"Horribly Overgrown Championship Rough"

[Mark Pearce]

I blame the cold weather on global warming.

Very funny.  And true.  The reason for the crap weather the UK is suffering is the displacement south of the jet stream, most likely caused by cold air from melting polar ice.

[jeffwarne]

We've had an awful Summer here in Sweden as well. Anything hit into the rough at my home course is almost certainly a lost ball. Every October just before the course closes for the winter, the rough is cut and baled. I think that it should be done about two or three times over the golfing season.

Yesterday, I played with a yellow ball for the first time since the 1980s, and it really does help when you're searching in the rough.

You'd see more of this (cutting "native" areas) if clubs weren't so enamored with the way they photograph.
Southampton GC is a good example of a club who gets this right
on a way smaller budget than its' neighbors
broadleaf weeds and volunteers don't thrive under a mower blade......

[Sean_A]

Don't we love links golf because it's natural? This is what nature does when it's hot and wet. Horribly overgrown?

Looking forward to seeing the field tackle the challenges dealt out by the course this week.

Scott

Natural?  And what is natural about short grass with over two hundred sand pits and 18 sticks?  I can accept rough just like the next guy...so long as fairways are wide enough to play the game.  I have yet to come across ANYBODY who thinks long rough makes the game more fun, but I expect Rihc will at some point.

Ciao

[Carl Nichols]

I blame the cold weather on global warming.

Very funny.  And true.  The reason for the crap weather the UK is suffering is the displacement south of the jet stream, most likely caused by cold air from melting polar ice.

Mark (and Tom),
This was obviously just a joke, and I certainly don't want to threadjack.  I am aware of those theories, but it's interesting that just about every unexpected weather occurrence can be attributed to global warming -- as if there had never been a cold and wet summer in the UK before the globe started warming (allegedly)!  I am not an extreme skeptic, but I do think we should demand some ex ante accuracy from the models before we start assuming that we know for sure what all of the problems and solutions are.
Threadjack over.

[DMoriarty]

Wouldn't repeatedly cutting down the tall rough during such wet time only encourage thicker rough?  The height isn't the real problem here, is it?

I am with Sean Arble's post on the Castle Stuart thread, but not necessarily with his recent post on this one.

Like Scott Warren and a few others, I think that thick rough is bound to happen sometimes when the weather dictates . . . such is golf.   Where I agree with Sean is when he notes that this wouldn't be a problem if the fairways were maintained with width enough so that the golfers could stand a reasonable chance of avoiding the rough.

But unfortunately it seems the general tendency is to try and  over-manage over-control the difficulty of these major championship courses rather than maintaining a course that works well in all conditions and letting the scores take care of themselves depending upon what mother nature brings. 

[Adrian_Stiff]

The champion golfer should be one that hits it straight. Despite the GCA view that fairways should be 80 yards wide, championship committees say ney, 20 yards....most golf clubs agree when then big tourny comes.

Different for club golf of course.

[DMoriarty]

The champion golfer should be one who finishes 72 holes on one of the best courses in the world in less strokes than the rest at the Open. If you want it to be a contest merely about who hits it straight, then let's leave those pesky courses and conditions out of it and move the Open inside.  

Or if you'd like, go ahead and put your fairways at 20 yards and grow your rough up thick and nasty (or let the rain do it for you) and in a few more years the glorious Open Tournament will be reduced to the little brother of the US Open. I sure look forward to that as it would mean less time in front of the television for me.

[Adrian_Stiff]

Straight hitting is clearly high on the manifesto of championship committees and has been for a long time. I was at Lytham in 1979 and it was very narrow, some fairways were under 20 yards then.

Wide fairways for championship golf are not going to happen, the reasoning is entirely different for club golfers and the way the top golfers can control the ball.

[David Davis]

Here in The Netherlands at my home club (also a links course) we are experiencing this overgrown rough problem as well and we didn't even need a championship to enjoy it. I don't want to say the grass is greener across the stream but it seemed much thicker here than at Royal St. Georges and Royal Cinque Ports a few weeks ago. So it left me wondering what are the courses in the UK doing "right" to be able to thin the rough so that it's nearly always possible to find your ball and perhaps assess that "1/2 stroke penalty" as apposed to losing the ball if you miss the fairway by a few inches, which is what we are dealing with.

I realize the point is to hit the ball straight in the middle of the fairway, Lord knows I'm trying...

Please see photo (note: ball was not lost  

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151222929297415&set=a.470942257414.256761.573297414&type=1&theater

(sorry couldn't figure out how to post the photo any other way so hope this works)  

[Rich Goodale]

 I have yet to come across ANYBODY who thinks long rough makes the game more fun, but I expect Rihc will at some point.

Ciao

Sorry to disappoint you, Snea, but I hate thick rough, regardless of how long it is.  Always have, always will.

Rich

[Mark_Rowlinson]

It's raining again this morning (Tuesday) here in the north-west of England.

[John Kirk]

He who plays his long irons best may make the difference.  That means Tiger Woods has a chance this weekend.  Off topic, how about Zach Johnson winning #9 last weekend?

[Rich Goodale]

I blame the cold weather on global warming.

Carl:

I saw a climate change model 10-15 years ago that showed most of the world heating up, but northern Europe getting colder ... because the warmer temps would alter the Gulf Stream current and bring less warmth to Europe.

Of course, since we are assured by political experts that it is all a hoax, there is nothing to worry about.  Nothing at all.

Interesting, Tom, as the models I was working with in 1999 seemed to imply significant summer-autumn warming in Scotland.  Today, the UK Met Office admits in the article cited below that their long term forecasts implied warmer-drier summers and warmer-wetter winters.  Recently it has been the exact opposite of this case (colder-dry winters and colder-wet summers).  As one who spent much of his early professional life creating and analyzing forecasting models, whenever I hear someone cite the results of a model simulation as "evidence" the phrase GIGO comes immediately to mind.....

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2174852/Climate-change-forget-heatwave-fantasies-start-planning-floods.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

Rich

[Niall C]

Its interesting how some courses quickly gwet labelled as being monstrous and others don't. I was at Carnoustie all four days and practice day back in 1999 and at Turnberry for all four days and practice day in 2009. If anything I would say the rough at Turnberry was heavier and more uniformly long. I recall in 1999 during the practice day David Duvall refusing to even contemplate hitting out of fairly whispy rough. No doubt there was some bad stuff about that year but a lot of the pro's simply talked themselves into believing the course was impossible. Seems like history may be repeating itself.

Niall

[Brent Hutto]

I must say with my own UK golf holiday coming up in a few weeks I wasn't sure if the Open TV coverage was something I even wanted to see. I've got visions of spending a week in a steady, cold rain on flooded courses slogging around on a death march because "I didn't fly 6,000 miles to lay up", so to speak.

Then I'm greeting this morning with scenes of a wonderfully presented links course, next to no wind and mild 15C temperature. Just the kind of weather one might expect on a July day in the north of England.

Tomorrow is another day (heck, for all I know this afternoon might be another day) but so far you gotta admit it's an encouraging sight!

[Niall C]

Brent

Not sure exactly when you're coming over but the weather is supposed to be taking a turn for the better in the next few weeks.

Niall

[Brent Hutto]

First week of September and playing at Reddish Vale, Ganton and Notts.

Looking at rainfall total maps, various areas seem to have accumulated very different amounts this summer. With any luck there will be some nicer days by then and maybe I'll hit on one or two of those less-wet microzones. At least there's hope!

The one time I've been in that area before there had been a drought all summer, go figure.

[Brent Hutto]

Brian,

Yes, my host at Notts is Mr. Boon and I very much look forward to it come rain or shine.

And now back to your regularly scheduled Open commentary...that rough is playing pretty tough innit? Fun to see Tiger surgically dissect the course and, if I'm not mistaken, play zero second shots from either rough or bunkers. It will be an interesting contrast if/when the wind does arrive in earnest.

[Brent Hutto]

No offense intended to lovers of Hoylake and Troon but to me Lytham joins those two as the group of current Open courses I find least appealing. Of the three, my inclination is to say Lytham is the one I prefer slightly.

I am very impressed, based on a couple hours viewing so far, with the ability of the bunkers to slowly gather balls from quite some distance. Not the extreme I recall on the day I played Royal Birkdale but moreso than even some other links courses.

[Garland Bayley]

I hope Adam and Tiger play in the final group Sunday. I hope Adam ends up in the "horribly overgrown championship rough", decides to take an unplayable, and drops within two lengths of that broom he carries, and wins by one.

[Will MacEwen]

I hope Adam and Tiger play in the final group Sunday. I hope Adam ends up in the "horribly overgrown championship rough", decides to take an unplayable, and drops within two lengths of that broom he carries, and wins by one.

Can't Tiger borrow the broom from Adam if he needs a drop? 

[Garland Bayley]

I hope Adam and Tiger play in the final group Sunday. I hope Adam ends up in the "horribly overgrown championship rough", decides to take an unplayable, and drops within two lengths of that broom he carries, and wins by one.

Can't Tiger borrow the broom from Adam if he needs a drop? 

What? Tiger take a drop? You must be joking. What do you think those countless hours in the gym are for?

I'm not a rules guy, but I would guess, no he couldn't borrow, as he already has 14 clubs in his own bag.

[Brent Hutto]

Garland's dream scenario would be worth seeing just to hear the words we never thought Tiger would utter...

"Stevie, hand me the Broom".

P.S. Although in retrospect it would be "...the goddam Broom", one supposes.

[Tiger_Bernhardt]

It seems like all week the rough is still deep and thick at St Annes. lol

[David Lott]

Sheep.

Call in the sheep.