Easy Rules for Rough Shots
Day 1 on “Golf Annika's Way"
Starting aggressive.
The 1995 U.S. Women’s Open was played in Colorado, 6,200 feet above sea level.
Altitude has an impact on your tee shots. The higher you go, the thinner the air, the less drag on the ball, the farther the ball flies.
Thin air also reduces the effect of spin, so shaping a drive is more difficult.
At Colorado, drives traveled about 15 yards farther without the fades and draws that many pros depend on. A lot of good players were finding a lot of deep rough.
Annika was 24 and had never won a major. On Sunday, she was five shots behind three-time major champion Meg Mallon. That kind of competition at the top of the leaderboard creates an altitude of its own.
She says, “I had nothing to lose so I went after every shot and every putt aggressively. By the time I reached the par-four 11th hole, I had a one-shot lead over Meg.”
That’s when the altitude caught up with her. Her drive found the thick rough. A bad shot here would hand the lead back to Meg.
Strategy is revealed under pressure, so let’s look at Annika’s strategy in the rough.
Calm and smooth.
Annika starts by evaluating the lie. How much grass is covering the ball? Which way is the grass growing? How thick is it? Then she applies a few simple rules.
If the ball is nearly covered, take a wedge and pitch back to the fairway. Don’t get fancy.
If the ball is teed up on the grass, it may come out hot. Take less club than you’d normally hit from that distance.
Relax so you can accelerate through the grass without trying to kill the ball. She uses the mantra, “Calm and smooth” to swing easy and swing through.
Her first major.
Standing in the rough on the 11th hole, Annika had a pretty good lie.
The ball might come out hot, so she took a wedge, repeated “Calm and smooth,” swung easy and through, and pitched the ball seven feet from the pin.
She made the birdie putt and went on to win her first major. How did she react? The stoic Swede stood on the 18th green and cried.
Zig Ziglar said, “When you develop a game plan to get what you want, you will develop a belief that you can get it.”
To play consistently, we need to have a good relationship with the bad places on the golf course. Annika’s three rules for the rough are a great place to start. Plus, you gotta love her mantra, “Calm and smooth.” That will not only keep your swing smooth, it will keep your mind calm when you need it most—which is exactly what rules and mantras are designed to do.
That’s all for now. Until next time, keep imagining what’s possible.