Re: Fades Or Draws

I realize that this thread is now...in the rough, but I have to agree with this. On many courses, the so-called "rough" should be called "soft fairway." I believe the sport would be improved by having the standards of the US Open applied more generally, so that lack of accuracy is punished more severely. And this would counteract the tendency, which many lament, that pro golf has become all about hitting monstrously long balls. If hitting fairways gave a substantial advantage (which it doesn't if the "rough" is entirely forgiving), accuracy would be the cardinal virtue. In the US at the current time there is only a weak correlation between hitting fairways and scoring, and that tells the whole story.

Re: Fades Or Draws

I agree with the rough topic. On some of the courses I've played here in the UK if you hit a ball in the rough you often need to take a penalty drop as hitting the ball at all is difficult. I think it's more so on Heathland courses, I've noticed the parkland/woodland courses have a much easier rough.

The rough is so bad on some courses that even though you only hit your ball a yard or two into the rough and you kept your eye on the entry line you can't find your ball. Then you can go on a different course and play a long iron from 30 yards into the rough.

I think rather than altering a course they should just put narrow out of bounds markers for the Pros. You sometimes see people like Tiger hit a drive well into some trees and end up saving par whereas if you hit a shot 30+ yards off the fairway you should be severely punished.

I actually think that the kind of courses us beginners play are more difficult than the big championship courses comparatively. If the pros came and did the same shots only their distances were like ours then they'd get terrible scores from the wayward tee shots.