What Club Should I Hit From The Deep Rough? (Video) - by Peter Finch
What Club Should I Hit From The Deep Rough? (Video) - by Peter Finch

What club should I hit from the deep rough? Now the first thing you need to do when you find a ball in deep rough, is actually correctly assess the lie. If the ball is lying down very deep in the rough, it’s not going to be an easy shot to hit with a low lofted iron let alone a fairway wood. So you need to correctly assess the lie and then from there pick an appropriate weapon. So if the rough is very thick and the ball is lying down quite deep, you’re going to need a high lofted iron. Now this might not mean you can reach the green. But if you’re in the rough, you need to use good course management and realize that a shot which stays in the rough is a hell of a lot worse than a shot which is a little bit shorter degree. So use correct course management, pick a high lofted club and get that ball up and out of that rough.

Now, one thing you have to bear in mind is as you come through the ball, the heavy grass will want to grab hold of the housel and twist the club face close. So as the club swings through impact, the heavy grass will want to rack on to the housel and then twist the club face close. So you need to keep a very firm grip through the shot and hold the club face open. Again, this will feel quite strange but you do need to get this ball up and away. This isn’t a shot about finesse, this is a shot about power and getting that ball out of that lie. As you set up, you want the ball pretty much in the middle, you don’t want to be hitting too far down, but you do need a slightly descending blow that generates some back spin. Get a clean contact and lift the ball out of the rough. So I’ve got a 7-iron here, play from the middle of my stance, I’m going to take a nice firm tight grip, normally you want to keep a nice, relaxed grip through the shot, you need to be keeping it nice and firm, I’m going to have to reduce length of back swing, only three quarters but I’m going to be driving that ball up and out of the heavy lie. So I’m gripping slightly further down the grip, I'm taking a nice firm hold on the club, then I take a three quarter swing and I’m going to use the power to lift that ball up and away. One thing you don’t want to be doing in a heavy rough is getting over the ball, see you’ve got 180 yards to go, and reaching for the 4-iron and just trying to go for the glory shot. Remember, you need to remove it from the rough before you can complete the hole. If you spend half an hour hacking down the right hand side of the par four in the heavy rough, it’s not going to improve your scores, and it certainly won’t improve your mood. So use good course management, get that ball up and out of the rough, get yourself back into play. Use this technique as well and hopefully you’ll get yourself out of danger, get yourself back in the game, hopefully get that hole back on track. 2014-05-29

What club should I hit from the deep rough? Now the first thing you need to do when you find a ball in deep rough, is actually correctly assess the lie. If the ball is lying down very deep in the rough, it’s not going to be an easy shot to hit with a low lofted iron let alone a fairway wood. So you need to correctly assess the lie and then from there pick an appropriate weapon. So if the rough is very thick and the ball is lying down quite deep, you’re going to need a high lofted iron. Now this might not mean you can reach the green. But if you’re in the rough, you need to use good course management and realize that a shot which stays in the rough is a hell of a lot worse than a shot which is a little bit shorter degree. So use correct course management, pick a high lofted club and get that ball up and out of that rough.

Now, one thing you have to bear in mind is as you come through the ball, the heavy grass will want to grab hold of the housel and twist the club face close. So as the club swings through impact, the heavy grass will want to rack on to the housel and then twist the club face close. So you need to keep a very firm grip through the shot and hold the club face open. Again, this will feel quite strange but you do need to get this ball up and away. This isn’t a shot about finesse, this is a shot about power and getting that ball out of that lie. As you set up, you want the ball pretty much in the middle, you don’t want to be hitting too far down, but you do need a slightly descending blow that generates some back spin. Get a clean contact and lift the ball out of the rough.

So I’ve got a 7-iron here, play from the middle of my stance, I’m going to take a nice firm tight grip, normally you want to keep a nice, relaxed grip through the shot, you need to be keeping it nice and firm, I’m going to have to reduce length of back swing, only three quarters but I’m going to be driving that ball up and out of the heavy lie. So I’m gripping slightly further down the grip, I'm taking a nice firm hold on the club, then I take a three quarter swing and I’m going to use the power to lift that ball up and away. One thing you don’t want to be doing in a heavy rough is getting over the ball, see you’ve got 180 yards to go, and reaching for the 4-iron and just trying to go for the glory shot.

Remember, you need to remove it from the rough before you can complete the hole. If you spend half an hour hacking down the right hand side of the par four in the heavy rough, it’s not going to improve your scores, and it certainly won’t improve your mood. So use good course management, get that ball up and out of the rough, get yourself back into play. Use this technique as well and hopefully you’ll get yourself out of danger, get yourself back in the game, hopefully get that hole back on track.