he’s ditched the Honma clubs. After signing a contract with the company, Rose just wasn’t happy after playing with the clubs on the PGA Tour. He gradually began replacing Honma clubs with his former clubs from TaylorMade.
The split became formalized a couple of months ago and Rose now has a full complement of TaylorMade clubs back in the bag.
Such is life on the PGA Tour.
So take this pointer from Justin and practice it. These shots also come in very handy in windy conditions. Your shots will be more solid and your scoring will improve.
