Hampstead
* Ace Member *
Deliberate thick rough that causes you to work on accuracy and control is alright with me. Thick rough due to course neglect is another story altogether.
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Does thick rough take away from a quality course?
- Thread starter bobmcnelly
- Start date
Goats are impressive for what they'll eat. We use to have a lot of them and moved to a new house. Had a section where an old barn used to be all grown over with viney messes, briars, and some random trees. You couldn't walk through it if you tried.......and then there were just trees left.
The bad thing is - they also love flowers, decorative bushes, and other things you want left alive - so keeping them where you want them can be a PITA as they are excellent escape artists.
It depends a lot on what is making the thick rough, what the hole is, what the target audience is, and why it is thick...some random thoughts:
- Thick, disc eating rough is bad if the target demographic is beginners who are more likely to be in there and lose discs. The higher the skill level the less of an issue this becomes.
- I'm not a fan of thorny rough that bites back - but that is usually what we get around here.
- I don't like rough that likely will result in a lost disc or a long frustrating search.
- I do like rough that punishes you (via a stroke) for being off fairway. Thick & wooded where I find my disc easily but am likely now looking at a bogey because I have no line at the pin - no problem.
- It is best if the rough gets thicker the further off fairway - but this is not always easy to do.
- I'm not a fan of nasty rough if it is somewhere a lot of players are likely to be. At my home course which is tailored towards beginners (there is a blue level course on site as well) we have 2 holes with some bad disc eating rough. The first is a tight tunnel shot that is ~15' wide the entire way. The rough on both sides if even 2" off the fairway is nasty, thorny, disc eating rough. If you go off and find your disc you will be bleeding. Given the reasonably high chance of someone not hitting the entire tunnel, I really do NOT like this hole. The very next hole has the same rough on each side....but it is on an extra wide fairway. I don't mind the rough here as if you are off the fairway you have REALLY messed up and deserve a bit of punishment. Same rough - different placement and execution, and I don't mind one but hate the other.
- Thick, disc eating rough is bad if the target demographic is beginners who are more likely to be in there and lose discs. The higher the skill level the less of an issue this becomes.
- I'm not a fan of thorny rough that bites back - but that is usually what we get around here.
- I don't like rough that likely will result in a lost disc or a long frustrating search.
- I do like rough that punishes you (via a stroke) for being off fairway. Thick & wooded where I find my disc easily but am likely now looking at a bogey because I have no line at the pin - no problem.
- It is best if the rough gets thicker the further off fairway - but this is not always easy to do.
- I'm not a fan of nasty rough if it is somewhere a lot of players are likely to be. At my home course which is tailored towards beginners (there is a blue level course on site as well) we have 2 holes with some bad disc eating rough. The first is a tight tunnel shot that is ~15' wide the entire way. The rough on both sides if even 2" off the fairway is nasty, thorny, disc eating rough. If you go off and find your disc you will be bleeding. Given the reasonably high chance of someone not hitting the entire tunnel, I really do NOT like this hole. The very next hole has the same rough on each side....but it is on an extra wide fairway. I don't mind the rough here as if you are off the fairway you have REALLY messed up and deserve a bit of punishment. Same rough - different placement and execution, and I don't mind one but hate the other.
DBdiscgolf
Eagle Member
I'm all for thick tress, but not thick underbrush.
Hampstead
* Ace Member *
biscoe
* Ace Member *
Thick is fine as long as it's not Giles Run thick.
This. It's still difficult to get out, but discs are easy to see. Even bushes are better than shule.
I think, for me anyway, that unbearable rough takes away from the experience of a course. If I play a course, and only have two bad shots (or unlucky kicks), and that results in me spending an hour looking for them...well, that's going to bring down my review score.
There's a local college course that I won't play after June, because of the thick grass / briars in the rough. Even when I'm playing well, there's a chance of dinging a tree at the edge of the fairway (which are fairly narrow here) and sending my disc 40-50' into tall grass and thorns. Since I take newer players out all the time and I don't like leaving my discs, I avoid courses with thick OB areas.
Agricolae
Eagle Member
This. A good example, in my opinion, is Castle Hayne Park in Wilmington, NC. Get off the forested fairways and you'll find yourself in dense, sapling to moderate diameter trees. Sideways, or even backwards, pitchouts are not uncommon. An errant shot most often costs a throw. However, the floor is generally clear and clean without the greenbriar, grapevine, kudzu, and other jungly cr*p so common in the southeast.
I don't know how they managed it at Castle Hayne. I heard someone say they did a controlled burn some years back.
simpletwist
* Ace Member *
My favorite course is TC3 Panther Highlands in Dryden, NY. Much of the rough is THICK. And discs can easily get lost and/or add at least a stroke just to get out. That said, the fairways are ample and obvious. I love it.
Bottom line, stay on the fairway.
Bottom line, stay on the fairway.
one of the courses i go to regularly, there are foxtails EVERYWHERE, after every 9 holes we have to stop and pick them out of our shoes and socks because it gets so uncomfortable. the tall grass and shrubs on the fairways are so thick rollers are impossible and getting a lucky skip truely is lucky.
Get gaiters or short socks. I used to use gaiters but they didn't help with chigger bites. I started wearing short socks and it's the best. No foxtails and no chiggers.
Also, shoes that are leather topped will help. Woven materials just provides something to stick to.
mbressler13
Bogey Member
Part of the game. I have played a few courses that are just completely overgrown and that is not really acceptable in my eyes. I plan on going to a brand new course tonight that has fairly wide fairways with decent rough. If you stay on the fairway you should be fine.
It totally depends on the course. Some courses need rough that is almost a penalty to up the difficulty. Some courses are in park like settings and some are very natural ie rough is all over. The question is really too general to get a good answer.
DG_Before_Breakfast
Double Eagle Member
- Joined
- Dec 10, 2012
- Messages
- 1,410
I never get to play any courses without crazy rough, so I wouldn't know 
hk chef
Par Member
Playing a course with thick rough is like dating a chick with 70s porn bush, you're going to have fun either way but should you really have to deal will all that mess???
At Valmont, in Boulder, the tall grass made rounds SUCK as you spent half your time looking for errant discs. The park staff mowed, but did not raze the entire thing. Fairways are more defined, and stands of tall grass keep it from being WIDE open. You can avoid the cactus on 1-7 easier. Thistles have filled in, but I got a weed whip and some spare time...overall, the grass needs to be tamed if we expect folks to keep coming out. Big arm guys who like the punishment aspect of the game don't come here much, anyways. On a side note, I love watching them whiff the "easy" holes: 5, 14, and 16 after they've been whining about a short, open course!
Nasty Nate
Double Eagle Member
I say yes because here Simsbury is a nice course but the rough gets completely overgrown and makes it impossible to find errant shots. It's unfortunate because it would be so much better if it was just thinned out some. A lot of beginners play this course and I feel bad for anyone who loses a disc here. There are also a ton of huge thorns in these thickets. My friends have lost plenty of discs there and I have lost one or two.
