3 most common lies players will face around the green

It’s US Open week!

Do you want to know how to play out of the THICK ROUGH Oakmont has this week?

Let me show you the 3 most common lies players will face around the green, as well as what club they will need to hit from the rough if they miss the fairway off the tee.

Ball In The Rough Concepts

In the rough, you’ll typically see 3 different lies. A ball sitting on top, a ball sitting in the middle, a ball sitting all the way down.

You need to know how to control DEPTH when in the rough. Are you trying to increase depth or are you trying to “pick the ball” off the top of the grass.

Think about it this way:

• Low Point = Club striking the ground ahead of the ball or behind the ball
• Depth = Club moving under the ground or above the ground
• Let’s talk about what you need when faced with these 3 lies

Ball Sitting On Top Of The Rough

For this lie, the ball is sitting nicely on top. We need to be very careful with this lie. This is the lie where golfers would take a fairway wood, hit down on the ball & sky it. The challenge with this lie is if you have “too much depth” the club goes too far under the ball & we end up hitting it high on the face, and the ball doesn’t go our desired distance.

What you want to do with this lie is feel like you are hitting UP on the ball. This will help keep the club from moving too far down into the grass & it will help you strike the ball clean. If the rough is a couple inches high and the ball is on top, the last thing we want is the club to move 2 inches under the ball when we didn’t intend to.

The flight you should expect from this lie would be either a low shot if you have an extremely clean lie or a mid-height shot. The reason for this is the lie is actually pretty good, and we can access the back of the ball without much grass getting between face and ball. This helps with increasing friction which then helps the ball spin.

Ball Sitting In A “Cupped Lie”

This is where the ball isn’t perfectly on top of the grass, nor is it completely on the bottom. This lie is fairly easy to navigate because the flight & spin can be somewhat predictable.

When the ball is in this lie, we can afford to increase the depth through the impact area. We need the club to get under the ball & because there’s still some space under the ball before we get to the ground, the club can move through the grass fine.

What ball flight and spin comes from this lie? Because it’s in a slightly “cupped lie”, there will be grass surrounding the ball. This means the ball will launch slightly higher than normal (due to a lack of friction dragging the ball down), & it won’t be spinning as much as a good fairway lie due to the grass interfering between face & ball.

As a result, we get a higher ball flight compared to the stock shot that releases forward once it lands on the green. Not great for short sided shots but fine for middle flags & back flags that require the ball to roll a bit more.

To play this, treat it like the stock shot from the fairway but just increase the depth your club is moving through the grass. More pressure forwards or ball back a fraction can help.

Ball Sitting Down In The Rough

This one is the trickier of the 3 lies in the rough. The ball sits all the way down to the ground. Essentially, we need maximum DEPTH to succeed with this shot. All you need to think is that the ball is on the ground, & it’s your job to increase the depth enough to get under the ball.

Given the fact the ball is on the ground & not sitting up in the grass, you’ll need to ensure the club head breaks the ground underneath it, which is why you need maximum depth.

Something else to understand when faced with this shot is you are going to need a lot of speed, BUT, the shot might not need to travel that far, so I’d recommend opening the face & making sure the trailing edge hits the ground prior to the ball (like a bunker shot) which will help the ball pop up high, but not travel too far.

To succeed at this shot, place the ball middle/slightly back in the stance, 60% pressure in the lead side (sometimes more), & ensure that club is working down into the ground. Some extra wrist hinge can help you succeed at this shot.

Ball In The Rough Approach Play

When your ball is in thick enough rough, your club selection is essential. You may have 200y left to the green & might think about grabbing your 3 iron but the issue is, If the ball is sitting down in the rough, to “little” amount of loft on the club won’t get the ball out of this lie.

Using a club with more loft when hitting out of the rough helps elevate the ball and get it out of the thick grass, especially when the ball is buried or in a challenging lie. 

More loft results in a steeper angle of attack, which allows the club to take more grass out of the way and ensure better contact with the ball.

Additionally, a higher lofted club helps the ball to launch higher, which can be beneficial when the ball is buried

Out of long rough, take more loft & accept you may not reach the green if that is your target. Get the ball back in play & play from there.

I have a video inside Ryan Mouque Golf Academy that demonstrates this perfectly. Get access to this video and more by joining today.

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