Hi Ron,

It really depends on my yardage, but I usually club up for my approach shots going into an elevated green. I don't know if this is a thing, but I also like putting my ball forwards at address to get a little bit more height. I don't have a range finder that tells me slope or anything so most of my numbers are just estimates. Once I get that number, I just focus on trying to hit that yardage to that fat part of the green. Usually works for me. Hope it helps. 

There is a rule of thumb to this, something like 10-15ft in elevation go 1 club up, 20ft go 2 I don't remember off hand but that's pretty close. 

I always try to hit it to the top of the flag stick. I used to come up short a lot too but trying to hit the flag has helped me a lot. 

Hope this helps, 

 Chris S

What is your strategy hitting downhill to a green below you?  I'd say you just need more practice at getting used to how much elevation requires a full club more.    With elevated greens, I find a GPS very helpful as it tells me the front and back distance.  With that info, I can then select a club accordingly.  I then pick my target line and swing.

When I'm playing an uphill, downhill, or wind shot, I decide how I think the shot will be affected (ie, and extra club).  Then I just commit my mind to that change and swing like normal.  My goal is to have everything figured out and adjusted before I swing, so all I have to worry about is the swing.  

Besides having wonderful taste in automobiles, Tim also has a keen mental game.  

Just like Tim says- Figure out what club and yardage you're going for before you swing, and you'll find yourself putting more often than not.  When I have an elevated green that I think will affect my yardage I too club up.  I also move the ball slightly forward in my stance to try and get a little more height on the shot.  I find it works well for me.

There have been a lot of great suggestions... at the end of the day I try to think of any shot as just a number.  If it is uphill, downhill, over water, over sand, etc., it really does not matter.  All that matters is hitting a specific distance (i.e., the number).  Once you determine hat the actual number is, you can then adjust it for the conditions.  If you cannot see the flag, just get the number to the middle of the green.  If it is elevated, add additional yardage as appropriate.  Same if it is into the wind.  Just the opposite if it is downwind or downhill. 

If the actual distance is 150 yards and it is to an elevated green and onto the wind, you might add 10 yards for the elevated green and another 10 yards to the wind and you then have a 170 yard shot.  Now you just need to hit the ball 170 yards and you should be good to go.  These numbers will obviously vary based on your game and the actual conditions, but you can practice to get an idea of how these items impact you.  This seems to work well when I am faced with these type of situations.

Awesome comments and great insight.  I would agree completely.

As many have said the best thing is experience. There are a few holes at my club that play as much as much as 2 clubs up hill or a club downhill. The key to remember is the number. If you hit the shot you imagined and the shot was long or short then you perfectly executed your plan, you just mis calculated.

Your doing it right by taking more club but I suggest you pick a target past he green so that you visually see the longer distance. If you pick a target short of the green you will tend to ease off the longer club and come up short anyway. 

I normally play with a Range Finder (Bushnell with slope) After a few rounds I remember how many yds I have to put or take. Elevated and Below greens are something to take into account and it gets complicated when there's wind involved.

I remember NF talking about playing into the wind. For a 10 mph face wind take 2 more clubs than usual and when playing with 20 mph winds take 4 more clubs. There was this shot that I'll never forget playing in Florida when at 155yds I had to take a 4 Iron. The wind was hitting pretty strong and the weather was a bit around 60's. Now if you have tail wind it's not proportional, for a 10mph wind you'll gain only 6-7 yds.

Thank you all for the great insight...We all should be thankful for all the help and advise we receive here at TT.... Tuesday I learned a great lesson...I pushed my drive onto the 18 fairway from the 1 st. tee :(,,,I was 165 out with a 10yd path through the trees to the green...I was in my back swing and I stopped half way (Not confident)...I switched clubs and punched out to the 1st fairway..Next swing with a PW, 2  bounces and swish....I believe now...

Are you talking about a green that is 10ft or less above the fairway or a green that is say 30ft above the fairway?  For me, when the green isn't too far above the level of the fairway (10ft or less), I just think of that as a stock shot and base my club selection on the distance and weather conditions (wind speed and direction, temp, etc...).  When the shot is severely uphill, I'll club up based on what I feel the shot will play like.  Over the years I've gotten fairly consistent with being able to guesstimate the difference in the distances.  I've seen a chart in the past that gave a rule of thumb for uphill/downhill club selection based on yardages, so you might want to try searching the web for one.  Someone else may also be able to tell you the rule of thumb.

Best of luck with getting your uphill distances corrected.

Hi Ron,

if you have access to a launch monitor, you can check your decent angle. Mine is about 48 degrees for short irons and 38 for long irons with a peak height of about 26 yards. With that information, you can us some trigonometry to guestimate the landing area on the green. You then have to factor in the other conditions like the contours of the green and wind.

I used to be short on a lot of uphill approach shots. The problem was I was adding loft to the club by adjusting my stance to the uphill lie. I stopped doing that, now I actually over shoot a lot of greens now.

I've had the same problem on elevated greens and your idea of using a club stronger is correct. Like some one said take the wind into consideration and sometime ever two clubs stronger is good.  Try not to over swing but make a good stroke at the ball and in time you will get the distance you need on those elevated greens!!  Good luck!!!!

I do use a range finder w/slop adjustment...My home course has 3 elevated greens, on 2 you can see the flag only(25ft slop w/wedge) and the other nothing (40ft slop w/short iron) . My last 3 rounds I've been adding 1 more club after slop adjustment and it seem to be working...Thanks for all your replies and advise.

Hi Ron,

My general rule of thumb is to club up if the elevation is more the 15-20 feet. But the biggest thing that I find is just trusting my swing and going back to fundamentals. Focus on hitting a good golf shot and the results will be what they are.