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Hole That Gives You Fits

MUTiger

MUTiger

KC Golfer
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Mar 9, 2010
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Missouri
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Do you have a hole that just gives you fits? You know, one where your mental block has grown to the size of a Buick?

For me it's our 2nd hole. Frustrating thing is that it's a pretty simple hole. A 187-yard downhill par 3. Usually hit either a 5 or 6 iron, but for whatever reason I just can't hit that sucker. The green is a little elevated - it slopes off to both the right and left. Even though the green is huge (which adds to the frustrating of not being able to hit it), if you miss to the right it will roll down about 15 feet below the green. A miss to the left will usually have you end up behind a couple of trees. There's a trap behind the green, but it seldom comes into play. A good miss is one that's short of the green.

My tendency - and I'm not sure why - is to pull the ball and miss left. I do it almost every ^%$#@ time. Sometimes if the course is empty I'll go out and play a bunch of balls of the tee; I tug a least 75% of them. It's the only hole of the whole course where I've got this problem. I've played 75 rounds so far this year, and I would conservatively estimate that I'm at least 50-over par on this hole.

I've tried to play more club so to cut down on my swing,or play less so I have to hit it harder. So far, nothing seems to work. If I could routinely par this whole I'm sure it would reduce my average by a full stroke.

So what about you? Do you have a hole that just gives you fits?
 
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yes, i have one that i think about when i'm on the putting green. i'm not a member anywhere but play one course around here much more than others. i just prefer it, it's more of a links style course and wind's always an issue there. anyway, the 12th hole. it's by far one of the most demanding par 5's i've ever played. it's a dogleg left with a huge creek that runs through it at 210 and it takes 240 to clear the creek, however that's where the dogleg begins. anything just right of the dogleg is in the lake, anything to left is in the woods or the river. i've hit 3w off the tee once and cleard the creek but still couldn't go for it, so for me it's a 5 iron off the tee.

second shot is another 5 iron up the fwy and the green is way off to the right, but you can't go for it b/c it's all carry of the lake. in essence it's a true 3 shot par 5, but hitting 5 iron 5 iron leaves you about 140-150 out, and if you slighty push you second shot (for me as a lefty) where the fwy widens then you've got 175 in for your 3rd. it's just a hard demanding hole. i've put up my biggest number in years on that hole, and i've also played it flawlessly, it all depends on that second shot, it has to be perfect, and if it's not, you're looking at big numbers.

i'll try to take a pic of it next time i'm out there. i hate that hole. i need to just birdie it one time.
 
There is a hole I've written about many times in the Worst Shot of the Day thread. It's a medium length par 3 over a giant ravine with trees on every side. That ravine was my kryptonite for a long time. Last round I played two balls and both went over and on the green. I took enough club and swung nice and easy. I think I was trying too hard before. It is still a stupid hole and always will be. We have too many bad memories lol.
 
Water or OB on the left off the tee. Makes me nervous because my miss is a pull hook. I will compensate for that which will cause the inevitable push right and I will be 3 fairways over. I love this game. Of course it's the drivers fault and not me.
 
The 6th hole at my country club is a nightmare for me. The hole is only 375 yards long but it has an elevated bunker in the left middle of the fairway that seems to attract golf balls. The bunker is on a hill that blocks that side of the fairway and it has 4 trees just past it on the hillside that block any shot if you get too close to them, i.e. in the bunker or near the hill. The right side of the fairway has a water hazard down the entire right side and shots that land on that part of the fairway will either run off into the creek or through the fairway into the rough. The entire left side is O.B. until you get to the hill with the bunker.

So the best way to play the hole is leave yourself a 175 blind shot to the green, which has water surrounding the front right, right and back side of it. Or try to drive it over the hill which can be blocked by the trees or hit it off the right side of the hill and left it feed to the right side of the fairway. This hole gives me fits in tournaments because I get caught up on not hitting it O.B. or in the hazard but I also want to leave myself a shot that isn't blind or blocked into the green. This hole can quickly turn into a double bogey or worse and sometimes I have thought about going out there with a chainsaw and cutting down the trees around the bunker in the fairway.
 
there is a par 3 on my course that kills me, and it has since I was younger. It technically is an illegal hole. Par 3 185, uphill about 20-25 yards. You can't see the green or flag. The hole goes out about 60 yards and then climbs up a steep hill. The last 100 yards are flat. Bunker left and right of the green. The Green slopes HARD from Back to front. If you are above the pin, forget it. A bogey is always decent score. This is hole 7. I usually get to it abotu 2 or 3 over and leave 4 or 5 over. I really should post a picture of this hole. The only way to see the green is by looking in a mirror that is up in a tree behind the tee box. They also have a target up in the trees behind the green that marks the center of the green.


The designer of this course was Devereaux Emmet. He has designed a lot of coursed, including the Gold and Blue courses at Congressional. The Blue course is hosting the US OPEN next year.
 
ddec0418 said:
there is a par 3 on my course that kills me, and it has since I was younger. It technically is an illegal hole. Par 3 185, uphill about 20-25 yards. You can't see the green or flag. The hole goes out about 60 yards and then climbs up a steep hill. The last 100 yards are flat. Bunker left and right of the green. The Green slopes HARD from Back to front. If you are above the pin, forget it. A bogey is always decent score. This is hole 7. I usually get to it abotu 2 or 3 over and leave 4 or 5 over. I really should post a picture of this hole. The only way to see the green is by looking in a mirror that is up in a tree behind the tee box. They also have a target up in the trees behind the green that marks the center of the green.
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sounds like a stupid hole. number 8 at the local municipal course is eerily similar. it's a bit longer and you can barely see the top of the flag from the tips, i just aim for the left rough which is flat, pitch/chip up and hope for a 1 putt, anything short rolls way down into the fwy, leaving you with a 30-40 yard blind shot to the green. stupid hole!
 
tcalloway1 said:
sounds like a stupid hole. number 8 at the local municipal course is eerily similar. it's a bit longer and you can barely see the top of the flag from the tips, i just aim for the left rough which is flat, pitch/chip up and hope for a 1 putt, anything short rolls way down into the fwy, leaving you with a 30-40 yard blind shot to the green. stupid hole!
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it is a crazy hole, however it is only a 9 hole course, from the back 9 tees it plays as par 4.
 
My home course has a 510 yd par 5. There is a creek that crosses the fairway at 220 yards. At the creek there is a large cottonwood tree on the left and a fence row all the way from tee to green that is OB right. The opening at the creek is less than 75 yards wide.
If you make it past the creek through this opening, you have around 290 yards to the green with the OB fence row right and a pond left. The green is elevated right along side the OB fence row and is protected by a large box elder tree that hangs over the right half of the green.
The green in itself is the toughest on the course being hard as a rock when firm thus the nickname "the rock". I have made more 7's there than pars over 30 years of playing there.

No4.jpg
 
I am never really sure what hol will be the one that gives me fits but guaranteed there are at least one or two a round that do. :angry:
 
First hole. Massive double dogleg par 5 with a blind tee shot.
 
Par 3 number 11 at my home course takes the honors. It says it plays at about 170, but never actually does. The tee boxes are moved constantly, so you never know what your actual distances are. It has a bunker on the front left, trees right, and a pond in front, the green is not flat at any spot (slopes up the whole way) and drops completely off at the back; therefore, if you go over, your chances of getting anything less than a bogey are absolutely zero. There seems to be a crosswind over the pond, because no matter where you hit it the wind will take it a different direction every time. I usually end up about pin high on the left side in the rough. My chip shot usually hits about the middle of the green and of course rolls all of the way off the front (thanks for that, slope). My next chip usually ends up in decent shape and then I'll one or two putt depending on how well the chip shot before was.

Complete change of pace from the par 4 tenth hole, which is a driveable par 4 and an easy birdie hole for the most part. How you play on holes 11, 12, and 13 can pretty much define your round at that particular course. All of the greens play like the one on the 11th, which is definitely not an admirable trait.
 
The 2nd hole at my course always gives me troubles as well. Par 3 about 205 yards with some wind in your face, bunker guarding the left side of the green where the pin usually is. The green is huge so hitting it isn't really a problem, but getting it close is. U kind of need to hit about a 4 iron draw to get it within 20 ft. But even then the green slopes off the back so it is hard to get it to stick. Fun but tough hole.
 
#17 at Silverbell GC, Tucson, AZ. This hole is a mid-length par 4 with a pond all the way down the left and OB down the right. The fairway runs toward the pond from the tee to the green. The green is tucked in behind the pond a bit. The first time I played the course, I stood on the 17th tee only 2 over par, I left the green 7 over par after putting two balls in the water. One went in off the tee and the second spun back off the green, caught the slope and dunked. Ever since, I have had a mental block on this hole that has made me crazy.

Finally, in the last couple of times I played it, I figured it out. I just pretend there is no water. I don't look at it. I focus on the landing area for my tee shot and that alone. On my approach, I take one more club and if it flies to the back of the green, ok, at least its dry. Since I started doing this I have gone birdie, par. My jinx is over!
 
Hole #1 at the course where we take lessons. Its a 9 hole, par 32. The first hole is a par 3, 67 yards. You think it'd be an easy chip up and into the hole, this hole makes or breaks you. The green is slanted and not flat and the pin seems to be in a difficult location everytime. We've seen a hole-in-one there. I've birdied that hole a few times and have blown up that hole as well. I'll mis-hit the green and it'll land in the bushes against the fence. If you do well on that hole, you think you'll do great the rest of the round, haa haa haa! And if you do horribly on that hole, then its like a snowball effect!
 
Number 2, Par 3, Timber Creek Golf Course in Ashville NY. Its a Shooooort par 4 from the whites at only 231 and ive over drivin the green a few times but the narrowness of this hole is what gets to me.

number2nu.jpg


about 1/3 down the fairway is a Huge Elm tree that just stares you down on the tee...
Dense woods on the left and right, Hit in there and its Gone for good. With my slice Ive lost many many balls to the right.
And dense woods just 7 yards to the right of the green....
Oh and 2 deep bunkers to the left and right front of the green.......
AND the greens about 10-15 yards UP from the tee.............
And the tiny tiny green slopes HARD from back left to front right so if the slope gets ya and takes it back to the fringe or farther your chipping with one foot about a foot lower in the bunker.............

Don't even get me started about hitting from the blue tees.....Yikes....you can only call if a dog leg if the dog's leg is broken badly.....
 
ddec0418 said:
It technically is an illegal hole.
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Clarify please. Not much of a rules expert, but what exactly would make this hole illegal?
 
Cherry Hill Fort Wayne - Island Green Par 3!!!!!!! 170 yds from the tips!! hit the green 2 out of 10 times... it is out in the open with nothing blocking the wind it is just a beast!!!
 
i honestly don't have a hole that gives me fits. i always keep positive thoughts flowing. even if there is water or sand or a large hazard, i visualize not putting my ball there and move on. i love all holes!
 
Number 15, its a straight and easy hole, but ever since I determined it as the start of the "Curse" area, I've always hit a bad tee shot on that hole, topped, chunked, sliced you name it, I cant hit a good tee ball there anymore.
 
hawk308 said:
There is a hole I've written about many times in the Worst Shot of the Day thread. It's a medium length par 3 over a giant ravine with trees on every side. That ravine was my kryptonite for a long time. Last round I played two balls and both went over and on the green. I took enough club and swung nice and easy. I think I was trying too hard before. It is still a stupid hole and always will be. We have too many bad memories lol.
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Would this be #5 at Saukie? Played from the very bottom of the ravine the first three times, two different people have told me to aim for the big oak left of the green, so last two times I hit the cart path (left of the oak) and the ball went back into the woods on the fly well past the hole. Eventually I will hit the green, it's not like it is an impossible hole, that dang ravine just gets in my head as I stand on the tee.
 
The 2nd hole at my home course. I'd tell you about it, but then I'd have to kill myself.
 
For me it has to be the 6th hole on my home course...523y par 5, so not overly long... but off the tee I can not hit a driver because of the extreme dogleg right, landing area is all downhill and 95% of the lies from here are downhill. From 150-190y from the green there is an "environmentally sensitive area" (hazard) you aren't allowed to hit out of. Once you get over the ESA, it is all uphill to the green. I either take a 4 or an 8 on this hole with not much in between.
 
5th hole on the course I usually play...

Par 5 - 507 yds
Narrow fairway
Woods along the right
Water along the left
Creek along the front of the green

If you hit a decent drive, and keep it in bounds, you are really taking a risk going for the green in 2 because of the creek along the front edge of the green...
 
DonW said:
Would this be #5 at Saukie? Played from the very bottom of the ravine the first three times, two different people have told me to aim for the big oak left of the green, so last two times I hit the cart path (left of the oak) and the ball went back into the woods on the fly well past the hole. Eventually I will hit the green, it's not like it is an impossible hole, that dang ravine just gets in my head as I stand on the tee.
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You got it Don. I play a slight fade with my hybrids, so I'll aim at the tree or the landing area in front of it. I'm just happy to get over most times. If you mishit the ball at all you are in a world of trouble.
 
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