With all the rain we have been having and the deep thick lush grass that we know face at our golf courses, I thought it might be good timing to talk about how to play shots out of it. I don’t think there is a golf course around the Calgary area that isn’t having a hard time keeping up with the grass cutting or just getting the mowers out there. Many areas of the course are just too wet to put the mowers over that ground for fear of damaging the turf. As well, it looks like some hot weather is in the near forecast which will make the grass grow quickly and the ground crews scrambling to keep with the cutting. So let’s talk about some of the situations out there and how to tackle them.
Hitting From Thick Fairway Rough
If you are in some deep fairway rough and 175 yards or more from the green, forget about hitting a mid to long iron as the loft of these clubs won’t get the ball up or cut through the grass. Your best bet is to use one of your hybrids as they cut through the grass better and deliver a steeper angle of attack, which you need. If you are a higher handicapper it might be best to take your medicine and hit a wedge or 9 iron short of the green and try to get it up and down for your par or at worst for a bogey. Regardless of what club you decide to use, you have to stay down, driving your club down and through the ball with extra force. The wrists have to have a quick release with no quitting on the shot. Your 3 wood should never be used.
Thick Rough Around The Green
This is the situation which seems to be causing a lot of problems right now. You find yourself just a few yards or perhaps just a foot into the thick rough beside the green. The problem is trying to gage how hard to hit it for the distance you want it to go. The other problem is just trying to get it on the green it. Try following these steps:
1. Use your sand or lob wedge. A pitching wedge or 9/8 iron isn’t going to work.
2. Step away from your ball and take practice swings to judge how thick the grass is and how hard you will swing to get through the grass.
3. Open up the club face and align your self open and to the left of the target like you would for a sand shot.
4. Break the wrists quickly on the backswing and make a confident aggressive swing down and through the ball. The ball should pop up and onto the green. How hard you swing will determine the distance and also factor in that it won’t have a lot of backspin but will run out.
5. The most common errors I see is not choosing a lofted club and not accelerating through the ball.
You have to be totally confident in executing this shot which is, again, very similar to a sand shot. Decelerating at impact is the other big no no and this results in those chunked shots which even really good players sometimes do so don’t feel bad if the odd time this happens. It never hurts to go and find a piece of thick rough and practice this shot to build up your confidence.
As we battle through this period of thick rough, I hope you will find these tips helpful in playing YOUR best golf!
