For the most part, when you play a full shot from the primary rough at your course, you're gauging how close to a standard shot you can hit based on your lie in the grass.

You have to know how to read your lie and take a calculated risk when you hit out of the rough.

It's thick. If you go into the rough, you're going to have a half-a-shot penalty.

I'm sure you have a hole at your course where you love to hit the tee shot. You can't wait to get up there and bomb away because the fairway is wide, or the hole always plays downwind.

If you can hit your 3- and 5-woods with confidence from the fairway, par 5s become birdie opportunities, and 420-yard par 4s are a lot less scary.

Because of the grass and open face, I take one more club for shots from the rough, unless the ball is sitting on top of dry grass. Then, I use more loft and swing softer, trying to hit it about 70 percent to avoid a flyer over the green.