The key to playing great golf is to eliminate half of the golf course and to play the course like a game of chess.
Golf is about angles and leaving yourself with a good angle into the green. If you play a course that is fairly wide open without much rough you might intentionally try to hit your ball in the rough to give you a better angle into the green.
At my home course, hole 10 is an example of this. The hole is a par 4 playing 480 yards. There is a bunker down the left side that is reachable from the tee and a bunker down the right side also, but not reachable. There are very little trees to the right of the fairway and the green has a large deep bunker that is angled 45 degrees from the middle of the green to the back left of the green. Every time the pin is cut to the left side of the green behind the bunker I am purposely trying to hit the ball into the right rough.
The reason for this is first eliminate trouble. By aiming down the right side I can eliminate the bunker down the left side. Secondly, since this is a long hole I will have a long iron into the green on my approach shot. If I am in the right rough the left pins on the green are open and I do not have to carry the greenside bunker on my approach shot. This gives me more room for error if I miss my long iron into the green. I can mishit my 3- or 4-iron and still hit the green. Many times a mishit with the long irons may not carry as far, but will still release when they hit the green and my mishit may end up close to the hole.
When Should You Shoot for the Rough?
Trying to intentionally miss the fairway is not for every hole, however some of you may wish it were. First, the rough must be very short. During this time of the year when the rough is not long it’s ok to miss fairways intentionally. Second, missing the fairway should serve a purpose. Are you avoiding a bunker that could potentially leave a tough second shot in? Are you opening up the green so that you have a better angle into the pin cut in the corner of a green?
These reasons are good and will have you playing better golf. Remember that hitting a fairway is a stat, but sometimes missing the fairway can result in lower scores, which is ultimately the goal.
