Tight fairway lies: Bentgrass vs fescue (or others)

[Brad Swanson]

   I played a few rounds recently on a well conditioned course with very firm, closely cropped bentgrass fairways, and they befuddled me.  By the middle of the second round, I was happy to find my tee shots in the rough, as it was easier for me to play from versus the fairways that were stimping at about 5.    Hitting wedge approaches from the fairways was a real adventure.

   My recollection of rounds played at Ballyneal where the course was firmer and the farirways cut even tighter was that those tight lies did not affect my shot making at all compared to the problems I have with tight bentgrass fairways (particularly short irons).

   Anyone else have the similar issues with this particular maintenance meld?  Suggestions on how to cope?

Brad

[Jim Colton]

Brad,

  Do what I did...play (nearly) all your rounds at Ballyneal!

  Jim

[Phil McDade]

Brad:

I once played a superbly conditioned course near Waupaca, WI, where I experienced the exact same thing -- incredibly tight lies off bentgrass. Of course, my wayward driving helped mitigate my inability to hit off such lies.

Choked-up utility clubs? That'd be my answer, since now in my old age I'm carrying five woods/utility clubs....

[Sean Leary]

 I think what it is is that with fescue fairways the ground is firmer and you can still skid your club into the ball a little bit. With bent, it starts taking a divot immediately so it is easy to hit everything fat. Especially when it is a bit wet.

[George Freeman]

Brad,

What problems were you having?  Chunking everything?  Hitting thin?  Combination?  Something else?

I'm not sure I've ever played off bent fairways which were THAT tight, but playing off very tight fescue fairways is a joy.

[Ryan Farrow]

It sounds like you guys just don't know how to make solid contact with your wedges.....

Problem I found with some fescue is the grass actually has no roots, and its more akin to playing a bunker shot, then a shot off a tight FW lie......

Ill take tight bentgrass at Oakmont over un-healthy Bandon Trails fescue any day. Of course, I'm sure the bent costs about 20X more to maintain. 

[Jud_T]

Brad,

Chipping or hitting lofted wedges off tight fescue on firm sand is not a walk in the park either.  The difference is that conditions can be firm enough to allow for a greater variety of bump and run options with less lofted clubs...

[Steve Kline]

I think what it is is that with fescue fairways the ground is firmer and you can still skid your club into the ball a little bit. With bent, it starts taking a divot immediately so it is easy to hit everything fat. Especially when it is a bit wet.

That's what I was going to say. I think tight bent is harder to play off of than tight fescue.

[Brad Swanson]

I think Sean and Steve are right.  My problem with playing from the bentgrass fairway was that the root system was so good that any attempt at a divot of decent size/depth was met with serious, sometimes painful resistance.  Many times, I didn't take a divot proper as the gouge in the turf stayed attached.  Half wedges were usually squirting off to the tight and not one-hop-stopping as they usually do.

Brad

[Greg Chambers]

The main difference between the playability of tight bent v tight fescue v even tight bluegrass would probably be their growth characteristics.  The bents are stoloniferous, so the plant grows sideways as well as upright.  Bluegrass is similar, though the rizomes that grow sideways are deeper down than with bent, so a shallower divot would be met with less resistance.  The fine fescue is a bunch type grass, with little to no sideways growth, which would give little to know resistance to a divot being taken.  It's also the reason why you may see more sparse conditions with the fine fescue over the bent and blue.