Short Grass as a Golf Hazard

[Steven Blake]

On Renaissance golf’s website Tom Doak writes an essay “Short Grass as a Golf Hazard” about the implementation of short grass and its effectiveness as a “hazard” if you will.  He gives several reasons why shortly mown turf makes for a great hazard.  I am not going to paraphrase his piece as you can read it your self but having worked as an assistant Superintendent at  Milwaukee Country Club, North Shore Golf Club and recently played Wolf Point I have seen the great benefits of short grass and why it is the perfect “hazard.”

Wolf Point has ~80 acres of fairway and short grass around virtually every green, Milwaukee has large fairways and firm tight approaches and surrounds.  North Shore GC in Menasha, WI also has huge fairways and cool firm runoffs on almost half of the holes.  All 3 courses are a blast to play but strategically they are gems in there own right.  But having these features is the exception not the rule when it comes to the majority of courses. Its sad really …

Obviously Doak, C&C and Nuzzo utilize short grass on their courses but why not more utilization of short grass as a hazard?  Many times I hear the excuse that shortly mown turf is expensive to maintain.  But bunkers IMHO are almost if not more expensive to maintain than short grass.  This is simply because MOST golfers want perfect bunkers that are all the same in quality, texture, and consistency which in turn makes bunkers extremely expensive to maintain.

So what gives, why not more short grass? Do you like it in abundance? 

I think we could get more people to play the game if every shot they didn't hit in the trees, bunkers, water, OOB or in long grass.  Short grass makes the game easier for the high handicap as they can putt from off of the green whereas the accomplished golfer is given a multitude of options to play which can lead to indecision and poor shots.

I think its old school but more short grass will retain more golfers and make rounds faster particularly if fewer bunkers, water hazards and trees are present.   

So give me more short grass !!!  What do you think??

Let’s come full circle and build courses with as much short grass as St. Andrews.

[BCowan]

I love the idea.  This past December I played the back 9 with two locals at a muni that had been renovated.  It had many tight shaved areas.  The guy I was paired with wasn't that good, and he said to me he didn't like the short grass areas around the green.  unfortunately he never thought of putting or using a 3 wood.  I never said anything or offered a suggestion.  So I guess maybe in some cases limited choices are preferred due to Dumbing down the game.  Steve, I think more courses are using short grass around the greens.  Remember there was a lot of crap built for 30+ years and change is slow.  Ocala golf club was the course and there is a photo thread up right now. 

[Dwight Phelps]

Count me on board for more short grass.

I think Ben hit it on the head with the dumbing down of the game - led, at least in part, by those who've never seen anything other than rough-locked greens.

While I don't have a great resume of courses I've played, Rustic Canyon is pretty much the top for me and it is so in large part because of the short grass around the greens.  I've never been forced to really think about so many short shots - everything from 3W to putter in play AND useful.  But many casual golfers don't think beyond the SW when within 50 yards (and I'll admit that I used to think similarly).  In my experience, for those players, golfing is more about going out and executing than any sort of strategy or thinking.

It's daunting to change your thinking.  I remember when a well executed lob was the height of my short game.  But I found that an up-and-down with the 3W or chipping in out of a swale resulted in much more satisfaction.

The more courses that building more short grass areas, the more golfers will become comfortable with it and begin to really look forward to it - like I did!  Then again, I've lived in LA my whole life and didn't even know about RC until last year - the same time I was really looking into the specifics of course architecture and design, read TD's Anatomy, and joined this site.  So moral is - keep growing GCA.com!

[jeffwarne]

Like it in moderation.
Like anything, it can overused.
Variety is the spice of life.

One definite myth is that rough around the greens is a crap shoot. Absolutely not true and a great wedge player can separate himself in wiry, difficult rough more so than when a bad wedge player/chipper can substitute putter or 3 wood because the ground is shaved.
Of course rough used to be overused and that's certainly no good.

Like the shortgrass feature, but when "chipping areas" consistently become putting areas, the variety is lost.
That said, all players should have the skill and imagination to roll the ball from off the green with a variety of clubs, including putter.

[Jim Tang]

Steven -

I love the idea and wish more courses would implement this feature.  There is no shot in golf I am more uncomfortable hitting than a greenside recovery shot off of a tight lie.  SW?  Easy to chunk.  Putter?  Sadly, I've proven with this method it is possible to putt into a bunker.  7 iron?  Hybrid?  3 wood?  Too many options for my feeble brain to handle.

The shorter grass also can carry away a poorly struck approach shot and filter the ball into some gastly bowl from which recovery is nearly impossible.

Of the courses I've played, Ballyneal, Kingsley Club, Pacific Dunes and Royal Dornoch use short grass and collection areas particularily well.

[Jason Topp]

We have a lot of it at my club and I think it is more difficult than if the greens were ringed by rough.  A ball that misses the green often winds up far away from the green and the recovery shots can be difficult. 

[Dave McCollum]

I see a lot of golfers who are scoopers of the ball.  Short grass makes that more difficult.  Ironically, many of these same golfers automatically reach for the sand wedge when faced with a greenside chip, even if they would have better results with a different shot and club.  The same habitual thinking can be said for how courses are set up and maintained.  Creatures of habit don't like change.   

[BCowan]

Something that I have done to help with tight lies is grind bounce off near the heal of my sand/lob wedges.  You will reduce your chances of sculling it on a tight lie. 

[Mark Saltzman]

Like it in moderation.
Like anything, it can overused.
Variety is the spice of life.

One definite myth is that rough around the greens is a crap shoot. Absolutely not true and a great wedge player can separate himself in wiry, difficult rough more so than when a bad wedge player/chipper can substitute putter or 3 wood because the ground is shaved.
Of course rough used to be overused and that's certainly no good.

Like the shortgrass feature, but when "chipping areas" consistently become putting areas, the variety is lost.
That said, all players should have the skill and imagination to roll the ball from off the green with a variety of clubs, including putter.

Damn this guy is sensible.

[mike_beene]

Rough around the green leads to the same boring explosion shot over and over. The most encouraging thing I am seeing in redistribution is the return if short grass. Dallas Country Club (Jon Fought?) is a great example of the transformation of a so so course into a very interesting one. Just pure fun and feels like Donald Ross( who I assume never set foot in Texas)

[jeffwarne]

I want to play the guy for money who only hits an explosion shot everytime he's in the rough around the greens.
Isn't fairway all around the greens boring as well if a guy only putts?

[Sam Morrow]

Short grass is and golfs greatest hazard and equalizer.

[mike_beene]

Jeff,perhaps I am being loose with the term explosion shot. I live in the land of Bermuda rough.You can't get the club on the ball so you hit shots that have a sand type feel and use the bounce unless you can square up and hit a runner( but even then you don't get clean contact.)These are as easy as bunker shots and an easy up and down if not above hole.Short grass differentiates the really good short game from the person who putts.I would say that my short game keeps my handicap lower than my ball striking deserves but that could only lead to a Patrick Reed attitude or the shanks. Both offend me.

[Thomas Dai]

Short grass is best. The shot that misses the target runs away further, it's easier to find the ball and more variety is possible on recovery shots. Worth mentioning that short grass doesn't have to mean a smooth surface however. Also worth mentioning leaves - leaves when they fall stay in long grass and become horrid and mulchy. Leave seem to blow away on short grass.
atb

[Steven Blake]

Sam,

It is the great equalizer!


Jeff,

It might be boring to you but if it is easier for him to get up and down as opposed to bunker or rough the high handicap is more likely to play the game more is he not?  I have played with a lot of high handicaps and they cannot hit chip/pitch shots out of rough or get out of bunkers very easily. 

Low handicaps however hit just about every shot under the sun from shortly mown turf around the putting surfaces.  And because they do that creates indecision in what shots they want to play.  Once you get indecision or thinking into good players head bad shot are likely to follow.  Like Sam said a great equalizer.

Steve Blake

[Rob Collins]

I contend that short grass is anything but boring. In fact, I think it is the opposite of boring.  It opens up nearly endless shotmaking possibilities and virtually guarantees that you won't have the same look twice in a row.  When the contours in and around a green complex become the central challenge, golf is an infinitely more interesting game.  Incidentally, I recently drew a plan for a course that I hope will be our next project. Its about 6,500 yards long and has 92 acres of tightly mown turf.  In my opinion, its tough to have too much short grass.  Obviously, you would like to create or use a variety of textures through the use of multiple native (hopefully) plant materials as part of the overall look, but you can't beat short grass in the maintained turf areas as a way to foster variety, interest, and equalization, as previously noted by Sam.

[Steven Blake]

Rob,

100% correct … variety, variety and more variety!

It’s tough to have variety with 100 greenside bunkers or rough.

Steve Blake

[Mike Hendren]

A disenting opinion, likely reflecting bias:

Short grass is no equalizer.  It benefits the better player (yeah, yeah, I know it makes them "think" and Pete thinks you have them where you want them when you make them "think") and punishes the higher capper.  For the latter it simply becomes an extension of the putting surface as we can't pinch or nip the sand wedge, virtually eliminating that option.  Sure, we can bump a short iron, but why bother?   Short grass is effectively a half-shot penalty for the higher capper who'd prefer a little turf under the ball.  

Don't get me wrong - I love options - heck I 3-putted for par at nos. 10 and 16 at The Old Course, and I'll pitch with multiple clubs from multiple distances.  I don't mind short grass - I just can't romanticize short grass as a hazard.  

Or is it just me and my heavy handed golf swings?

I see the issue in a different context - fairways are kept too short and rough is kept too long.

Flame away.

Bogey

 

[Edward Moody]

I like this thread.  At our club we have short grass and bunkers surrounding every green and the short grass even runs up to the edges of the bunkers so the look is really clean (and makes shots rolling toward the bunkers inevitably go in the bunkers).  There is a first cut, which is still pretty tight and sticky (all grass on our course is zoysia, with the the exception of our bent greens).

I believe the short grass makes you a better player.  Before joining my club I played courses with bermuda (I live in Austin) and the rough around the greens was typically thick and nest like.  Every time I missed a green I would automatically grab my L wedge and get to chopping and blasting.

Now, however, I will use everything from a 7 iron through putter and maybe all of those clubs within the same round.  In addition, most of our greens are raised so often times I will find myself having to play a low bump shot into the hill and there is a nice challenge in judging the carry, how the ball will pop and respond, and how much roll will commence.  Fun and heartbreaking at times!

[Kevin Lynch]

Scott Witter used to post around here quite a bit, and wrote an article "Short grass–Subtle but Effective" a few year ago.

http://buffalogolfer.com/wordpress/short-grass-subtle-but-effective/

I thought it might have some bearing on this topic.

[Steven Blake]

Bogey

If short grass is a half shot penalty than what is the penalty for high handicap players coming out of rough and bunkers… much higher than half a shot. If thats the case then short grass is an equalizer.  

Steve Blake

[Rob Collins]

Michael,
I respectfully disagree with your contention that short grass is not an equalizer.  I understand where you are coming from, but I believe that it is typically more difficult for a high handicapper to execute shots out of the rough than it is for them to hit shots from tightly mown turf.  As for the good player, it does make them think.  They have the full arsenal of shots at their disposal and they have to decide which to use.  For the best, that may not always make it more difficult, but it will always make it more interesting.  It also always makes it more interesting for the high handicapper because they have more options too.  They may not be great at clipping it off of the short grass but they aren't very good at hacking it out of the rough either.  At least with short grass they have the option of one or the other...

[Carl Nichols]

A disenting opinion, likely reflecting bias:

Short grass is no equalizer.  It benefits the better player (yeah, yeah, I know it makes them "think" and Pete thinks you have them where you want them when you make them "think") and punishes the higher capper.  For the latter it simply becomes an extension of the putting surface as we can't pinch or nip the sand wedge, virtually eliminating that option.  Sure, we can bump a short iron, but why bother?   Short grass is effectively a half-shot penalty for the higher capper who'd prefer a little turf under the ball.  

Don't get me wrong - I love options - heck I 3-putted for par at nos. 10 and 16 at The Old Course, and I'll pitch with multiple clubs from multiple distances.  I don't mind short grass - I just can't romanticize short grass as a hazard.  

Or is it just me and my heavy handed golf swings?

I see the issue in a different context - fairways are kept too short and rough is kept too long.

Flame away.

Bogey

 

I guess it depends on your perspective.  I'm a decent player (index usually in the 4-5 range), but by far the weakest part of my game is chipping and pitching.  (A buddy recently called me a scratch ball-striker and a 20-handicap chipper.)   If a course has short-grass surrounds, and I can play putter or hybrid from off the green, I'm almost always doing it -- allows me to eliminate doubles and makespars much more likely.  Of course, sometimes I'm forced to pitch or chip it off short grass and then I'm completely screwed, but that seems not to happen as often.

[Steven Blake]

Edward,

I agree that short grass makes you a better player and a more versatile player as well. If I was to have a match against someone and I wanted it to favor me I would have long rough and bunkers around every green.  But thats not fun or exciting ...

Steve Blake

[Joe Hancock]

Bogey,

Generally, I agree with your bold text, for playability and sensible maintenance reasons.

I did a site visit last week to a club I've worked with quite a bit in the past couple years. There's been a fair bit of short grass added as replacement of bunkers removed or deeper rough removed. The GM/ Pro, who plays a lot with his clientele, said this about the added short grass; "The low handicappers hate it, the high handicappers love it". He saw that as a win/ win for what they are trying to provide as a product.

Joe