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It’s often said that the shot that gets you into trouble off the tee will help you get out of it. That’s all good and fun, but our team of experts have some more pointed advice to help you hit Seve-like escape shots out of the trees.
Summer time, when the leaves are in full bloom, is when trees are one of golf's toughest hazards. That rule that trees are "90 percent air" feels more like 10 percent. Whether you need to go high, low or around, we have a tip so that you don’t turn one bad shot into a big number.
1. Navigating tree trouble
Season 6 of Ask Rory debuted this month on GolfPass, but for this tip on tree trouble we travel back to the first season where Rory McIlroy talks through strategy from a tricky situation behind a tree with a lake short of the green. He discusses two options and the technique to executing both of them.
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2. Trouble shots – hitting around trees
Devan Bonebrake covers it all in this “Trouble Shots” episode from 2022. He breaks down hitting from divots, thick rough, extreme side hill lies and in this episode, tree trouble. The focus is on purposeful hooks and slices to escape the trees.
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3. Escaping the trees
Martin Chuck addresses almost every scenario you can find on the course in his series, Breaking Bad Habits: On the Course. In this episode, he breaks down the elements that determine how aggressive you can be from the trees and the proper technique to hit a low punch shot that chases up to the green. Make sure you avoid the big boo boo!
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4. Control the ball with a low flight
Martin Hall and Blair O’Neal teach the keys to executing the low trajectory punch shot, which always helps when you’re stuck in the trees. It’s as simple as four total changes to the set up and swing.
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5. Bubba’s Masters hook
No tree escape shot is more iconic than Bubba Watson’s miraculous snap hook wedge during the playoff for the 2012 Masters. You may not have hands like Bubba, but you still can take a few pointers from this tip to help the next time you end up in golf jail.
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