<rant>
The trimming of the rough at the Shaughnessy Golf and Country Club after the second round of the RBC Canadian Open has led to some interesting discussions about the state of the game.
On most of the courses on the tour the rough is cut to 3 inches or less. This works in favor of the players that like to bomb it because a missed fairway is not that big of a deal. From the lighter rough the players can hold shots on the green even with the new (slightly less square) grooves.
As most of the courses on tour are both long, wide and open the players almost always have a clear shot to the green, even from the rough.
The anti accuracy age
Luke Donald about the rough at Shaughnessy: “I enjoy these classic courses, but I’m not a huge fan of long rough everywhere because it takes some of the skill away because you’re hitting the same shot from everywhere,” He said. “The rough adds pressure when you are on the tee because you know you have to hit it in the fairway to have a chance to get on the green.”
So the fact that you have to hack your way out of it seems to be the common argument against having rough. It takes some of the skill away of rescue shots he says.
I’d say you need more skills with the driver to keep it out of the rough. Don’t try to hit it a mile if you can’t keep it straight…
What he says about the rough adding pressure on the tee …
You poor thing… Wake up dude!! You’re playing on the ‘These guys are good’ PGA Tour. Suck it up,' stop whining and just play :)
How math in golf has changed:
NOW: Length & Short Game = Winning
PAST: (Accuracy && Length) & Short Game = Winning
Old school golf
These days it seems that only long hitters with great short game skills can dominate the field. It wasn’t that long ago when a relative short hitter like Corey Pavin could compete against big hitting players. He beat Greg Norman to win the 1995 US Open with smart and accurate play. There was more of a risk and reward element to golf back then, simply because of the fact that in those days missing a fairway often meant a one stroke penalty.
I much prefer this risk reward version of golf. The fact that there are more ways to get a good result makes the game more interesting to watch for me.
<sigh/></rant>
