Hitting From the Rough - Gettting the Ball Back Into Play

Hitting from the rough is easy when you know how to do it correctly. Playing from the rough may mean being able to salvage a shot into the green or playing it safely and pitching back onto the fairway depending how the ball is laying in the rough.

You will need to assess each situation separately and judge the next shot based on your level of play and the likelihood of pulling off the next shot. Sometimes, playing from the rough will present an opportunity to fire away at the green with unknown backspin effects and other times, especially when the ball is nestled down in deep rough its better to take a dose of medicine and just get the ball back into play by putting bogey or worse on the table.

Regardless of whether the intent is to shoot for the green or chip or pitch back onto the fairway, the set up to hit out the rough is the same. Set up to the ball as if playing a fade. Open the stance and body to the target line while opening the clubface. Take at least one more club than usual. Swing along the body line to pop the ball out of the rough lie. An open clubface is needed because the longer grass will tend to close the clubface through impact. Setting up to hit a fade shot will compensate for that phenomenon and avoid hitting the shot to the left due to a closed clubface.

Flyer Lie: A flyer lie is when the ball is sitting up (usually in the rough) and there is grass behind the ball that will interfere with club contact. That grass behind the ball will impede the grooves of the club and cause the ball to travel MUCH further than normal with a given club. When the ball is sitting up (kind of in a tee position) with grass behind it, expect the ball to travel further and play less club to find the green.

Expect more flyers when playing middle irons & short irons. Long irons are less susceptible to the flyer phenomenon but it does rarely occur.

Playing From The Rough