Teeing it up in the rough

[rudebhoy]

Every winter we have Fairway Protection on, which basically means you have to move your ball from the fairway to the first cut of the rough to play it.

This year the committee has introduced a rule that you can tee your ball up in the rough. All the guys I play with do this, and it certainly helps with scoring, particularly when using the driver for the second shot on our longer par 4s and the par 5s.

I do this as well for anything over 150 yards out, otherwise I'd be getting stuffed every game, however I do worry that come the spring, i'll have to learn how to hit a hybrid or long iron off the deck all over again as i won't have done it for 5-6 months.

Is this a common rule, and if so, how do you find going back to hitting off the deck after such a gap?

 

[r0wly86]

Every winter we have Fairway Protection on, which basically means you have to move your ball from the fairway to the first cut of the rough to play it.

This year the committee has introduced a rule that you can tee your ball up in the rough. All the guys I play with do this, and it certainly helps with scoring, particularly when using the driver for the second shot on our longer par 4s and the par 5s.

I do this as well for anything over 150 yards out, otherwise I'd be getting stuffed every game, however I do worry that come the spring, i'll have to learn how to hit a hybrid or long iron off the deck all over again as i won't have done it for 5-6 months.

Is this a common rule, and if so, how do you find going back to hitting off the deck after such a gap?

Never heard of something like that. Every club I have played at has the preferred lies rule during winter, so when on the fairway you can mark, pick up and clean, and replace the ball within 6 inches of the marker no nearer the hole

 

[SaintHacker]

Wouldn't fancy that at all. We have a couple of holes where we tee up on the fairway outside 150yds in winter, but thats it. I think if they made us start playing from the rough I would be looking for a new club.

 

[Orikoru]

That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. So from every par 5 and long par 4 presumably you aim your tee shot at the rough so you can tee right up again and give it another belt with the driver?? That's mental, never heard anything like it.

 

[Dan2501]

Bet it's fun the first week after the winter golf and placing disappears and you end up with a nice sat-down lie in the rough.

 

[ArnoldArmChewer]

Never heard of something like that. Every club I have played at has the preferred lies rule during winter, so when on the fairway you can mark, pick up and clean, and replace the ball within 6 inches of the marker no nearer the hole

^^^^^^^ This

 

[Lord Tyrion]

An old place of mine tried this briefly. Some of the old boys loved it as they would go driver driver and could suddenly reach long par 4's and 5's with ease. I did point out that it was entirely false and would not help their game once it was removed but they only saw the scores they were putting in. After a week or two they stopped it as it was a nonsense and the better golfers were complaining.

 

[Deleted member 16999]

We have teeing up on fairways and closely mown, after teeing up for 5 months every year it does take a week or 2 to adjust once the teeing up stops.

Are you saying you tee it up everywhere on the course?

I wouldn’t let it bother you, it’s winter the comps will be non-qualifiers and come the spring you’ll be far more consistent off the tee

Embrace it and look forward to spring.

 

[rudebhoy]

We have teeing up on fairways and closely mown, after teeing up for 5 months every year it does take a week or 2 to adjust once the teeing up stops.

Are you saying you tee it up everywhere on the course?

On all the holes apart from the par 3s the groundstaff paint 2 red lines either side of the fairway, and you are supposed to move your ball at least a couple of feet into the rough, tee it up (if you want to), and play it from there. I tee it up if I'm more than 150 out and I'm hitting a hybrid or driver. Closer than that, i just play my wedge or iron off the best lie i can find in the first cut. One of the guys I play with still tees it up if he is any more than about 50 yards out

 

[rudebhoy]

That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. So from every par 5 and long par 4 presumably you aim your tee shot at the rough so you can tee right up again and give it another belt with the driver?? That's mental, never heard anything like it.

No, you aim for the middle of the fairway and then lift it up and take it to the side. Aiming at the rough would be a pretty stupid strategy.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Never heard of something like that. Every club I have played at has the preferred lies rule during winter, so when on the fairway you can mark, pick up and clean, and replace the ball within 6 inches of the marker no nearer the hole

...and through the green if plugged - mark, lift and drop (no clean) as close as possible to where plugged. Of course if you are plugged on the fairway you can then; mark, lift, clean and place within 6" not nearer the hole.

 

[rudebhoy]

Never heard of something like that. Every club I have played at has the preferred lies rule during winter, so when on the fairway you can mark, pick up and clean, and replace the ball within 6 inches of the marker no nearer the hole

Quite a few of the courses i have played on up in the NE insist you play off a mat if on the fairway in winter. Whitley Bay, Tynemouth and Backworth all have this rule.

 

[patricks148]

Once upon a time we played off the full course over winter including from the fairways. Most of the membership would stop playing over winter so the course got little use. over the last 10 years or so the winters have gotten much milder so more and more have been playing in that time and as Grass doesn't really grow very much at all below 6 deg. We then went to drop to the side to preserve the course as some landing area's were getting destroyed over the winter months. the last few years we have had even more playing and parts of the first cut were also suffering very badly. So it was agreed we would go to use of a Fairway mat on closely mowed area's. or you can drop in the 2nd cut if you want to.

its sounds worse than it is, its quite easy for iron shots, though woods take some getting used to.

The only down side is if you don't miss the fairway it can be a few months since you last hit off grass, but thats no different to going to the range and not playing on a course in that time but you are still swinging a club.

once we go back on the full course again in March, just takes a couple of rounds to get used to not having a perfect lie every time.

Plus we have a grass range and chipping area so you can use that to get back to hitting off grass again once its time

 

[jimjoachim]

Playing off mats doest sound so bad now!!my old club had us move to the rough which was ridiculous as alot of the time it blocked out a route to the green

 

[Orikoru]

No, you aim for the middle of the fairway and then lift it up and take it to the side. Aiming at the rough would be a pretty stupid strategy.

Would it? Apparently you don't need to aim at all since the end result is the same. :rofl:

 

[Deleted member 16999]

Would it? Apparently you don't need to aim at all since the end result is the same. :rofl:

One scenario is easier to find than the other.

 

[Orikoru]

One scenario is easier to find than the other.

True enough.

 

[rosecott]

...and through the green if plugged - mark, lift and drop (no clean) as close as possible to where plugged. Of course if you are plugged on the fairway you can then; mark, lift, clean and place within 6" not nearer the hole.

Through the green only if the approved Local Rule is in place.

 

[Yant]

I'm presuming that you're teeing it up in the rough because it's winter and the condition of the course dictates that it's not possible to play it as it lies. If you're playing at a club where you have to tee it up in the rough because of the condition of the course then you're playing at the wrong club IMO. Either change club or don't play / don't play there in the winter.

I can understand clubs asking players to move the ball off of the fairways in the really wet weather, but teeing it up in the rough is not what i would want to do, i'd rather not bother playing.

 

[Orikoru]

I'm presuming that you're teeing it up in the rough because it's winter and the condition of the course dictates that it's not possible to play it as it lies. If you're playing at a club where you have to tee it up in the rough because of the condition of the course then you're playing at the wrong club IMO. Either change club or don't play / don't play there in the winter.

I can understand clubs asking players to move the ball off of the fairways in the really wet weather, but teeing it up in the rough is not what i would want to do, i'd rather not bother playing.

Agreed, it sounds mad to me. I wouldn't go and play somewhere where everyone's teeing it up in the rough for every shot.