Though it’s hardly accurate to call Shinnecock Hills’ rough … rough. Aside from a few paces of traditional rough, fairways are lined with swaths of fescue. Shots from the fescue are hack and hope, but what about that traditional rough? How will the ball react? As part of our MythBusters series, we tested how thick rough affects shots with a short and mid-iron. We concluded that “It depends on … a lot,” mainly due to the two most common types of lies you get in the rough: The sitting-up flyer and the nestled down buried lie.

Our test confirmed that the ball comes out hot and tumbles from a flyer lie, while carry numbers are far less from a buried lie. Our Lie Detector series helps you identify when you’ve got a flyer and when you should expect the ball to come out dead.