Tall Grass Strategy

[DCCarpenter]

I was playing yesterday and twice found myself in thick 5” to 6” tall grass about 5 feet off the fairway. The ball was low , about on the ground. 

 I usually use my 7 iron in this situation as I don’t tend to get much distance on these shots and they sometimes go disastrously with a 15 foot advance into the same type of grass. Should I try out another club the next time I find myself here ?

Is a safe sand wedge to the fairway and accepting barely any distance to the pin gained the smart play?

 

 

[DCCarpenter]

I couldn’t figure out how to edit my post so I wanted to add I didn’t mean the normal rough right off the fairway , I am referring to super thick bunched together you can barely see your ball grass.  It might even be weeds or some other kind of vegetation I’m not a lawn expert. 

[boogielicious]

  On 11/7/2021 at 4:28 PM, DCCarpenter said:

I couldn’t figure out how to edit my post so I wanted to add I didn’t mean the normal rough right off the fairway , I am referring to super thick bunched together you can barely see your ball grass.  It might even be weeds or some other kind of vegetation I’m not a lawn expert. 

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I use whatever club will get me back to the fairway, usually 8-LW depending on the lie and how much grass I have to cut through. The important thing for me is focusing on getting contact and getting it up in the air. 

[billchao]

My approach to these types of lies is to hit the longest club I’m confident I can get solid contact with.

[DCCarpenter]

Bill, do you usually use a iron , hybrid, or wood in this situation ? 

[billchao]

  On 11/7/2021 at 8:21 PM, DCCarpenter said:

Bill, do you usually use a iron , hybrid, or wood in this situation ? 

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It really depends. Sometimes even if the ball is sitting in a tall tuft of grass, there’s room around it to swing a club like a wood. Pretty sure Phil did something similar with a driver. If it’s really thick all around and your clubhead is going to get caught in it before it even gets to the ball, then a shorter club with a smaller swing arc is going to work better.

[DCCarpenter]

Thanks for the input.
 

This grass was thick all the way around  , I probably should have used my sand wedge which is a heavy blade style head and seems to cut through thick stuff well. I think using the 7 iron was probably a reach  hoping for more yardage than I was going to get. 
 

I usually play solo so the info from better players here is appreciated. 

[boogielicious]

  On 11/7/2021 at 11:37 PM, DCCarpenter said:

Thanks for the input.
 

This grass was thick all the way around  , I probably should have used my sand wedge which is a heavy blade style head and seems to cut through thick stuff well. I think using the 7 iron was probably a reach  hoping for more yardage than I was going to get. 
 

I usually play solo so the info from better players here is appreciated. 

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If you have a chance next time you’re in this grass, drop a couple balls and try different clubs. Try to make the lie similar.

[billchao]

  On 11/7/2021 at 11:37 PM, DCCarpenter said:

Thanks for the input.
 

This grass was thick all the way around  , I probably should have used my sand wedge which is a heavy blade style head and seems to cut through thick stuff well. I think using the 7 iron was probably a reach  hoping for more yardage than I was going to get. 
 

I usually play solo so the info from better players here is appreciated. 

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I also learn things the hard way. Often it takes repeat lessons 😃

[DeadMan]

The most important thing in this situation is to get the ball out, preferably closer to the hole. If you have any doubt, go for the sand wedge and get it out of the weeds. As you get more experience (hopefully not too much!), you get better at judging when you can get good distance out of certain lies. You’ll get more comfortable with trying longer clubs. But a wedge back into the fairway is almost never a bad play.