Is heather a good hazard?

[Anthony Gray]

             .?

[paul cowley]

Yes, and the farther out from the C/L the better.

[Mike Nuzzo]

depends on what she is wearing

[Tom_Doak]

Anthony:

Heather is not a hazard, by the definitions of the game.  Neither is rough. 

Heather is a form of severe rough.  It's sometimes more penal than most golfers can handle.  However, I think that fact is trumped by its beauty, and by the fact that it gives terrific natural character to the few golf courses which are lucky enough to have it.  The one type of site I've never got to build on is a heathery one, and I would love to have the chance one day.

You just have to keep it cut back to where people aren't going to be in it all the time.

[Jud_T]

If it's kept thin enough where one can find a ball and has a decision as to whether to attempt to play it or not, yes.  If it's just thick gunch that's essentially a lost ball, no.  All about maintenance, proximity and aesthetics.

[Anthony Gray]

  Seems to me that they planted heather at Kingsbarns. I remember some planted on the left at hole 11. Does any one know if it took?

  Anthony

[BCrosby]

Heather is beautiful but brutal.

When used along the body of a hole, it plays almost like a parallel water hazard. I thought it was overused on some of the Surrey courses I played.
 
Bob   

[Michael Whitaker]

I have very mixed emotions concerning heather. Yes, it is beautiful and adds character to a course. But, as Bob says, if it is not managed properly it becomes every bit as penal as a water hazzard.

If a golf course displayed as much water as some heathland courses do heather one would never consider it a world class creation. Over use of heather is as bad as over use of water.

[Sean_A]

Heather, just like well kept fescue rough is a fantastic feature for golf courses.  Like any rough, there needs to be space to play the game.  Most of the so-called heathland courses offer plenty of space on most of their holes.  The tightest could be New Zealand, but it is also quite short so a player can opt for safer shots.  In the winter it isn't much of an issue, but when firm in the summer I can certainly see why people would be put off.  Still, if kept short without trees blocking corridors (a double hazard to have heather under trees - same for harsh rough) and nearly 100% heather, this is a great feature.  I wish more of the heathland courses featured heather strategically rather than purely aesthetically. 

Good examples are

#5 Worplesdon


#5 Camberley Heath


#13 Woking


#1 New Zealand - this is a pic from near the turn left way in front of the tee.


#2 New Zealand - very tight up near the 250ish mark


#14 New Zealand


#16 New Zealand - probably my favourite example as the heather is playable, but encourages the player to take 1 or 2 clubs too many.


Ciao

[Jud_T]

Sean,

Agreed.  It appears that due to climate/maintenance that one has the opportunity to find their ball and decide how/if to play the lie, no? 

[Sean_A]

Jud

Heather still needs to be cut/burned back or it will become a nightmare - much like gorse (I can't stand the stuff). 

Ciao

[Tom_Doak]

Sean:

The number of obvious cart paths in your photos is disturbing.  Are golf carts making inroads at the London clubs?  [pardon the pun]

[Adrian_Stiff]

Heather is a plant that more exists or does not, if you want to get rid of it then you need to encourage the grass, so close mowing will stop it growing, if you chop the heather to say 4" you tend to thicken the bottom. Theres not much kinda halfway point to have have heather and keep it thin enough for golf, it kind of does its own thing. If you left those fairways uncut they would revert to heather in time. Its one of most difficult plants to grow if its not indigenous.

Tom - Most courses have buggies in the UK and the numbers are increasing but very few have purpose paths. I suspect you could have 30 buggies at a course without the need for concreted paths provided you dont use them in the winter.

[Mark Pearce]

Tom,

I don't think any of those are actually purpose built cart paths, just footpaths that may now be suitable for carts.

[Tom Birkert]

Heather is very challenging, you have to learn to read the lie. Sometimes you can get a hybrid at it, more often it will be a wedge out, but you normally can advance the ball.

It is tempting because often you can see a lot of the ball, so think you can get more club on it, and try to do so and end up seeing the club get grabbed by the heather and not escaping it.

[BCrosby]

Heather is ....tempting because often you can see a lot of the ball, so think you can get more club on it, and try to do so and end up seeing the club get grabbed by the heather and not escaping it.

Exactly. The first couple of times I tried to play out of heather my ball was sitting up nicely. I'm thinking I got this under control and pulled a longer club needed to reach the green.  I was shocked at the strength of the heather and rolled back my ambitions. I was soon happy just to get my ball back in play.

Bob 

[Adam Lawrence]

You need defined paths if you're going to keep the heather in good condition: it can't stand the foot traffic. It's an odd little paradox - heather is very tender yet incredibly tough too (at least when you're trying to get a golf club through it!)

Wonderful stuff, but it is penal, and far, far tougher for golfers with low swing speeds. I played the Red course at the Berkshire with a guy in his seventies a couple of years ago, and he was really struggling - on quite a few holes he couldn't carry the heather from the tee, and once in, he couldn't get out.

[Michael Wharton-Palmer]

Always been a fan of heather for its esthetic qualilites and its strategic purpose.
Many of the heathland courses at home have an apparent lack of length for the modern game, but the fast running fairways and the heather laden off fairway terrain serves to make the courses play longer as one has to plot your way around the golf course.

I have always believed that straight driving should be a rewarded more than it is in the current game, so long rough, heather et al lining fiarways has never been an issue with me...I firmly belive that hitting the fiarway off the tee should be as integral a part of  winning in this sportthe game as is the ablility to putt...alas the modern game for the most part is not so...he who putts the best wins....Hogan was correct it is too large a part of who wins...so let the heather flourish

[BCrosby]

Adam -

As noted above, heather functions as a close cousin to a parallel water hazard. With that in mind, it should be used with the same restraint.

Bob

[Sean_A]

Sean:

The number of obvious cart paths in your photos is disturbing.  Are golf carts making inroads at the London clubs?  [pardon the pun]

Tom

Those aren't really cart paths.  They are for foot traffic and the odd cart uses them.  I am seeing more and more courses make there paths permanent, I suspect because have nice mud free walking areas away from sensitive areas.  How long ago do you think these "formal" paths started?

Ciao 

[Jud_T]

Knucklehead question from the peanut gallery:  Does it only grow in cool climates or is that the same stuff everyone whines about at Prarie Dunes?

[Lou_Duran]

Always been a fan of heather for its esthetic qualilites and its strategic purpose.
Many of the heathland courses at home have an apparent lack of length for the modern game, but the fast running fairways and the heather laden off fairway terrain serves to make the courses play longer as one has to plot your way around the golf course.
I have always believed that straight driving should be a rewarded more than it is in the current game, so long rough, heather et al lining fiarways has never been an issue with me...I firmly belive that hitting the fiarway off the tee should be as integral a part of  winning in this sportthe game as is the ablility to putt...alas the modern game for the most part is not so...he who putts the best wins....Hogan was correct it is too large a part of who wins...so let the heather flourish

Love, love the look.  Not a big fan when it is used as rough on both sides.  My limited experience suggests that it grows invariably, maybe not easily controlled, and has great impact at the most inopportune parts of a match.  We spent a great deal of time at the last Buda looking for balls, though nearly all were eventually found.   I'd like it better if the first few yards off the faiway were thinner and sparsely covered.  It is typically easier than a lateral water hazard because the ball can be usually advanced or hit to a shorter position than a drop.  I am glad to hear that someone else likes a better balance of the long and short games.

[Niall C]

Heather is beautiful but brutal.

When used along the body of a hole, it plays almost like a parallel water hazard. I thought it was overused on some of the Surrey courses I played.
 
Bob   

wait to you play Glasgow Gailes ! Byond brutal.

Niall

[James Boon]

Adam -

As noted above, heather functions as a close cousin to a parallel water hazard. With that in mind, it should be used with the same restraint.

Bob

Bob,

At the risk of starting to sound a little like Melvyn  heather isnt really "used" to the extent that one can "use it with restraint". It just happens to be the natural flora of some courses. Some courses have obviously encouraged the heathland restoration as its good for wildlife and goes back to the courses origins, so man has had his hand in it being there, but its pretty much what nature intended.

I've noticed at Notts that the heather is often in two forms, firstly that which is closer to the line of play which seems to have been cut on a regular basis and is fairly young. This means its a lot easier to play from, a hybrid is occasionally possible as Tom suggests, though often a wedge back to the fairway is the best bet. The second is that much further away from the line of play, that is pretty much wild and can be almost bush like, or gorse like as Sean mentions. From that stuff you are lucky to be able to move it any distance at all.

Nevertheless, I love the look and feel it gives a course and will happily take the "penalty" when I stray offline.

Cheers,

James

[BCrosby]

James -

From conversations with members at Walton Heath, Woking and Sunningdale several years ago, I learned that those courses had undertaken 'heathering' programs. The programs, as I understand them, were necessitated because heather only grows in poor soils and, ironically, modern maintenance practices make for soils that are too healthy.

Apparently a good deal of heather has been lost over the last decades for that reason. To the extent it exists, it must be specially 'under-maintained' to survive. So I have my doubts about the Melvinesque defense that 'it's just native vegetation'. As to first class modern golf courses in Surrey, it's perhaps less than clear.

If I misunderstood my hosts about the heather situation in Surrey, I am pleased to be corrected. Clear to me, however, is that the wonderful terrain, roughs, bunkers and greens of the great Surrey courses create, without more, memorable golfing challenges. Heather should no doubt be part of the mix. But only in moderation.

Bob