![]() Looking at last year's leaderboard at TPC Southwind, the best in the field hit 75 percent of greens for the week which gave them 18 up-and-down chances. Iron play is a vital ingredient to success at TPC Southwind but even the best ball-strikers will miss their fair share of greens. The field averages 1.88 doubles or worse per 72 holes here which ranks right up there just below the top tier of notable water-heavy courses like TPC Sawgrass, PGA National, and Muirfield Village. Golfers that are feeling good with their irons can take on that risk and get rewarded with good shots but bad iron play will bring in lots of big numbers. So, golfers often have the decision of attacking from an unpredictable lie, or they can play a conservative shot that takes the big number out of play. It is tricky bermuda rough, but more importantly, there is water on approach for more than a third of the holes. That doesn't mean the rough is necessarily that brutal. The field averages around a 73 percent GIR rate when attacking from the fairway but that dips massively to just 41 percent GIR when missing the fairways. The challenge begins on the tee box with an elevated importance of finding the fairways at TPC Southwind. Hit It Solid! IronSolid.Regardless of the event name, we know a lot about the course, and it's a tough test. So if you want to keep your Northern handicap in tact, make sure you practice with the IronSolid before you play in Southern Bermuda grass conditions. The IronSolid training aid promotes a ball first impact which is critical when play on Bermuda grass fairways or rough. This will pay off in big ways and save you at least a handful of shots per round. Make sure you spend some time practicing before your round in the Bermuda grass, fairways and rough. The key is you must “hit it solid”, ball first then turf. A fat shot will be fatter, and this holds true around the greens also. Because of the Bermuda grass root structure, a fat shot is more devastating than with other grasses. Shots from the fairway: If you plan and manage to keep your ball in the fairway, it is most important, at all costs, to hit the ball before you hit the turf in Bermuda grass. Keep firm wrists and concentrate to make ball first contact. If you can find an area to practice this shot before the round it will save you a few strokes, but each shot is unique and the Bermuda grass is a worthy challenge in the short game rough. If you go under the ball you most likely will come up short. If the Bermuda grass leaves your ball sitting high in the rough – floating, - then you must take a few practice swings and sweep the ball out of the rough, use a less lofted club if the shot allows. A slightly descending blow, a compact swing, an acceleration through the shot is needed. Shorter shots from the rough: Same principles apply as longer shots from the rough. If you are in the thick stuff and your ball is sitting down in Bermuda grass, take you medicine and get in the best position in the fairway to get up and down for a good score. Sometimes it makes sense to play a punch/cut or fade shot out of the Bermuda grass rough. Deliver a steeper descending blow to the golf ball, and make sure you hit as much of the ball as you can first. The thickness and the gnarliness of Bermuda grass twists the club head as you swing, so you must grip tighter than normal to power through the shot. Why? Because the thickness of the Bermuda grass. If you think it is a 7 iron, take a 6 iron. Make these adjustments: Take one club more than normal. This means that 2 inches of Bermuda grass plays as tough as 4 inches of northern fescue. The structure of this grass is that is much thicker per inch of height than most other grasses. ![]() These differences require certain considerations and alterations in technique for successful shots.įull shots from the rough: You hit a drive and get into the first or second cut of rough, and it is Bermuda grass. The difference in grass in the rough and around the greens in the south, is the tangly, gnarly, thick, fluffy, club twisting – Bermuda grass. In the North we are used to bent grass, bluegrass and fescue.īermuda grass is used in some form on the tee boxes, fairways, and rough, especially around the greens in all southern courses. In the South (Florida), essentially every golf course uses some form of Bermuda grass. It is not your swing, it is the grass – no - not the kind you smoke – but Bermuda grass. If you want to increase your Northern home course handicap by 5-7 strokes, head south for about 12-15 rounds of golf in the middle of the winter months of January-February-March.
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