Does thick rough take away from a quality course?

[bobmcnelly]

So there's a new private course in my area, that sits on a steep hillside and the majority of the course has some real thick roughs. The fairways are getting much better and there are clear greens. But if you have an errant shot you can put yourself in a real bad situation pretty easily. Granted this a rugged mountain course. So it's not like a unmaintained park course with chest high grass or anything like that. Just lots of thick bushes and other ground coverage. So I was just curious of your opinions, does a course like this bother you or is it just part of the game?

 

[little oz]

My home course has a lot of pretty thick scrub oak. It makes me a better player; so I say bring it on.

 

[AndyJB]

It's part of the reason I love playing in Colorado!

It can enhance a good course and take away from a bad one. All depends on how it is used. What course are you referring to?

 

[chalos13]

it makes a course harder for sure. if it's more a natural course like you're saying, it's to be expected. if you're in a park, and they just need to mow, it really bothers me. Fighting stickers all day or looking for discs that are in the center of the fairway in tall grass is sucky. Now if a course is mowed strategically to leave patches of tall grass that you're supposed to avoid, this is cool. If it's on purpose, great, if it's lack of maintenance, not cool.

 

[eday1022]

If it doesn't cut or scratch I'm good with it unless You have no chance of finding a disc in it.

 

[bradharris]

All depends on how it is used.

This

 

[notapro]

Part of the game. I'll get angry at myself for being in a bad spot, not the vegetation.

 

[JohtoVillage]

If it doesn't cut or scratch I'm good with it unless You have no chance of finding a disc in it.

I just reviewed a course today in Iowa actually with brutal rough. If you can't find a disc in the rough then I am going to penalize the course. No one wants to play a course where you have to avoid the rough just to make sure you don't lose a disc.

 

[oddjob]

I'm willing to accept it on newer courses as traffic and one-disc wonders tend to beat things down.

 

[Improbably]

Course on a campground near me does great fairway maintenance but the grounds crew dumps all of the crap into the closest rough. This practice has basically provided a trellis for the thorns to grow huge.

 

[DavidSauls]

The good thing about thick rough is that it can really define the fairway. Hit the fairway, as you should, and all's fine. Miss it, and there's little chance the shot will luck it's way through to a good landing.

Assuming that the fairway is adequate, in the first place.

 

[jrawk]

Long grass lining fairways is a pretty much a fact of life with the way Park and Rec budgets are these days.

 

[zenbot]

It's called rough for a reason.

 

[DavidSauls]

Long grass lining fairways is a pretty much a fact of life with the way Park and Rec budgets are these days.

Ah, I was picturing something more than tall grass. The edge of woods, with a wall of foliage that a bad shot disappears into.

 

[BogeyNoMore]

While I'm not opposed to thick nasty rough that might take more than a stroke to escape, I have seen some examples where it's seems out of hand.

Ideally (not that life or DG ever is), rough should get nastier the farther you get away from the intended line. I don't think it's fair to have super thick rough on tight tunnel shots where a couple of feet off the fairway could mean a disc won't be uncovered until the fall.

The further you stray, the harder it should be to recover... but that's not necessarily how it works.

That said, nasty thick rough can be used to ratchet up risk rewrad, and perhaps should be viewed as being similar to water hazards - might cost you a stroke or even your disc... play your shot accordingly.

 

[Tfire25]

My course at the house has some rough rough. I will admit that one guy trying to keep 25 acres in check is impossible. Mostly because I like playing it and I hate maintaining it. I need to buy some goats. Do they eat vines? Google hooooo!

Sorry for the rambling.

 

[optidiscic]

well...it keeps the crowds away

 

[bobmcnelly]

It's part of the reason I love playing in Colorado!

It can enhance a good course and take away from a bad one. All depends on how it is used. What course are you referring to?

http://www.dgcoursereview.com/course.php?id=6976

It's a brand new course. Just starting to get some groups of travelers out to play it. It's definately thick wood foliage kinda stuff. No real tall grass. Hopefully some of you guys make it out to our quiet little corner of Colorado to check it out. We have another new course too, so its worth the trip. Ill try to get pictures of the all the holes up soon.

 

[championlog22]

I don't let it take away from the review 'score', but I do throw it in the other comments or the cons section. Like when I played Bella Vista in norther AR in the fall. The leaves were huge and in some areas about a foot deep. That way if people are trying to decide on two courses and they see that one will make you search for a disc in the fairway for a long time, it might help them with their decision on where to play.

 

[gcr_russell]

Ah, I was picturing something more than tall grass. The edge of woods, with a wall of foliage that a bad shot disappears into.

Me too. Rough that affects your score is fine by me. Rough that loses discs and scratches and cuts up the players can certainly lower my rating of a course.