We all know the short game makes or breaks a scorecard, and greenside mishits are golf's ultimate frustration. My solution used to be simple pride: proper golfers play wedges. The unwritten rule was clear - if you take your game seriously, you learn to open the face of a sand wedge, master the bounce, and clip it crisp off a tight lie. A chipper was nothing more than a novelty club, a gimmick you'd expect to find in a beginner's bag or the back of a bargain bin.
There was always a lingering stigma attached to it, a subtle clubhouse snobbery that whispered you were taking an illegal shortcut if you dared to use one. There was definitely a bit of that traditionalist snobbery in me, too. Until reality caught up with my scorecards.
