By Patrick Kiernan/Golf Digest US

IT’s pretty well-known that Oakmont Country Club is going to play tough when the US Open commences this Friday (AEST) — so tough there’s talk that the winning score could be higher than the five over that won there in 2007.

So, how do you make a course so hard that it yields such high scores? Make the rough as thick and tall as possible. Take this video off Justin Thomas’ Instagram as proof, taken around the rough short of the 17th green.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BGkXqYuoOOT/

Good luck hitting a ball out of there, or even finding it in the first place. Might as well be swinging with your eyes closed and praying that you make contact with a golf ball. The marshals will surely need to keep their eyes peeled to catch any ball that treks into the thick stuff at Oakmont.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BGjkjuWKwBi/

Not even golf writers are immune. Here’s the esteemed Doug Ferguson of the Associated Press, a low handicapper in his own right, trying a chip out of the Oakmont rough.