The Fairway
A fairway is usually referred to as the location between the tee box and the putting green of a particular hole. For a typical game of golf, it is the best landing area any golfer would want the ball to be after teeing off.
In fact, it is the target for all golfers on all types of holes apart from the par-3 courses as you will be targeting the green instead of the fairway. It must however be noted that there is actually no official or formal definition of fairway in the Rules of Golf in which there are several loosely-defined terms by certain organisations, some of which has identified the ideal height of the mowed lawns.
One thing for sure, fairways are usually included in par-4 and par-5 holes as the distance between the tee-box and the putting green is quite vast. There are however several types of regulations in terms of the types of grass used. This includes Ryegrass which is usually ¾ to 1.25 inches tall while the Bentgraass is 7/16 to about half an inch.
The more common types of grass would be the Bermuda which is quite popular in many of Malaysian top Golf Courses where it is about ½ to ¾ inches high. Other types of grasses used include Ralph Dain and Fine Fescues. The height of the fairway is usually determined through the soil conditions, the weather where the golf course is located and the design of the course.
The Rough
While the fairway is the ideal location for the ball to land on, the rough meanwhile might not be. As the name implies, The Rough is the areas in the golf course which are outside the fairways. In other words, it means the locations with thicker grass that are usually on higher or lower ground. This could include the areas where natural plants grow as well. In specially designed Golf Courses, it is usually planted with trees and bushes. This means that the plants here are usually not maintained and are allowed to grow wild.
The rough is an important part of the game as it is used as a challenge for the golfer. It is sometimes used as a punitive strategy for players who failed to hit the fairways during their shots. As each rough differs in terms of thickness, height and type of plants, they poise different types of problems for every golfer.
