How to Choose the Right Club to Hit Out of Deep Rough

Doral Blue Monster: Different Lies on the Fairway

There are a few different lies that you might get when the ball does go off the fairway. The first is what we would call a flier lie, where it is actually sitting with the grain. The grass is growing in the direction that you are swinging. Those are better because they actually help you hit the ball a little further.

Unfortunately, more than likely you are going to get lies where the ball is sitting down in the rough. You have two different types of lies when the ball is sitting down in the rough, it can be a bad lie, or a really ugly lie.

Down in the Rough

The first one, where it is halfway down in the rough, a couple of keys to help you escape this trouble, is to take a club with enough loft. I have actually grabbed a pitching wedge here. You really would not want to try to hit this shot with anything more than a 6-iron.

Golf Ball Position in Stance

The second thing that we would like to do is have you get the golf ball more in the middle of your stance. This will help us as we make our swing from top down, to contact the golf ball first and not get any of this extra grass caught between the clubface and the ball. This will help us ensure solid contact and help the golf ball fly the distance that we need it to go.

Clubface Position

The last thing we would do is take the golf club and just turn it slightly to the right before you take your grip. Opening your golf club like this helps it act almost like a knife and helps it cut through the grass. So a couple of things, ball in the middle of your stance, take enough loft and slightly open the golf club. Then from there just make your normal golf swing. Hopefully that helps you escape this think rough here at Doral.