Many amateur golfers add shots to their final score because of the way they play from the rough. It’s possible to add one or two shots to your round every time your ball goes in the rough and if this sounds like you, we have some great tips today which will help improve your play.
Playing from the rough from close to the green is one thing but playing from a long distance away from the green is something else. We are going to be concentrating on the latter and if you find your ball in the rough from your tee shot on a par-4 or par-5 hole, you will have some distance between your ball and the green.
The first thing to do in this situation is accept you are not on the fairway. This means a different approach to the shot using a different club in comparison to being on the fairway. It is not going to be easy to land the ball on the green from the rough and you must assess the lie of the ball carefully.
If your ball is buried in the rough, you can forget about trying to reach the green. If half or more of the ball is under the grass, it will be very difficult to make a clean contact, especially with long irons. Therefore, you must take your medicine and use a short club such a 9 iron or wedge and dig through the grass thanks to the steeper angle these clubs provide.
If you attempt to play with a long iron to reach the green, the result is likely to be bad and may produce additional dropped shots. Play out to the fairway with a lofted club and make the green on your next shot.
If you can see a decent amount of your ball in the rough, the key is to look at which way the grass is growing. If it is growing against you, the shot will be harder to hit cleanly and this means you need to play a similar shot to the buried lie above.
However, if the grass is growing with you, it will offer little resistance in comparison to when it is growing against you. In this instance, you can attack the green but be prepared you may catch what is known as a ‘flier’ and the ball could travel further than expected. Take a little less club than usual for the distance of the shot and if you do catch a flier, your ball will not travel beyond the green.
Occasionally, you may get a fluffy lie where the ball is sitting up nicely in the rough. While this looks promising, do not be tempted to go all out for the green with the same club you would use from the fairway.
The amount of grass the club will contact before the ball is still enough to reduce the amount of spin you can generate on the ball. This means it will travel further and roll a greater distance on the ground. Take one or two clubs less when playing from this lie and try hovering the club even with the ball at address, to avoid hitting underneath it.
When finding your tee shot in the rough, your first thought should be to limit the damage. Try and resist the urge to play aggressive every time and try and save the hole by analysing the lie of the ball, before deciding on your course of action.
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