Back
One of the most pitiful moments I've ever witnessed on a golf course happened a couple years ago. I was playing in the Saturday morning game at Sandridge Golf Club's Lakes Course when on an adjacent hole, a cry went up from one of the other golfers in the group. Let's call him Bob. An otherwise decent player and agreeable guy, Bob was fed up with the rough. After chunking a shot from a few yards off the fairway into a pond, Bob lashed out: "You can't hit the f***ing ball solid out of this s***!" He followed up with more bellyaching about how the rough wasn't consistent throughout the course. Enraged by his own poor play, Bob had forgotten one of the most straightforward truths about golf course maintenance: rough is rough for a reason. No matter what dictionary you use, words like "uneven" and "irregular" come up, as do negatives like "not smooth" and "not gentle." Bob is far from alone in his erroneous view.
On the side of the angels, Kyle Harris, who oversees the maintenance of Streamsong Resort's Red and Blue courses and is one of the most thoughtful golf people I know, put the issue simply earlier this week:
Same area producing same results is the definition of "fair." This picture shows rough. Random results with no way to predict the lie. Turf mowed at a consistent height - regardless of that height - is more correctly considered fairway. Rough is rough when difficulty is random. pic.twitter.com/fzzfq3gXl2
— Kyle Harris (@SirPuttsalot) July 9, 2019
The bottom line: if you hit a ball in the rough, you are not entitled to much comfort. You are not entitled to be able to reach the green. You are not entitled to get a hybrid or fairway wood on the ball. You are not entitled to be sure whether you have a slow lie or a flier lie. On courses where it's a factor, proper rough is as much a psychological obstacle as a physical one. Uncertainty is part of the difficulty. Plan accordingly. Don't like it? The range is that way, chief.
Comments (15)
Amen! I couldn't agree more. This is not, and is not meant to be, an easy game. If you want a perfect playing surface, switch sports.
You can't expect perfect lies in the rough, but I do think you should be able to find your ball if it stays in bounds. If the rough is so deep you lose your ball a foot off the fairway, that's a problem. If you shank it because of a bad lie, that's golf! If you can't understand, or deal with that then you better play checkers!
David, I agree with you. I think courses that get everyday "normal" play that have hellacious rough do so at the risk of lost revenue when players get fed up and seek golf elsewhere. That said, though it's best to keep rough to a moderate length, courses should by no means feel pressured to keep it consistent in terms of thickness/lushness. A bare-minimum playability standard should be applied to rough maintenance, in my opinion, in order to focus efforts on the surfaces that generally reward good shots: greens and fairways. Everything else should be a little, well, rough, while still giving golfers a sporting chance.
I couldn't agree more. I play weekly on a small public course, where there is a tree in the middle of one of the fairways. No matter how many times I've been behind that tree, and complained about it, maintenance still hasn't cut it down. Lol
Sometimes we forget the reason we play the game of golf, and don't stay home and just watch on tv. It's a very challenging game, and that's why most of us play!
I work at a course in Massachusetts and when we cut the rough it's not easy .This course has a lot of uneven turf because of soil conditioning ,some base has sand and some has dirt and each one settles differently just be glad you have a course to play on
I play a local county course where the skill level is not real high. A couple of years ago they decided to let the rough grow. The outcome was it added an hour to the round because folks couldn't find their balls. After a while they went back to the old 2 or 3 inch rough. Still tested your skill but the ball was findable.
I agree completely. When playing with my buddies wo allow each other relief when it is a dangerous lie such as when ball is nestled against a tree root but we dont turn our scores in for a handicap
My complaint with rough is when you can't see the ball. Very tiresome to be looking for a ball that has barely rolled off the fairway but you cant see it unless you're standing right over it. Want reasonable rounds? Make the ball visible as much as possible.
I've played one coarse near me that had rough 1 foot off the green that was 4 inches deep .Same thing that day.A little frustrating when searching hard for your ball when you know your on or just off the green
Whiners and crybabies should probably not play this difficult, course specific challenging sport. You play the course as it is. Keep it on the short grass or pay the price. I have NO sympathy for anyone that does not understand that the course elicits your best or your worst. Don't blame the course, blame yourself for your undeveloped skills. I play some courses better than others...who doesn't? Grow up buddy. If you want consistent playing surfaces try mini-golf...
Right on point. Could not have been stated better.
Except for links courses like in Britain/Ireland/Scotland, you don't see uneven rough on the PGA tour! It may be long, but the first and second cut are manicured just like the fairways! Another 'unfairness' for the average Joe player: Very few courses have a first and second cut! So you're just an inch or two off the fairway and you're in the long stuff! Tour players never have this challenge!!!
Our group keeps it simple. If you feel you got an unfair lie in the rough, move the ball!!! Life's too short!!!
Raymond, that is a great rule for your group to speed up play, but if you do this, ALL of your posted scores are fraudulent for handicap purposes.
It is a pretty well-established fact that professional golfers are, for the most part, babies who wrongly feel entitled to consistent lies in the rough and bunkers. This whiny preference has made golf more expensive for you and me because many courses strive for a "Tour" level of conditioning whether or not they have the budget to execute it. The game we play is more authentic than the one the pros play because of things like inconsistent lies in the rough and bunkers.
That's fine for casual golf, but not for competition or any sort.