Rough on Ireland courses

[Jeff Schley]

Just returned from a trip to Ireland and had a great trip, two things of which certainly went our way.

1. It was supposed to rain every day we were there 5 days total and it didn't rain at all but a 5 minute mist one day. Very lucky, although I personally like playing in some weather as it adds to the experience.

2. We missed the Trump circus by 1 day at Trump Doonbeg for we originally were supposed to play the Friday he played, but instead changed to Saturday a couple months ago.

Played: European Club, Royal County Down, Lahinch, Ballybunion, Trump Doonbeg.

I want to focus on one item as anyone who has played those courses know they are special.  That is the rough or I should say the vast difference of grasses / turf used as rough which VASTLY affects play. The European Club and RCD have pretty thick heather and gorse, which if you are off the fairway it is hard to find your ball much play it.  Lahinch, BB, TD all have whispy grass by contrast which allows you to find most balls and certainly play from there.

I'm a 15 handicap and combined with the wind of 15-30 mph during our round EC and RCD was just too penal for me to play.  We didn't have a caddie/forecaddie at EC, but had individual caddies at RCD.  By the back 9 at RCD I was having a hard time enjoying my round for I was playing a match against my friend and my caddie didn't have me hit any provisional balls thus I didn't even finish 3 holes for we couldn't find the ball.  Wasn't terribly deep, but disappeared. I think I realized, this course is just too hard for me as I'm not accurate enough to play it, which was very humbling and depressing.  I wanted to enjoy it and was very pumped up and feeling the adrenaline teeing off, but that was replaced by depression by the back 9 as I took an iron off the tee barely making the fairway off one hole as I had no confidence in my woods in that wind and gorse.

It beat me down! I'm sure I'm not the only one and was off that day perhaps, but contrast that with LH, BB, TD where I could find my ball and play it in the whispy grass.  This was probably 10-12 shots easier as a result, maybe more.  So my observation is that the huge difference in rough/turf off the fairways vastly affects scoring, but also one's enjoyment during the round is what I thought as an epiphany at TD where i found a pulled 5 wood and found it and played it.  Ballybunion was my favorite and I don't think the least of which because I could find my misses in the whispy grass, not all, but most. LH and TD were even more whispy IMO.

So while I love the challenge of RCD and EC, the gorse and heather is just too penal for many average golfers is my hypothesis.  Is this shared or am I just a 15 handicap that had a bad week and soon to be 20?

[Tyler Kearns]

Jeff,


You aren't alone, I think searching for errant balls is the least desirable thing in golf.  We all hit it crooked some days, and there is nothing better than being able to find it quickly and either chip it back into play, or risk a more daring shot from a poor lie or through an opening in the trees. Long rough and native areas should be employed very judiciously throughout a course to ensure your experience is not a normal occurrence.


Tyler

[Mike Sweeney]

We were traveling in Ireland at roughly the same time. When we finished 18 at The Island Club, a local member said it was the windiest day he had seen in 5+ years. We moved up a set of tees, and played "Tiger Woods @ Hoylake" style golf - a bunch of punch irons and had fun:



We should have done the same at Lahinch, but when it is a one time play it is harder to pull back. Still loved Lahinch as mentioned before.


Mr Moore hits a low ball and is the best player, so maybe he will chime in.

[Jeff Loh]

Sweeney
Enough with the "scrapbooking."
Topic of post is "rough on Ireland courses."
Your picture and comments don't address that.

[Mike Sweeney]

Sweeney
Enough with the "scrapbooking."
Topic of post is "rough on Ireland courses."
Your picture and comments don't address that.

Jeff,


I was trying to show the flags in the background at The Island Club. You can see they are blowing, and I should have spelled that out. It was blowing hard all week, and I targeted my post to Jeff Schley. I was trying to be compassionate to his plight as I felt the same. It was blowing hard all week.

[Tom_Doak]

You missed Portrush, but the rough there has been brutal for years now . . . there's not much heather, but the grass is much thicker and the ball really sits down.  It has taken the enjoyment out of a superb design for me, but all in the interest of securing an Open rota spot.


Doonbeg's rough was also very thick when it opened, glad to hear they have tamed it.  It's possible to do so, but it takes years of effort to really make a lasting change.


Ballybunion and Lahinch make $$$$ off visitor rounds, much more than The European Club or Royal County Down, and they want to get visitors around and out of there as quickly as possible, which turns out to be a very good motivator to keep the golf course playable.

[Tim Martin]

I found the marram grass at Ballybunion tough to find balls in and even tougher to advance.

[Jeff Schley]

Doonbeg's rough was also very thick when it opened, glad to hear they have tamed it.  It's possible to do so, but it takes years of effort to really make a lasting change.

Yes we were told by our caddie that Martin Hawtree has thinned quite a bit of the course out from it's original Greg Norman design and made it 5 or more shots easier due to changing the rough. They also softened numerous bunkers and lowered some, which I thought were not very severe in terms of their depth and fair.

[jeffwarne]

so much for golfers being athletes...

[Bill Gayne]

Some pictures of the rough transition at Doonbeg from Scott Marr's twitter.


https://twitter.com/Scottmarr8/status/1139400632459124737