Lewis: How to control your chip shots

One of the most overlooked skills in chipping is developing the ability to land the ball on the green exactly where you want it from the hole.
To do this, a good practice drill is to place several hula-hoops at different distances from the hole on the chipping green. As you land your chip shots in the hula-hoops, learn how far your shots roll with your sand wedge, pitching wedge, 8-iron and 6-iron.
Once you learn how to control your chipping distance, the ball should stop within a hula-hoop’s distance of the hole. I always have a few hula-hoops in my office if you want to give this tip a try.
Counting Putts
I believe there are as many forms of betting in golf as there are golfers.
I hear about dots, polies, sandies and barkies, and other type of betting every week. Last week, a popular bet was if you three-putted, you have to pay. But rules always effect the bets.
For example, Shawn Kemp has a long putt on 17th hole and strokes it too hard. His putt rolls off the green by two feet. Kemp putts back to the hole only to miss by a couple of inches. After Shawn taps in, he declares that he only had two putts because the putt off the green should not count as a putt.
Is Kemp correct? The answer is found at the bottom of the column.
86-year-old shoots his age
Congratulations to 86-year-old Neil Schatmeier for shooting his age last Monday. Bill Hamada and Chuck Kayser witnessed Schatmeier’s great round on the Diablo Course at Ridgemark Golf and Country Club.
AT&T Pro-Am Tip
In this week’s tip for enjoying the AT&T Pro-Am at Pebble Beach, here are the best locations at for spectators during Saturday’s round. The first location is between the third green, fourth tee, 16th green and 17th tee. There is always a big-name pro and celebrity passing through this area.
Another hot spot is by the eight green, ninth tee, 14th green and 15th tee. Next week, I will give you the hot spots for Spyglass.
Answer
Shawn is correct. The green is prepared specifically for putting and a ball is considered on the green if any part of the ball is touching the green. You may choose to use your putter from off the green, as you may choose to use any club in your bag.