[Uzezqelj]

"Bump and Run" is a recent term.

When I was taught this game, this shot was referred to as either a "Chip and Run" or a "Pitch and Run" (sometimes substituting "roll" for "run"), both of which I believe are more descriptive and more accurate in their meaning than the word "bump".

The "run" part is obvious; that the ball runs or rolls along the ground toward a given target. But the impetus for this could either be a pitch - a ball struck in such a way as to cause it to fly through the air a considerable distance before landing and then "running" the rest of the way; or that the ball was "chipped" - struck in a way as to cause it to momentarily rise from the ground to clear a small obstacle or area (such as the fringe of a green) and then run the rest of the way.

The term "Bump", is really quite meaningless in and of itself as it does not actually describe anything.

The Pitch/Chip and run was one of the first golf shots I learned to play and I believe that for a beginner, it is a far more intuitive and more easily mastered shot than most and offers a variety of ways to get from "Point A to Point B" other than a so-called "standard" golf shot. These shots are great in windy conditions and they taught me about contours and how the ball rolls in a variety of situations.

I still use these shots today and I'm really surprised to see that so many younger players don't seem to know much about them and are instead more focused on trajectories and distances. A "Chip and Run" is an invaluable shot around the green and can be thought of more in terms of a putt than a regular golf shot, while a "Pitch and Run" allows one to think in terms of using the whole of the green for a given shot rather than focusing on flying the ball to some tiny, imaginary circle "drawn" around the hole in one's mind.



-JP