Golf Club Selection for Longer Grass

A Pebble Beach green surrounded
by longer grass

Around the fairways and greens there is longer grass on the golf course, otherwise the rough. When your ball lands in the longer grass, effective golf club selection will go some way to ensuring that your ball will fly out of it. Here are a few suggestions to note.

When selecting a club for longer grass, clubs that have more loft will be most effective in playing out of it. Certainly, if you are in longer grass very close to the green, the wedges should come into play. With either a sand or pitching wedge you should be able to chip your way out of longer grass and onto the green.

Some may be familiar with the bump-and-run chip, which is essentially a longer distance chip which rolls onto the green. Don't play any longer distance chips from around the green if you are in longer grass, and cannot expect the ball to land on the green first. The longer grass will take most of the roll off the chip, considerably reducing the distance. Instead, select a wedge for a pitch onto the green.

What if your ball is in longer grass closer to the tee-box? A lofted wood can be a good choice of club, as it will also provide some distance as well. Consider a club such as the 7-wood, which can have up to 20 degrees of loft. Short iron clubs such as the 9 and 8-iron are also good for playing out of longer grass along the fairway.

But, if you're in very long grass you should select a wedge, such as a the sand or pitch wedge, wherever you are on the hole. Select a wedge for a pitch out of the grass, to get the ball back onto the fairway. This may reduce distance but it will also reduce the possibility of the ball remaining in the longer grass.

So, any of the wedges, 7 or 9-wood, or the 8 and 9-irons should be suitable clubs to select when in longer grass. Make sure you have a few of them in your bag for a range of suitable clubs for the longer grass.