Firm v rough

[David_Elvins]

One way or the other, you're playing the same shots all the time, bomb and gouge or pitch and putt.  I've simply seen design "trends" go too far but some of the collection gets recycled ultimately by the trend setters…  bell bottoms have comeback I see… maybe there dis nothing new under the sun.

I think this idea that you play the same shot all the time when playing off short grass around the green is completely wrong.  

The fact that the grass is short means that you can make contact with the ball directly with your clubface.  This means you have the ability to control the spin and trajectory of the shot and adjust both of these depending on what is sort of slopes are between the golfer and the hole.

The fact that putter is the default option for the conservative golfer or the less confident/skilled golfer does not mean there are not better options.  Often the ability to take the slopes in the foreground out of play can be very advantageous and can narrow error.  

If one grows up playing golf courses in the style of Bandon it s easily possible to develop 10- 15 different types of shots to play around the greens.  If one grows up playing US parkland golf, they wll often struggle with the tight lies at places like Bandon.  It's far easier to grow up with tight lies and learn to play out of rough than it is to grow up with rough and learn to play off short grass.  

[Steve Lang]

I think this idea that you play the same shot all the time when playing off short grass around the green is completely wrong.

--- so you intentionally don't play your tried and true shot, the most consistent or favored result shot, you experiment for fun if not profit ?   Do you always use a wedge around the green or vary clubs?  

The fact that the grass is short means that you can make contact with the ball directly with your clubface.  This means you have the ability to control the spin and trajectory of the shot and adjust both of these depending on what is sort of slopes are between the golfer and the hole.

--- i learned 52 years ago that you hit the golf ball before the ground… so I do understand that spin controls things; seems like having perfect ball contact conditions around every green would lead to refining ones style of play, master of one style or many?

The fact that putter is the default option for the conservative golfer or the less confident/skilled golfer does not mean there are not better options.  Often the ability to take the slopes in the foreground out of play can be very advantageous and can narrow error.  

--- no argument, options for all shots, tall or short grass, but why do we see pros taking lob wedges off of tight lies all the time?

If one grows up playing golf courses in the style of Bandon it s easily possible to develop 10- 15 different types of shots to play around the greens.  If one grows up playing US parkland golf, they wll often struggle with the tight lies at places like Bandon.  It's far easier to grow up with tight lies and learn to play out of rough than it is to grow up with rough and learn to play off short grass.

--- not much argument, we watched a young stud and his studly dad continue to try to play wedges through most of their round, much to the consternation of their caddies at Pac Dunes…  learning to play on muni under-watered summer baked clay courses was good prep for shotmaking   skills, but there's a lot of technique also for different rough lies, especially in bermuda.  a skilled player should be able to adapt and reduce uncertainty of outcomes..

Dave, don't get in a tizzy, I've just been lobbing out the null hypothesis on this thread for fun, I'm bad