Equipment
How thick is the rough at Oak Hill, really? This video helps explain it
It feels as though before every U.S. Open or PGA Championship, there’s some sort of fear mongering about the length of the rough, and how unplayable it will be.
Predictions about over-par winning scores, player interviews calling it unfair, and, of course, the obligatory “ball dropping in the rough” videos posted to social media.
We’ve gotten most of that at Oak Hill Country Club this year ahead of the 2023 PGA Championship.
As I’m writing this article right now, I suppose I’m feeding into the frenzy, too. I don’t mind that, though. I’ll be part of the system that draws intrigue to major championships. That ain’t so bad.
The thing is, though, that the Oak Hill rough is some of the most difficult rough I’ve ever seen on a golf course. It’s not 10 inches long like Winged Foot, or knee-high like some Open Championship fescue. It’s just healthy, juicy, and dense rough that makes it imperative for players to hit fairways.
During the Monday-Wednesday practice rounds, players tested their limits from the rough. They dropped balls in different spots, seeing how far they could advance a fairway wood…a hybrid…a 4 iron…a 6 iron.
Players were looking to answer this question: “What’s the lowest-lofted club, realistically, that I can use to advance the ball as far as possible when I miss the fairway?”
As many quickly found out, the answer is likely “none of the above.”
The longest “realistic” club that I heard from most players, caddies, and Tour reps that I spoke to is the 7-iron. And that’s being generous, because more responses seemed to fall on the 8-iron side of the coin.
Some players have replaced their longest iron with a hybrid or higher-lofted fairway wood to try and combat the rough and get more launch/spin on the ball, but the truth is, hitting a short iron or wedge back into the fairway will be the most prudent play when the ball sits down.
And, in this Oak Hill rough, in this mid-May upstate New York weather, the ball always seems to settle down.
PGA Championship alternate (and the 139th best player in the world) Aaron Rai is catching a social media stray right now as one of his rough experiments with a hybrid got posted to Twitter.
The result wasn’t pretty.
So, you’re telling me the rough is thick @PGAChampionship ? pic.twitter.com/9C5ZvKvBiq
— Steve Scott (@sscottpga) May 17, 2023
But Rai’s result wasn’t completely uncommon, either. Especially during the practice rounds when players were testing out their limit.
Tommy Fleetwood provided GolfWRX his full Oak Hill review in an Instagram video, which is embedded below.
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In the video, he says, “You might get lucky with a lie that you can get a mid-iron out of it, but for the majority it’s a gouge with one of the short clubs.”
That’s a scary statement. You might get lucky to be able to hit a mid-iron?!
Yikes.
I asked a Trackman rep if he spent time on the course with any players. He told me he was regularly seeing short iron spin rates drop below 3,000 rpm. In one instance, for example, Xander Schauffele’s spin rate with an 8-iron was just 2,400 rpm.
The general rule of thumb for iron spin is to take the iron number and multiply it by 1,000. So, an 8-iron spin rate should generally be around 8,000 rpm. The Oak Hill rough is so thick that his 8-iron spin rate dropped over 5,000 rpm, looking more in the range of a well-struck driver.
At Oak Hill this year, if the ball is in the rough, the first priority is getting up and over the thick patch of grass directly in front of the ball. Hitting the green comes secondary.
Oh, and before you clown Aaron Rai for duffing his hybrid out of the rough during a practice round, or say something like “that’s why he’s an alternate,” just keep in mind that he’s currently 10th on the PGA Tour in driving accuracy, 28th in Greens in Regulation percentage, 23rd in approaches from 200-225 yards, and he’s hit 33 consecutive greens in regulation.
Maybe the rough is just really friggin thick.
Strap in for a fun 2023 PGA Championship. Hopefully this gave you a rough idea of the situation outside the fairways at Oak Hill.
Cameron Young’s WITB from his win at the 2025 Wyndham Championship. Cameron is a Titleist staff player but his bag is definitely filled with some unique clubs. Here are the clubs he used to secure his first PGA Tour win!
Driver: Titleist GT2 (9 degrees, A1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Pro Orange 70 TX
3-wood: Titleist GT3 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K White 80 TX
Hybrid: Titleist GT2 (21 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus HB Black VeloCore+ 10 X
Irons: Titleist T200 (4), Titleist T100 (5), Titleist 631.CY Prototype (6-9)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold X7 (4-9)
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (48-10F, 52-12F, 56-14F @57), WedgeWorks (60-K* @62)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold X7
Putter: Scotty Cameron Phantom 9.5 Tour Prototype
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x Prototype
- Peter Malnati what’s in the bag accurate as of the Wyndham Championship. More photos from the event here.
Driver: Titleist GT3 (10 degrees, C2 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Project X Denali Blue 60 TX
3-wood: Titleist GT3 (15 degrees, A1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 7 X
7-wood: Titleist GT2 (21 degrees, D1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 8 X
Irons: Titleist T150 (4, 5), Titleist T100 (6-9)
Shafts: True Temper AMT Tour White X100
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (48-10F @47, 52-12F, 56-08M @57, 60-04T @62)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400
Putter: Scotty Cameron Studio Style Fastback 1.5 Tour Prototype
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x Yellow
We’re proud to once again partner with 2nd Swing Golf to bring you GolfWRX Members Choice 2025! 2nd Swing has more than 150,000 new and pre-swung golf clubs available in six store locations and online. Check them out here.
What is the best driver in 2025? At GolfWRX, we take great pride in our online community and the cumulative knowledge and experience of our members. When it comes to the best driver of 2025, we want to know what our forum faithful think.
Since our founding in 2005, the bedrock of GolfWRX.com has been the community of passionate and knowledgeable golfers in our forums, and we put endless trust in the opinions of our GolfWRX members — the most knowledgeable community of golfers on the internet. No other group of golfers in the world tests golf clubs as frequently or as extensively, nor is armed with such in-depth information about the latest technology.
Below are the results of GolfWRX member voting for the 2025 best driver, along with the vote percentage for each club.
Best driver of 2025: The top 5
5. Callaway Elyte Triple Diamond: 6.02%
Callaway’s pitch: “For golfers looking for a fast, forgiving, yet workable driver, the Elyte Triple Diamond features a tour-inspired shape and is the preferred model by most Callaway tour players.”
You can read what other golfers are saying about the driver in the GolfWRX forums, and see our launch piece here. Shop the Callaway Elyte Triple Diamond here.
4. Ping G440 Max: 6.86%
Ping’s pitch: “The most forgiving G440 model, MAX has a hotter face to generate speed and distance, and a lighter overall system weight with a longer shaft (46″) for faster clubhead speed, higher launch and longer carries. The Free Hosel and Carbonfly Wrap crown save weight to create our lowest CG ever and increase forgiveness while contributing to a more muted, pleasing sound.”
You can read what other golfers are saying about the driver in the GolfWRX forums, and see our launch piece here. Shop the Ping G440 Max here.
3. Ping G440 LST: 9.53%
Ping’s pitch: “LST is an especially good fit for faster swings, offering less spin and more control with a penetrating trajectory. A hotter face, lighter overall system weight and longer shaft (46″) deliver more speed and distance while maintaining tight dispersion.”
@phizzy30: “Not a fan of Ping drivers in general, but 440 LST takes the cake. It’s super forgiving across the face for a low spin head, looks and sounds good and the ability to make it play neutral or slightly fade biased through the hosel settings is very appealing.”
You can read what other golfers are saying about the driver in the GolfWRX forums, and see our launch piece here. Shop the Ping G440 LST here.
2. Titleist GT3: 16.55%
Titleist’s pitch: “The GT3 Driver offers Titleist’s boldest combination of power and personalization through adjustable performance. Dial in the CG Track to your frequent contact location to make your biggest drives even bigger while taking total control over flight and shaping.”
@mrmikeac: “I’ve been Anti-Titleist for years and years and years (outside of Vokey, of course). With that being said, HOLY BEGEEZUS the GT3 driver is an absolute NUCLEAR MONSTER! This thing blew my G430 10K Max out of the water in every single category. Forgiveness is the biggest thing that stands out of me, the 3 model has always been one of the less forgiving models in the past but this GT3 can take bad shot after bad shot and still end up in the fairway, I think a ton of that has to do with the adjustability, it’s actually effective. Feel and sound is perfect, that solid crack is so addicting to hear and when you hit it out the screws this thing can absolutely bomb it. Titleist, I’m sorry for doubting you. You have converted me.”
You can read what other golfers are saying about the driver in the GolfWRX forums, and see our launch piece here. Shop the Titleist GT3 here.
1. Titleist GT2: 22.91%
Titleist’s pitch: “Delivering impressive distance from any impact point, the Titleist GT2 Driver extracts maximum performance through a forgiving design. Get the stability and added confidence of a high-MOI driver without sacrificing speed.”
@DTorres: “The Titleist GT2 has proven to be the best driver of the year. Packaged in a classic profile, GT2 perfectly balances performance and forgiveness while consistently being a high performer across all categories.”
You can read what other golfers are saying about the driver in the GolfWRX forums, and see our launch piece here. Shop the Titleist GT2 here.
Other drivers receiving >2% of the vote
| Driver | Vote percentage (%) |
|---|---|
| Cobra DS Adapt Max K | 4.85% |
| Ping G430 Max 10K | 3.85% |
| Callaway Elyte Triple Diamond | 3.68% |
| TaylorMade Qi35 | 3.51% |
| Callaway Elyte | 3.18% |
| Cobra DS Adapt X | 2.34% |
| Cobra DS Adapt LS | 2.17% |
| TaylorMade Qi35 LS | 2.17% |
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