how should you change your shot distance when in the rough?
A lot of it depends on your lie. The 40% rule makes sense if it’s nestled down, or the grass is laying in a way that will tangle the club. But if the ball is sitting up in a “flyer” you may need to take a bit off since it can come out clean but with less spin.
Agree with this ^^^^
It really depends on the rough itself and your lie. If the rough is not thick and you can make clean contact, then distances should be relatively the same. If your ability to make clean contact is compromised, that is where you would need to make the adjustment.
It really depends on the rough itself and your lie. If the rough is not thick and you can make clean contact, then distances should be relatively the same. If your ability to make clean contact is compromised, that is where you would need to make the adjustment.
Well, if I'm in the rough, I'll just reach for my 3W... and address the ball a few times with it... of course, I'll take a few practice swings in between... then I'll try my 7W... and do the same thing... then I might consider a wedge or short iron... then go back to the club I think I want to hit. The lie should be better now with all of the club consideration I was doing.
It's what I see on tv sometimes... so it's right. Right?
In reality, I just grab one more club than I'd hit normally... take my shot, and then walk the 10 yards to my topped ball and try again.
It's what I see on tv sometimes... so it's right. Right?In reality, I just grab one more club than I'd hit normally... take my shot, and then walk the 10 yards to my topped ball and try again.
In terms of the lie, it also depends on the grass you're playing. Bermuda & Zoisia (all warm weather grass that will be brown & dormant in winter) grass the ball is going to sit down a lot & sometimes get lost in never never land. So you might be gauging it out back into the fairway, not even thinking about the green. Bent grass & Rye grass the ball has a better chance of sitting up. Then you have to see which way the grass is laying .... towards you (into the grain) = take an extra club .... away from you (downgrain) = flyer lie = take one or more less club. One thing that can happen when you are down grain is that the bounce of the club can slide too much and you can hit it further than you thought.
SunnyWalker
Well-known member
If I'm 120 yards out thats a basic PW for me. Depending on how firm the greens are, and the lie, approach angle etc., I might play it as a 110 yard shot. If the greens are holding well and the lie is decent might play a stock 120 PW. If the lie is awful, buried in deep rough, I'll expect it not to come out well at and end up short of the green after playing a PW or SW.
I would never play my 160 club (6 iron) from 120 yards. IF I was playing into a 30 mph headwind or chipping it lower under tree branches are the only things that come to mind, but not a standard shot from the rough.
Nestled down, I'll go down a club or two. Sitting up, just playing a standard shot.
A lot of good responses so far. I've never played up north with other grasses so I can only talk about Bermuda which can vary a lot. If it's thick healthy bermuda that is fairly tall then a lot of times it will nestle down. As @golfinnut said it could be you could just be trying to get it into the fairway or somewhere close to the green. If it's not too tall then you make just play an extra club and hit it hard. If it's mowed fairly short then sometimes I'll play less club because you can get a flier and go long or may just not get much spin and will roll out on the green.
What if you usually play out of the rough and have to adjust your distances for the fairway?
I can think of basically no scenario where I would swing for an extra 40%.
Nope.
Nope.
razaar
Well-known member
Take a leaf out of the unwritten tricks some tour pros use in the rough. Take two or three clubs out of the bag and set up each behind the ball as if you are selecting the right club and shot. If you have done this right you will have given your self an easier shot and increased the chances of a better strike.
Hmmmm.
Hmmmm.
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The rough's direction of growth, and the lie of the ball will tell me what club to use.
If I have a clean lie, that I can get the club on the ball, with the grain, I'm going with a club for the distance needed. Against the grain, I will take an extra club. Probably with an easier swing.
If it's a poor lie, I will be looking to just advance the ball into the fairway.
If I have a clean lie, that I can get the club on the ball, with the grain, I'm going with a club for the distance needed. Against the grain, I will take an extra club. Probably with an easier swing.
If it's a poor lie, I will be looking to just advance the ball into the fairway.
Yeah i gotta be honest i didn't understand that either. The worst rough i've ever played is Baltusrol and Torrey....and i had a couple of lies at Torrey that were world class crap.
So, if a lie is bad enough that you'd have to add 40% distance, you probably can't even get a real club on it TBH. That's hackout land. Imagine a lie so bad that you have to add 45yds of target distance, which also means you have to hit like a 6 or 7 iron out of a buried lie? That's not happening.
Anything much more than 1 extra club and you're probably better off punching out IMO
I played Torrey the last day it was open to the public before the U.S. Open in ‘21. That was rough unlike anything I have ever experienced. The course required walking that day, to protect the course conditioning for the big event. On one hole, a guy in our foursome missed the fairway by a couple of yards at most. He couldn’t find his ball. We all left our bags where we were, walked up to where he was and helped him look. We found his ball. We all went back to where we were. He also returned to grab his clubs. However, when he came back to hit his shot, he once again could not see his ball. We all returned again to help him look. The second time, we could not find his ball. True story…
In that kind of rough, the best that I could do was hack it and hope that the ball came out. It surely made me respect the Tour level players even more.
Similar stories from me! Played it pretty close to the event. Did they tell you at the starters to take drops if you couldn't find your ball right off the fairway? That's what they told us that day. Puts into perspective how bad it was.
Hole 7 my lie was so bad i had 160yds out or something and hit a lob wedge back to the fairway. Just had no chance to even get a 9 iron on it
Baltusrol the rough was thicker so the ball stayed up a bit more. Torrey it's that thickness where it falls to the bottom every time
I don’t remember receiving that instruction from the starter, but I certainly can see why they would give it.
Back to @Templet0n’s OG post, which I didn’t realize how old the thread was until I looked again, I don’t see any rule. If a ball is sitting up in the rough, it is possible to get a flyer and hit the ball even longer. If it is down in horrible rough, trying to hack it out with a wedge may be the only option. I don’t see how there can be any general rule.
For sure, but it's still a bit of a guessing game.
One round last year I had 102 yards to the flag. The ball was sitting down in about six inches of rough. All I could do was take a lob wedge and gouge it out about 20 yards.
Louis_Posture
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Before today I've never heard of the "40% rule". I have observed that higher handicap amateur players often select too low a lofted and too long shafted a club for playing from the rough, sloped, or other less than ideal lies.
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Again, lots of good comments pointing out a lot of variables that need to be considered to get this right.
I’ll add three more that haven’t been mentioned.
Your swing characteristics will influence how much you have to adjust. In general, a swing with a more upright swing plane will have less interaction with the rough than someone with a more shallow swing plane. A player who tends to hit the ground at or behind the ball will have a bigger adjustment than the player who bottoms out 2-4 inches in front of the ball. Players with slower swing speeds will have bigger adjustments than those with faster swing speeds.
Stance and swing adjustments you make or don’t make. Stuff like moving the ball back in your stance, gripping the club harder, opening the face slightly to account for grass wrapping itself around the hosel.
Landing area and roll out considerations. Generally speaking, a shot from the rough will have less spin. This affects both carry and roll out distances. Carry tends to be less. Rollout more. Depending on what lies in front of you this can impact your choice of club, shot type, where you aim, and your choice of landing spot.
I’ll add three more that haven’t been mentioned.
Your swing characteristics will influence how much you have to adjust. In general, a swing with a more upright swing plane will have less interaction with the rough than someone with a more shallow swing plane. A player who tends to hit the ground at or behind the ball will have a bigger adjustment than the player who bottoms out 2-4 inches in front of the ball. Players with slower swing speeds will have bigger adjustments than those with faster swing speeds.
Stance and swing adjustments you make or don’t make. Stuff like moving the ball back in your stance, gripping the club harder, opening the face slightly to account for grass wrapping itself around the hosel.
Landing area and roll out considerations. Generally speaking, a shot from the rough will have less spin. This affects both carry and roll out distances. Carry tends to be less. Rollout more. Depending on what lies in front of you this can impact your choice of club, shot type, where you aim, and your choice of landing spot.
darthweasel
Well-known member
I just don't hit it in the rough
