On a golf course, as a rule, trouble comes at us swiftly and unexpectedly. There are times when we do not quite expect to carry a brook or a cross trap, or when we know we can easily miss a green with a wood or a long iron. Then we are not surprised when we find ourselves in difficulties. But much more often we stand on a tee, with a wide fair­way beckoning, swing—and find ourselves in the woods or heavy rough.

Generally, there are three kinds of trouble we can reach with a shot off the fairway: woods, rough, or a fairway trap. The first thought in each case should be to get out of the trouble, whatever it is. Good players have often made great shots from seemingly impossible positions. That's fine, for them. But not for you.

Woods and Rough

In the woods, unless you are extremely deep, there is an opening of some sort. Play out through it, even if you have to play the shot back toward the tee. But get out on the fairway. If, by any chance, you are going to make a great shot, the fairway is the place to do it, not the woods. Any club that will get you out safely is the club to use.

From the rough, much depends on the distance you can safely try for and still get the ball into the fairway. Rough is of almost an infinite variety, from thin, short, scraggly grass, which often gives you a lie no worse than one in the fairway, through short, dense, clinging grass to high grass and weeds.

There is probably no rough so thick that a ball cannot be extricated from it and delivered a short distance with a sand wedge. The trouble with us is that we try to get real distance from the rough and often wind up with the ball advanced only a few yards and still in the long grass.

In making almost any shot from long or heavy grass, the point to remember is that we must hit down on the ball with a club lofted enough to be sure we get the ball out, regard­less of distance. To get a sharp downward stroke we will make it easy for ourselves if we play the ball back to a point midway between our feet and, if the grass is at all heavy, take a slightly more upright swing.

It is impossible to give any rules as to what club should be used. That depends entirely on the texture and height of the grass, the lie of the ball, and the distance you think you can get while still, with safety, getting clear of the rough.

You should remember, though, that if an iron is used the ball will come out with less backspin on it—even none at all —and therefore will run farther than you expect. This is because the grass, getting between the ball and the face of the club, reduces the club's "grip," the normal friction between ball and club face. A shot from the rough is less likely to hold a green but it will pick up distance on a fairway.

It is also worth mentioning that surprising success is quite often possible with a No. 4 wood, if the lie is not bad. The more rounded head of the wooden club slips through the grass more easily than the bar like head of an iron. The latter catches a lot of grass, slowing the speed and cushioning the blow. That is why, with the irons, we strike a more sharply descending blow in the rough, to get as little grass as possible between the club face and the ball.

Fairway Traps

The traps placed to catch errant drives, or wandering sec­ond shots on par-5 holes, are usually shallow. If they are not, waste no time thinking about how to get distance from them. Just get out on the fairway with whatever club will get you  there.

But when they are shallow, it is possible to get quite a bit of distance from them if the lie is good. Let whatever distance you try to get, though, be dependent entirely on a club that will get you safely out. For instance, from a good lie you might be tempted to use a 4 iron. Don't be tempted. Use a 5 iron and be sure.

For the shot itself the feet must be wriggled into the sand as in the green-side trap, for a firm, no-slip base. The grip should be shortened and the swing shortened. The ball should be played no farther forward than midway between the feet, usually a little back of center, and the weight should be kept on the left leg. Then the shot should be hit as from the fairway but with the shortened swing.

By way of explanation, we want the grip shortened be­cause the feet, after you shuffle them down, are lower than the ball. The swing should be shortened for control, to produce a more accurate contact between club and ball, for accurate contact in sand is of vital importance. The weight on the left leg helps to insure that we will not hit the sand first, an act that is certain to kill the shot. If that happens, the ball will go only a few yards and may not even get out of the trap. Theoretically, the ball should be hit at the exact bottom of the arc of the swing, but it is far better to hit the ball first than to hit the sand first.

Obstructions

Most obstructions on golf courses are trees, though there can also be mounds, bushes, hedges, fences, and occasionally a shack. Most of these offer little problem. Even the trees, sometimes, are no problem either. If your ball is so close to a big trunk that you can't get around it or can't swing the club, there is no alternative; you just have to waste a shot by hitting sideways out to the fairway, trading a stroke for position.

Usually, though, something can be done with a tree. You can go over it, or under it, or around it to the right or left. What you do depends on the size of the tree, how low its branches are, how far your ball lies from it, and how far it is from the green.

To do all these things requires the ability to get the ball up quickly, to keep it low, to hook it, and to slice it.

If the ball must be .gotten high quickly to get over a small tree, for example, the safest club is the pitching wedge. Its face should be opened slightly, and the ball should be   played a little farther forward than usual and hit down on with a full follow-through.

Conversely, if the ball must be kept low, perhaps to go under the branches of a big tree, the opposite technique is employed. A club with a straighter face than the distance the shot calls for should be used. The ball should be played midway between the feet or farther back, the club should be toed in slightly, the weight should be kept on the left leg, and a shorter, stiffer-wristed swing should be used with a very short follow-through.

The intentional hook and slice are more difficult, despite the fact that the slice should be easy for the average player. The strange thing is that when such a player tries to slice he often hits the ball straight.

Of the two shots, however, the slice is much the easier. To produce it with the normal swing, the ball should be played a little farther forward, the stance should be opened slightly, both hands should be placed a little more to the left in the grip (the left more to the side, the right more on top), the face should be opened slightly, and the swing itself can be a shade more upright. An effort should be made, in slicing, to keep the face of the club square after the ball is hit; in other words, keep the right hand from climbing over the left as long as possible. All this should impart a left-to-right spin and cause the ball to curve to the right.

For the hook, the positions and actions are exactly reversed. The ball is played a little farther back than normally, the stance is closed, both hands are placed more to the right on the shaft, the face should be closed slightly, and the swing should be flattened unless it is already a flat swing. In going through the ball, no attempt should be made to keep the face square after impact; if anything, the turning-over action of the hands should be slightly emphasized. This should put the desired right-to-left spin on the ball, resulting in a hook.

Lies of All Kinds

Few things annoy the average golfer in an ordinary round more than an uneven lie in the fairway. For this fellow, getting the ball in the fairway at all is often quite a feat. When he succeeds and then finds he has to hit his second shot from an uphill, downhill, or sidehill lie, he is likely to feel that the gods are against him.

Most uneven lies do complicate the shot, for they call for techniques that aren't quite normal, and heaven knows the average player has trouble enough executing the simplest routines.

They are not all bad, though. The straight uphill lie, where the player's left foot is higher than his right, is not a hard shot to hit. Neither is the sidehill, where the ball is only a few inches higher than the feet. In fact, there are many players who hit this shot better than those from level lies.

The only difficulty with the Uphill lie in getting the weight transferred over to the left leg as we come into the ball. We start the swing with most of our weight on the right leg, due purely. lo the pull of gravity, and it will stay -there unless we make a strong effort to get it over tothe left.

The tendency on this shot is to take a big, full swing. Don't do it. Take a shorter grip, a shorter backswing, and pivot less. It will be easier to keep your balance and con­trol your weight. Also, use an iron (if you are using an iron) one club stronger than you would if the shot were from a level lie. The slope of the ground increases the loft of the club, and you may find yourself short unless you use the stronger iron.

This shot should be played a little 10 the right of the target because of the tendency to pull or hook from an uphill lie. This exists because the weight doesn't get over to the left quickly enough.

The mental attitude toward the uphill lie is generally good, and this helps. The player feels he will have no trouble getting the ball up, and since that is one of his major problems from a level lie, he has one less worry when he hits the ball uphill.

The downhill lie is just the reverse, of course. Here he feels he can't get the ball up, and often he is right. The trick is to stay down to the shot all the way through. The ball should be played back a little farther between the feet, a club with one number more loft than normal should be used, and, as with the uphill lie, a shorter grip and shorter swing should be employed for control. This shot is likely to drift to the right, so allow for it by aiming a little to the left. But by all means stay down to the ball, and make the head of the club follow low along the slope of the ground.

There is one factor in playing a shot from a downhill lie that actually helps the average player, though he seldom realizes it. Getting his weight over to his left leg quickly on the downswing is easier than from any other lie. Gravity, in this case, helps him get into the right position. If he will remember this, his attitude toward the downhill lie will be greatly improved.

The sidehill lie, when we are  standings few inches below the ball, is not" a hard one. We need only to play the ball Back a little grip. shorter, and play, for a slight hook. It will also help, perhaps, if we stand up a little straighter and open the stance slightly. The shorter grip and the more up­right stance will be almost instinctive, for we are actually nearer the ball than if we had a level lie.

The sidehill lie in which we are standing above the ball is the real villain, causing more bad shots than any other uneven situation. The big trouble here is in getting down to the ball and staying there throughout the swing. We have to grip the clublong for this one, bend our knees more, hunch over more, play the ball back farther, and it will be well to toe in club slightly. Here also we should definitely take a  shorter, more controlled swing and be certain to stay bent down to the shot until the ball is well on its way. We are very apt to slice from this position, so it is best to play the, hall somewhat to the left of the target.

Other difficult lies we get in the fairway are in divot holes once in a while, from bare ground occasionally, and, more often, from heavy or clover lies.

In a divot hole, if we play the ball back a little, keep the weight to the left, and try to drive the ball deeper into the hole, we should have no trouble.

From bare ground we should close the face of the club slightly, make sure to keep our hands ahead as we go through, and pinch the ball, making certain we hit it before we do the ground.

A very heavy fairway lie should get the same technique we use from the rough. That is, play the ball back somewhat, hit down on it with a more upright swing, with a club one number more lofted than the shot seems to call for. As with a shot from the rough, the ball will run, because, even though we try to get as little grass as possible between ball and club at impact, we are sure to get some and backspin will be slight.

Just an elementary knowledge of how to handle all these fairway lies should help the average player. There should no longer be a feeling of utter helplessness. We are now armed with techniques which will enable us to meet the situations halfway, at least.

Are You Ready To Move Onto The Next Lesson? Click Here