For many PSers – and nearly all those operating at champ level – the driver only gets an airing at St Andrew’s Old Course, where the fairways will forgive a strongly drawn or faded drive. Besides, you need the extra low trajectory to punch into the wind, and the extra distance to give yourself a chance of driving the greens on those short par 4s around the turn.

But here’s a thought: what about those times you want the ball to land in the rough? I’m serious. Imagine the scene. You’re playing in windy/soft/medium conditions. The wind is full against you. You’re 80yds from the green. The green slopes severely back towards you. You aim a wedge shot 5yds beyond the pin, anticipating a bit of spin. You hit the ball perfectly. Then – like Tiger Woods at Valderrama’s 17th - you watch in horror as the backspin accelerates the ball past the hole and into a watery grave.

You have three obvious counter measures at your disposal. First, you could land the ball 20yds beyond the pin. But maybe the pin is located so far back that you don’t have that much green to work with. Besides, it’s very difficult to estimate the roll from backspin. Second, you could lay up on the approach to leave a long iron into the green. That’s fine if you hit perfect snap on the approach, but hit an errant 4 iron into the wind and you’ll see an ugly arc as it veers wildly from the line. Third, you could punch a medium iron at ¾ weight. Great if you can do it, but if you get a flier then you’re lying 30yds past the hole.

A fourth – and unlikely - alternative is to take the driver from the tee, hit the ball as far as you can, and land it in the semi rough. Your wedge approach shot will then stop dead as soon as it hits the green.

To back up this argument, here are some stats from my second round – WSM conditions - in the current LS Tour champ PS event at St Andrew’s Jubilee course (similar to the Old Course, but with sloping greens and narrower fairways):

50% fairways hit, 100% greens in reg, score 58 ( -14)

The revealing stat here is the 100% GIR after hitting only half the fairways. The reason I could do that was because I used the driver both against and with the wind, leaving wedge or medium iron approaches for most holes. On the outward nine – mostly into the wind – I deliberately aimed into the rough to eliminate troublesome backspin.

There are dangers, of course. You could end up in a gorse bush or behind a tree. So you have to pick your spot. It’s not an excuse for sloppy driving. In fact you have to be as accurate as when trying hit the fairway – perhaps more so. Also, accurately judging distance, roll and wind effect when hitting from the rough takes a lot of practice.

Is this technique legitimate? I think so. Several times when watching real golf competitions I’ve heard commentators pointing up the advantages of approaching a soft, back-sloping green from the light rough.

So if you’re feeling brave, and you’re confident of hitting the ball cleanly, dust off the driver and rip one into the semi rough. In WSM conditions, you could find yourself gaining 2 shots per round. But don’t blame me if your miss-timed drive into the wind curls OOB and costs you 2 instead!

Greg Taylor