We've launched the new forums! Read more here

Are home course rough too tall / thick?

Daluteh

Daluteh

Touring Purple - 2024 Bag Boy Championship
Albatross 2024 Club
Joined
Aug 13, 2020
Messages
23,739
Reaction score
27,575
Location
SE MN
I was playing last night and I missed the fairway 4 times - one was a slice and went in the woods and was gone so let's call it 3 times yesterday. Of those three times - they were in the rough MAYBE 10-20 feet, it wasn't that bad.

I had an insane time finding two of them - maybe it's the ball I am using (Divide - at the end I switched just to a white ball because they were so hard to see) or maybe that the rough is just getting too tall and thick. We would need to basically drive over the ball to be able to spot them. My cartner only hit 1 fairway I think so we were looking all over for his and he lost a few but his were also more offline.

Kind of a rant but not really - I know you're supposed to be punished for not hitting the short stuff but losing your ball when you know roughly where you hit it the penalty should be it's harder to get out - less carry - less accuracy and all that but not being able to find your ball seems a bit drastic.

Anyone else having this problem? Maybe I'm just noticing it more because we are in league and it's important to not just give yourself extra strokes because you can lose that hole or get less points for the team.
 
I have had a couple of problems this year, but both times it has been because we have had so much rain they haven't been able to cut the rough.

Normally, it isn't a problem.
 
The course I play league at has thick, deep rough. It's also hilly so many times you only have an idea of the area the ball landed, so it's very easy to lose your ball on wayward shots. This past Monday I didn't lose any balls, which I considered to be quite an accomplishment.
 
Our rough off the fairway isn't to bad, playable but better hit it well. No we do have waste areas of tall prairie grass that if you get into you won't find the ball.
 
I can’t stand when a local course tries to play US Open with the rough. I guess they think it is what players want or they just don’t cut due to some rain. But, when you get a public course with really bad rough it makes for the longest day. Pace becomes horrible. You lose a ball just off the fairway.

Just not fun.

You want a rough, but you want it to be fair for the players you draw playing.
 
Dartgod said:
The course I play league at has thick, deep rough. It's also hilly so many times you only have an idea of the area the ball landed, so it's very easy to lose your ball on wayward shots. This past Monday I didn't lose any balls, which I considered to be quite an accomplishment.
Click to expand...
I think that's another big consideration - we have a lot of hills and rather blind shots so while you know the vicinity of a shot you don't know exactly where it landed. Not a huge looking area but it's there.
 
TRyan said:
I have had a couple of problems this year, but both times it has been because we have had so much rain they haven't been able to cut the rough.

Normally, it isn't a problem.
Click to expand...
Maybe that's been the problem more than anything - we had a very wet earlier part of the season but it should be all dried up now.
 
The 1st hole at a local course is a par 5. The tee shot calls for a draw over a fairway bunker but there are trees just left that will knock a ball down so don't draw it too much. The fairway is elevated and falls off short and right and the grass in both areas is thick and gnarly. We had 2" of rain last night and they usually just can't mow that area very often. It can be very difficult to find balls that you see miss the fairway and are lost in the rough, especially to start the round.
 


Yellow Calloway ball has helped some. 4w of the tee has helped a lot. 😁
 
Played last Tuesday the day after the holiday and it was pretty awful. It was the hardest it’s been in a while to get a ball out of the rough. Played this week and it was much more like it usually is. We asked the starter about it and he said all between the rain and holiday they got a little behind on their cutting.
 
Super thick rough here. We broke records for May precipitation, and the wet, cool conditions continue. It's not just thick but also saturated wet. Even fairways give a little splash when a ball lands. Very hard to control distance. It is also easy to loose a ball in the rough. Playing in league Tuesday I hit a drive into the rough. It is a line I usually take. Losing a ball there is hard to even imagine and yet I couldn't find the ball. Ran back to the tee and hit another. Hit basically the same shot. As I jogged back to the bag and 2nd ball, I happened to look down and see my first ball. No way to see it unless one was standing directly over it with a specific sight line.
 
Right now, if I don't keep the ball in the fairway, or at least the 1st cut, i won't find the ball. i have poor eye sight until i complete some Yag Laser repairs in a few weeks. .

Our course has thick, ball eating rough.

I have gone to shorter distances off the tee to not lose balls. I don't hit any ball over 150-170 yards off any tee.. This when I don't have anyone with me who can see the ball flight, and point me in the right direction. I'm giving up 50-70 yards for better accuracy.on tee shots.

Surprisingly, I am still scoring well with these shorter tee shots. Mostly because Im not losing balls, and taking penalties.

The term "fairways and greens" is there for a reason I suppose.
 
I find it is more of an issue in the spring when there is a lot of rain. Later in the summer the rough tends to thin out a bit.
 
Ours is pretty good, unless like others have mentioned, the rain prevents cutting. That's rough (pun intended) when you know pretty much where your ball landed but can't find it in the rough.
 
We play a course here sometimes that is basically fairway bordered by scrub and wilderness. Waist high weeds, poison ivy, fallen tree branches, snakes, you name it. Not every hole is like that but the ones that are mean if you miss a fairway you'll likely never find your ball again unless you just get lucky. You want to fix the distance problem on tour? Easy, tell them to play a course like that and get rid of all spotters. You miss the fairway? Fine, you and your caddy have 3 minutes to find it or it's deemed lost - take your penalty and move on like the rest of us peons. All the spraying and praying you see each weekend will quickly end.
 
There are several courses around me where the rough is just death. You can so easily lose your ball just off the fairway.
 
if the actual rough(not an area 30 yards off of fairway) has grass that hides a ball, it's too tall.
No1 gripe about golf, slow players/long rounds. Guess what adds to that time.
 
Our courses are have a hard time keeping up with the rough, with all the rain we have had.
 
Where I play mostly is well maintained though nestled in the woods. So fairways are great, very playable. But you don’t want to be slicing or shanking.
 
6' off the fairway, rough is ankle deep and there is nothing you can do but hit a wedge, or at best a short iron out of there. Makes for a long day if the driving is off at all. More rain this weekend......
 
Deep fescue/bluegrass and deep Bermuda are two different animals, but have equal amounts of suck.
 
Bosco... said:
Deep fescue/bluegrass and deep Bermuda are two different animals, but have equal amounts of suck.
Click to expand...
Unless you are Patrick Reed, "Deciding" which shot to hit until you have pressed down the grass enough with four different clubs that you can now magically get a 3 wood on the ball............
 
Don't even bother looking for your ball in it.
 
Not yet, but it will be soon. Bermuda grows like crazy in the summer heat, and our course leaves it pretty tall. When it's in full summer condition, you can lose a ball less than a foot off the fairway, and forget about a short game - there's no finesse involved, it's just hack, slash and hope.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top