Lie angle on flat fairways
· Harlan Gray
Most of the golf played around Naperville is on level ground, and level ground is unforgiving about lie angle. On a sidehill the ball is already moving in some direction. On a flat fairway every miss is yours.
A club that is one degree too upright sends the ball left by roughly three yards for every thirty of carry. On a wedge that is nothing. On a seven iron it is the difference between the center of the green and the bunker.
Checking your own
Draw a line on the sole with a dry marker, hit a ball off a lie board or a taped mat, and look at where the mark lands. If it is toward the toe, the club is too upright for you. If it is toward the heel, it is too flat.
That is the same test we run at the shop. You can do it at home, and it costs nothing.