If you find yourself in the rough off the tee and you're faced with a lengthy second shot, what club do you pull out of the bag? If the rough is thick and your ball is sitting down, you shouldn't think about hitting a wood. Instead, you need to get back in play, while advancing the ball as much as that tough lie will allow.
elindsay1 sent in a question asking how to hit his woods out of the thick, Bermuda rough he sees in South Florida. There's really no way he's going to make solid contact with a wood if he's in rough that deep. Instead, he should try pulling out anything from a 7 iron to a wedge. Without enough loft, the grass is going to grab the clubface and the ball could go anywhere.
This time of year in South Florida our Bermuda rough is wet and thick. Can you please address, in one of your daily videos, how to hit a fairway wood with the ball down in this wirey stuff? My clubhead gets caught and usually opens making for a weak shot to the right. Thanks, I have been a Surgite for two years now and my handicap holds steady at 12 down from 18 when I started.
The only time you should consider playing a wood from the rough is if you have a decent lie. Even touring pros won't dare hit woods and long irons out of the rough because they know it's a lost cause. The next time you're faced with a long second shot from the junk, just get it back in play. Advance it up the fairway and give yourself a legitimate chance at getting up and down from the fairway for par. Trust me, you'll be better off and your scorecard will reflect it.
Keep it vertical!
The Surge
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Comments
Out of the rough
Surge, I also like one of Doc’s 24 degree hybrids from the medium rough. I find that they can allow me to get out with some distance so that I still have a short iron to the green. I will even choke it down a little and move it slightly back in my stance to insure good contact. The tall stringy and wet Bermuda grass doesn’t grab the hossel or the face of the club as bad on the hybrid as oppose to a long iron or a fairway metal. However if the rough is really deep and nasty then the only choice is to get the ball back in play with a short iron!
Thanks for the post, Randy
Hitting out of rough
Hi Don
Great videos and advice...
However, as a lady who does not have strong wrists what advice do you have to stop the club turning over ....no matter what club is used..
Thanks Helen J
Newcastle upon Tyne, England
No matter what club.....
Helen,
In that thick stuff;
Play the ball back to the middle or just an inch back of center and stand tall. Don't dip and try to go after it too much. Allow yourself to hit ball first with more club (say a 6 instead of 7 or 8 iron). You'll catch ball first maybe even hit it a little thin but the club head won't be affected by the grass as much and the ball will be gone flying low but toward your target. I think it's when we dig after it like injury ridden Tiger that we get into trouble and the ball goes left and short along with a stinger in our hands and elbows. Now if it is in down as deep as Surge was talking about you'll need to use more loft as in a wedge to get it back in play. But if you go after it too hard it will turn in your hands as you mentioned. It's not worth hurting yourself. Back in play is good.
This in addition to all that Surge said:)
Out of the rough
Randy,
My 23degree 'rescue club' is usually my club of choice from wet rough. Todays video is a touch too late for me : - ( I have already found out just how difficult it is to play out of lush, wet rough! An exception for me two or three times lately has been my old faithful blonde wooden 5Wood~! Whether by luck or whatever, the smaller head seems like the hybrid to whip through the rough and despatch the ball a reasonable distance. On my next outing I will give my 17degree 'driving iron' a try as well as my HL [high launch] 4 and 5irons. Not trying to disprove what Surge said today,but find out which clubs I can leave out of the bag when the weather is [as it is at the moment] soggy and wet, nearly all the time.
One of the faults many of us make, me included is, trying to be too ambitious with some shots. The wet ones are real punishers. More recently my shots have favoured common-sense a lot more. Punching a short iron shot into a much better position on the short grass, allows us to be more aggressive,when there is a chance of success. Must find out what type the grass is on our course ; - ) hahaha! Good luck in the wet rough. With the PPGS swing, I am staying out of it more and more. Thanks to Surge and his dedicated team and followers help. DH
Phil"s gone crazy good!!!!!
DH and all
Hope your tracking this record round. Off the hook!!!!
59 watch :0
http://www.pgatour.com/shottracker.html#/current/r000/1/group/14/
Not too bad at all!
Robert,
Just finished watching most of it, and Phil played not too badly at all ; - )
Some very good golf indeed. Good luck to them all and may the best man win on the day and the best go forward to the next round.
Chilly here but the wet stuff may relent for the next few days : - ) Yeeha!
Looking forward to the LPGA coverage, Welsh Open from Celtic Manor, I am sure that you will remember that venue ; - ) heh heh heh! naughty me. Poking fun aside, keep on being consistently longer and straighter in Vegas.
An off subject question: How often should we sharpen the grooves on our irons? Particularly with the lower numbered ones? As a rotational swinger for decades, I never had the grooves sharpened ever!!! : - ( Maybe a question for Doc Griffin to enlighten us. DH
ON GOLF CHANNEL
It is being played on the Golf Channel in my area. The programming lists the European Tour but they are showing the Deutsche instead.
Coverage
They switched over to watch the end of Phil's round in case he kept on his insane roll (28 on the back, then bogey followed by eagle). He'll need to hole out his second shot on 9 (he started on the back) to get 59 now.