Golf Survival Guide: How to Navigate Tricky Lies in the Rough

Hitting from the rough is never a fun situation to be in, but every single golfer faces the challenge at some point in their lives - so it's important to understand how to escape it successfully.

Of course, these shots are never the exact same, with different factors causing different decision-making.

For instance, some courses have super thick rough that bury your ball, while others have grass that's easier for the club to glide through. Then there's evaluating the lie of your ball, which should help dictate what club to use and how aggressive you want to be.

For those average or beginner golfers looking for some guidance on how to hit shots from the rough, take a look at my lesson from top-ranked teacher Christopher Smith, who explains the fundamentals you need to be successful more consistently.

Learning the Fundamentals When Hitting From the Rough

After hitting a decent shot off the tee, unfortunately, my ball ended up rolling into the rough. Not the end of the world, but with Smith and I doing a golf challenge to try and shoot even-par on three holes, the pressure was on to make smart decisions - while still being aggressive to reach my goal.

Adding to the pressure was this: I had just spent 90 minutes on the driving range in a golf lesson with Smith, so my brain was full of new golf swing tips and changes, making it hard to commit and not overthink.

That's where Smith gave me a great lesson that every amateur and beginner golfer needs to hear.

"Get out here and work, because we're now playing golf, not playing golf swing," he reminds me. "Where people go wrong is, they want to come out here and play golf swing. But if you want to [do that], than go back to the driving range."

In simple terms: Don't make things overcomplicated or work on your swing during a round. Save that for practice, and then be sure to compete out on the course.

Next, Smith and I discuss how to hit great golf shots from the rough - focusing on the steps to confidently execute this type of shot.

How to Hit Great Golf Shots from Thick Rough

"Step one, we found the ball, which is cool,' Smith quips. "Now talk to me about your lie [and let's see what club is most comfortable for you to use]."

That might seem basic, but it's always nice when you know you've hit your ball into the rough and know you don't need to spend two minutes walking up and down a tree-line to try and find it.

With eyes on it, it's now time to analyze the lie together.

"The lie isn't too bad, but it's not like I'm going to use a wood from here," I say. "We've got a long par-5 here, though, and I know I need to shoot even-par."

OK, so with the pressure of shooting par in the back of my head, I walk through which clubs feel "right" on this shot from the rough, given my lie is OK.

"My first instinct is to grab either a 5- or 7-iron, get some distance on this shot from the rough, and just shorten the hole," I tell Smith. "So many times in the past, maybe foolishly, I'd grab a wood and try to go for it, but [a mishit] creates so many more issues."

"You have to play smart, but you have to play aggressive," Smith reminds me. "The ball's also below your feet, meaning the ball's going to come out to the right a little bit.

"This shot is also skill dependent, and because you're a relatively skilled golfer, I wouldn't recommend hitting 3-wood from here. But if you told me you were going to hit 7-iron, I disagree with that as well."

"I feel like my 4-hybrid is [sort of my in-between club here]," I tell Smith.

But before committing to a certain golf club, Smith asks me to feel what my gut tells me - because any hesitation disqualifies it as a consideration.

"Do you really think you can hit your 4-hybrid out of that lie? If your gut tells you 'no', than the conversation is over and [you need to consider a different club]," Smith explains.

After a bit more deliberation, we land on using the 5-iron from the rough, which gives me a little more loft and some forgiveness given my ball's lie. But that's strictly due to the lie - because if the ball were sitting up more, Smith says a hybrid or wood would be the right play.

"If that lie was juicier and the ball was up more, you'd need to use [one of those two club choices]," he tells me. "Because, remember, I want you to get it as close to the hole as possible."

He then walks me through where to aim, reminds me not to think too much about any new setup or swing changes from our golf lesson together, and then, boom, I give it a rip.

The rough ended up being a bit thicker than we both thought, so it grabbed and twisted the clubface a bit -causing the ball to go a little more left than I wanted. But Smith then reminds me that there's nothing more to dwell on, and that it's time to move on by using his four A's.

"OK, now here's where you've got to use the quadruple A's, as I call them," he explains. "Accept it, acknowledge it, adjust, and afterwards."

So after going through all the prep and the right process for this shot from the rough, I got out successfully - even if the contact was about a B- and not an A+ - and now it's time to regroup and go through the same routine for my third shot.

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This story was originally published April 14, 2026 at 12:08 PM.