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What should I have hit?

deuce

deuce

Grenade!
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I played poorly this past weekend, but one shot in particular really got to me. It was a par 5, I had a decent drive which put me in the middle of the fairway. I followed it up with a 3W that placed me about 65 yards from the green, but I was in the rough. It was deep rough, Bermuda grass, and the ball was sitting up. That distance is typically my 60* wedge. I took a nice swing on it, but I wound up getting underneath the ball, popping it up and seeing it travel 30 yards and settling back into the rough. Flustered, I delofted the same club and wound up punching it over the green on my next shot. I went from a decent shot at birdie (or two putt for par) to a double bogey.

Given the thickness of the rough, and the lie of the ball ... how should I have properly approached that shot?
 
Well, I would probably have tried to lay up to 100-110 yards in the fairway. That's just me though. If I had to hit your shot I would have used a PW and just tried a nice easy swing and make sure I hit the ball first, you could even use a 8 or 9-iron if you didn't have any obstacles in the way. I don't use own a LW and rarly use a SW except in sand. All are different and you must go with what you have confidence in and commit to the shot.
 
I had the same shot you are describing a few times this past weekend. I have done my share of undercutting the ball and hit weak shot high on the club face kike you are describing. I finally learned to just barely touch the grass when I address a ball sitting up in deep rough. Make your normal swing and it should result in much better contact without slicing through the rough underneath the ball. If you let the club head sink down into the rough when addressing the ball, it will be hard not to hit it high on the face and a weak shot as a result.
 
The 60* is a go to club for me. It's the rough that messed me up. Never played in rough that thick before.

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deuce said:
The 60* is a go to club for me. It's the rough that messed me up. Never played in rough that thick before.

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I would not have changed your club selection personally (as I would have and do hit that club basically anywhere from 50 - 90 yards out) but would look at how you addressed the shot from that kind of lie.
 
deuce said:
The 60* is a go to club for me. It's the rough that messed me up. Never played in rough that thick before.

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I find that concentrating on hitting the top of the ball helps on this type of shot. You could have used a punch CC driver, ha ha! How did it work for you this weekend?
 
Easy PW or my 56. Those shots are the reason I no longer carry a 60. I've had too many mishits in non ideal lies.
 
I would use my 60° so I would have a chance to stay on the green with almost a full swing super high.
 
majBC said:
I find that concentrating on hitting the top of the ball helps on this type of shot. You could have used a punch CC driver, ha ha! How did it work for you this weekend?
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It was a fairway finder. Not long but consistent.
 
If I can't reach the green in 2, I definitely lay up to a better distance. For me, a 65 yard shot is extremely stressful. I would rather play from 100-115. If I am reviewing my own recap of the hole, I am regretting the second shot more than the third.
 
Would have probably played a PW or maybe my 50*. I have been in that spot to often and stopped playing a high lofted club for that shot
 
Erky said:
If I can't reach the green in 2, I definitely lay up to a better distance. For me, a 65 yard shot is extremely stressful. I would rather play from 100-115. If I am reviewing my own recap of the hole, I am regretting the second shot more than the third.
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Like I said, that shot is typically right in my wheelhouse. I don't regret being there, just that I didn't execute because it was an unfamiliar lie. From the fairway, 8 times out of 10, I stick that shot.
 
I've been having problems with that shot too. It is either up in the rough or sometimes sinks to the bottom. The worst is when it is sitting up. I've given up on the lob wedges and instead use the P and try not to go under the ball but the bermuda is a good place to avoid right now.
 
I would have used my 60 but instead of hitting down and taking the chance of sliding under the ball I would have tried to pick the ball from the rough.
 
As you have said you like the distance, I would just chalk it up to experience and try and replicate that lie in the rough sometime and work on hitting that exact shot so you know how you attack it from now on.
 
With the ball sitting up in the rough, I seem to make the same mistake as you did. Baby-ing the club under the ball hitting it nowhere. This is one scenario where I think swinging out of your shoes makes a little sense.
 
You mentioned the ball sitting 'up', and having played a lot of bermuda rough in the day, I'm guessing 'up' means you lucked out and it didn't go all the way down as it normally does, but was instead suspended in some thick grass with the top of the ball right about at grass level? That's about as 'up' as bermuda rough gets in my experience. Assuming this is the case I've had some success going one of two routes:
1) My L wedge is 58* and I'd use it there (but modify my setup and swing) if needed, but only if I needed to clear a trap or creek right up against the green.
2) If the pin were back or I had an opening to run the ball some, I'd probably opt to play the shot with something like a 9i. The shot might not make your partners saw wow, but there is more margin for error from a tricky lie with a 9i.
No matter what which club I used, my 58* or the 9i, I'd make a few changes to my setup and swing. First I'd choke up and and ensure with my practice swings that my club head was brushing through at ball level. I'd use those swings in similar rough to try and gauge how difficult the grass will be to cut through and will grip much tighter to ensure my clubhead didn't twist. My swing would be close to a wrist free pick, and my stance a little more level (less weight left than on normal pitches). I'd play for some extra roll regardless and get a real feel for my landing spot with practice swings. Finally I'd keep my mind focused on my landing spot as I replicated the practice swings and would make darn sure I was still looking at that perfect ball deep trough I cut through the rough until the ball was halfway there.
 
I probably would have done the same if not I'd choke down on a gap wedge and smack it out
 
your first one was siting up and what I try to do so as not to go under the ball and also not to cause it to move is when standing at address I leave the club (in the grass) but up higher and back a couple inches. But its a touchy judgment imo that only repetition makes possible and even then is never the same lie all the time anyway. You just have to know (best guestimate) your bottom swing arc height in relation to the ball height. A couple near by practice swings can help that judgment. Not easy and I'm not good at it but it does work more and more as I do it more.

For your second shot you are not saying if the ball was sitting up again or was it buried this time?? And when you say you punched it do you mean you skulled it? And did you think about a lower lofted club? and try to run it up the 30ish yards to the green instead of the lob wedge? If other options were available they may have been the better answer at the time for the situation.
 
I would of taken the next club up, sand wedge, taken a nice smooth swing. Out of the heavy Bermuda a trick I've learned is to place your weight forward and stay smooth. The weight forward really helps me keep the club getting through the rough and eliminates a bunch of the toe grab that happens in the gnarly stuff.
 
For this shot I would open my stance at address and take a few steeper normal practice swings, paying attention to where my club was hitting the turf. When I address the ball with my open stance I ensure to place the ball in my stance where the steeper club angle will bottom out to ensure ball first contact.
 
As Daddio mentioned, on a fluffy lie, one of the most important things is to have your weight equal between your feet. That will make it much less likely you'll go under the ball.
 
I would have went with my 56* and attempt a hinge and hold.
 
I would have taken my 58* wedge, choked down about 1 inch and hit it with a full swing.
 
I have this same shot every now and then at my course and depending on how high the ball is sitting in the rough or what green (sometimes I have to carry a greenside bunker or a large area of thick rough and land the ball on a small green) I usually opt for my 52 degree wedge. Every now and then I'll opt for my SW or PW depending on the situation.
 
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