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Your Amen Corner

provisional

provisional

Could Care Less
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We all know that pro golf's "Amen Corner" consists of the extremely difficult stretch of three holes which are the 11th (White Dogwood), 12th (Golden Bell), and 13th (Azalea) water holes at Augusta National Golf Club

Do you, on your own home course, have an "Amen Corner" ? Mine are holes 1 through 3 on my home course. All Three have water on the right, and people's back yards on the left. I know if I can get through this stretch of holes with out losing a ball, I pretty much guarantee myself of a decent score for the round.

#1 is tough because it is the first hole, and I am usually in a hurry to get started, without warming up properly. When I am not warmed up, I tend to hit pushes, and/or fades to the right. #2 has a big pond of water on the right, and I am still not warmed up yet. #3 is a par 3, and is the same as #2 with that same big pond still being on the right side after turn the corner. On the left are back yards, which I tend to aim away from, which brings the water hazards more into play.
 
Actually the course I regularly play is a Tom Clark/Curtis Strange designed course. It has a 3 hole stretch that Clark calls his "amen corner". Here is a link to the course Cypress Creek and it is holes 15, 16 & 17. They do play tough with forced carries either off the tee or for your approach. As many times as I have played there I feel a bogey on the 17th hole is like making a par! I would say that probably 50-60% of the tee shots I have watched from the people I have played with on 17 have ended up OB, miss the fairway left or right and you are OB, top one off the tee and it is OB as well!
 
Not playing the same course all the time, this is harder for me to establish. When I was a member at a course, there were a stretch of three holes that could determine your round. 16 was a long par 3 over a pond, 17 was a par 5 with water fronting the tee box and down both sides of the fairway. 18 had the driving range on the right and OB (road) on the left. Just one errant shot on any of these and your round was going downhill.
 
I think the 14th, 15th and 16th at one of the courses I play a lot is mine. Two par 5s back to back with a par 3 to finish it. These holes always make or break my round.
 
My home course make it or break it three hole stretch is the 7th, 8th and 9th. Seven is the longest par 5 and eight is the longest par 4 on the course.

Forest Hills
 
my Amen Corner is 3,4,5

3- 450 yard par 4. Usually on a windy day it is always against wind. Out of bounds on both sides, but relatively straight. 2 Tier green,

4- 220 Yard Par 3, hole is uphil so you can't run it up there, it is not reachable with a 4 iron, but I hit one anyways because I hit my 5 wood so erratic. I usually just have to pray for a good chip and a par putt.

5- 537 Yard Par 5. Hole is unreachable in two. Out of bounds on both sides, It goes straight out for about 350 yards and then 90* doglegs to the hole. No way to reach it in two. I'll usually hit a 4 iron, then another 4 iron to go straight out past the trees. And then an 8 iron into the green. Exrtremely tough.
 
The 9th,10th, and 11th at one of the courses i play regularly are definatly in this category,the par 4 9th has a river to the left and out of bounds to the right,water to the front and left side of the green.

the 10th is a par 3 played over the river to a plateau green with pot bunkers to the front and gorse and heather to the rear.

The par 4 11th has the river to the left, and across the fairway at the 230 yards mark,out of bounds all along the right hand side,you can then layup in front of a smaller stream or try a 225 yard carry to the green.


Walk away with level par from that and it could just be your dy.
 
Your "Amen Corner"

Your "Amen Corner"

Every golfer probably has a series of holes they say a prayer before entering and after finishing, so what's yours?
 
Probably our 14th, 15th & 16th, all par 4's and each can raise up and bite you.
 
At my course for me it would be:

On the Mountain Course, 14, 15, and 16, if I can get through those three holes at 1 or 2 over par I know I can have a really nice round.

On the Valley Course, it would be 9, 10, and 11 they are kind of tricky hard and can bite you if you are not careful and ruin a good round.
 
Ironic as it sounds: 2, 3, 4 is an easy par 3, 5, 6 will absolutely beat the crap out of a round if you go in the water
 
We have one of these at one of my local courses. Numbers 6, 7, and 8. 6- You have a long par 5 over a huge valley and up a hill to an elevated green. 7- Short par 4 that you must carry a valley to a two tiered green. 8- Par 5 with an elevated tee off. If you get a nice tee shot close to the stream that runs across the fairway. You might have a chance at going for it, but you must carry a pond and sand trap to the green. Fun holes!
 
Sounds really hard DMB!
 
At my home course it would be holes 4-7. Holes 4-6 are short par 4's (driver/3-wood and no more than 8 iron in) with small greens and trees. The holes are not that hard, but for some reason I have a hard time getting through them even. Number 7 is a 210 yard par 3 that has a decent sized green but it has a ton of slope. It faces South to North, so in the summer it is pretty easy but this time of the year with a North wind it is pretty tough. In the winter I usually hit a hybrid or 3 iron and in the summer I typically hit 4-7 depending on the severity of the wind.
 
dmb012 said:
We have one of these at one of my local courses. Numbers 6, 7, and 8. 6- You have a long par 5 over a huge valley and up a hill to an elevated green. 7- Short par 4 that you must carry a valley to a two tiered green. 8- Par 5 with an elevated tee off. If you get a nice tee shot close to the stream that runs across the fairway. You might have a chance at going for it, but you must carry a pond and sand trap to the green. Fun holes!
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I agree with Grant here.

6. You have to take a 3 wood off of 6 or you could over run the fairway. If you stand on a 3 wood, you might get close to the elevated green with your second shot.

7. The short par 4 is usually driver - wedge, but you absolutely cannot miss left and you don't want to go with less than driver because the green is so elivated that you really want to carry an accurate club in there. If you miss right, you risk having the ball hang up on a hill that is very steep. Imagine having the ball a foot and a half above your feet where left is dead.

8. 8 is a beast. If you carry a driver a long ways, you really have to be careful or you will put it right into a creek if you go straight and if you pull it a little bit, you will definitely be in the creek. If you land in the perfect spot, you can probably reach with a 3 or 4 iron, but, as Grant said, you can't be short or you will be wet or sandy.
 
At one of my favorite courses, hole 3 is a par 5, that has a busy road running along the left side of it. I am yet to hit it left, over the fence, but that hole scares the crap outta me.
 
HuskAir said:
At one of my favorite courses, hole 3 is a par 5, that has a busy road running along the left side of it. I am yet to hit it left, over the fence, but that hole scares the crap outta me.
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I have a similar hole, my golf ball probably ended up in windshield.
 
At my home course, it's holes 5, 6 and 7 that are my amen corner.

#5 is a 404 yard par 4 that plays longer due to being uphill. Also the first 100 yards is all carry over water, with a 25 - 30 yard wide window through the trees on other side. The fairway slopes right to left, so pulled or hooked shot will get you in trouble, and the hill eats up your distance if you go slightly to the right.

#6 is a short par 4 with a 90 degree dogleg left at around 165 - 175 yards. The tee shot is blind over a hill that slopes right to left. From there, it's 160+ yards up hill to the green.

#7 is a simple 160 yard par 3, to a small elevated green. For some reason, this hole seems to have my number most of the time. My usual miss is to the right, which is the down hill side of the green. This leaves you with a blind chip over the elevated edge of the green, to a green that slopes away and usually has the pin placed somewhere on the right side.
 
2 is a really sharp dogleg right, being left handed it's not my normal shot shape and 4 is a long par 3 with water all the way up the left side and really nasty bramble filled rough up the right
 
There is a stretch of holes - 6 through 12 - on a local course that usually beat me up pretty bad in the past. Skinny, tree lined fairways, doglegs that don't bend the way I hit it, and they are long. I usually start to remember why I hate that course right around the 8th hole when I'm hitting my third 200 yard approach in a row.
 
Hawk said:
There is a stretch of holes - 6 through 12 - on a local course that usually beat me up pretty bad in the past. Skinny, tree lined fairways, doglegs that don't bend the way I hit it, and they are long. I usually start to remember why I hate that course right around the 8th hole when I'm hitting my third 200 yard approach in a row.
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Our course is like that too. Can kill your round!
 
For me it is

4: 280 yd par 4, uphill to a very small green. Fairway's about 15 yards wide and green is 15 ft deep and slopes from front to back. It's nearly impossible to hit unless you bomb your drive dead straight.

5: Dogleg par 5, about a 100* dogleg (it goes back almost in the direction it came from). It's like 310 to the corner, and you can't go around it so unless you bomb it you can't go for it in two. The first part's fairway is about 25 yards wide, so after pitching to the corner in 2, the shortest shot in I've ever had is 150. Very hard since you can't get a wedge into it.

6: 210 yd uphill par 3. Plays about 225. Just hard because it is long and uphill.
 
For me:

Holes 6, 7, 8

Hole 6 - Short/medium Par 4 - (386) Need to shape a left-to-right tee shot to leave anywhere from 100 to 160 yds. If you don't shape your shot and leave it left or in the center, the ball will bounce left and then you are either in a lateral hazard, in a bunker or blocked out. If you go right, you’re in a swamp or in the trees. The green is 30 paces deep and while flat in front, rolls off severely on the left (to a bunker), right and long (to a hazard)

Hole 7 - short Par 4 (328) Again need to shape a short left-to-right with anywhere from a hybrid to a 7 iron. Again if you don't shape the shot, you’re in a lateral hazard or blocked out and if you go right, you’re in a swamp or trees.
The green is 33 paces and undulating. Short right will leave you in a bunker, right and long is a hazard and left leaves you with a nasty downhill, breaking putt/chip. On the wrong side of the cup and you're almost guaranteed a 3-putt.

Hole 8 - Long Par 5 (586) - This hole you need to shape your tee shot left to right with anything from a Driver to a long iron. Leave it left and you’re in heavy rough, the woods or in a lateral hazard. Right puts you in the trees. Navigate the fairway and now you're faced with a second shot that narrows the fairway at 100yds to 20yds wide. There are trees and a lateral hazard on the left and a pond on the right. The green is 35 paces, undulating with a bunker short and left. Again being on the wrong side of the cup and you're looking at a 3-putt.

The bottom line, being accurate off the tee (which is imperative) is only one piece of the battle, if you negotiate that task, your next shot will determine if you're leaving with a par (maybe birdie) or bogie/worse.
 
On my old course, it was 3, 4 and 5

3 was a massive dogleg left par 4 and the landing area is above the tee box. If you had a 250 yard drive, you were barely good enough to go at the green. You second shot is very important to a long and narrow green is is usually taken with a mid iron. I have only birdied this hole twice in my life and bogey is not a terrible score on this hole.

4. A par 5 with a split fairway. If the pin on on the bottom of the green, you can take the low road, but you have to really thread the needle in there as there are trees on both sides that spell trouble. It is very reachable in 2, but you have to hit some sort of shaped shot depending on where you are at on the fairway.

5. Dogleg right Par 4. I generally try to hit it over the trees with a 3 wood or driver depending on the wind. If you miss right, you are punching out sideways through a bunch of trees. If you play it safe, you will have about a 200 yard iron to the green that is below the fairway. I have never birdied this hole, but I have missed a few putts at it.
 
At my home course, North Hills in Corry PA, for me it's got to be #12, #13, #14.

#12 (4 HDCP) is a 476yd Par 5, with an elevated fairway, that is pretty tight with trees that line both sides. You want to try to keep your drive as far to the right as possible as the hole dogleg's left at around the 100yd mark. This is also the first hole on the back nine where you can pull out the big dog, as #10 has a drive-able pond and #11 is a par 3. Hitting the green in two would require a spectacular drive and a very well placed 200yd+ draw around a tree that jets out of the left side fairway at the 100yd mark, and a great roll up the approach apron, as the left side is heavily guarded by a large bunker, where the pin usually resides behind. A smarter shot is a mid-iron that will get you to about the 50-100yd range for your 3rd. The green is about 30-40yds left to right, but maybe only 15-20yd front to back, with minor undulation, but still can make for a tricky birdie putt.

#13 (10 HDCP) is a 337yd Par 4, with an almost 90 degree dogleg left at the 150yd mark. Hitting driver here will most certainly end poorly, so 3W or hybrid with a slight draw is key. If placed well, your 2nd shot will be from the gully and you'll have <100yds in, uphill into the 30yd long green still sloping upward, bunkers on both sides. An easy birdie/par on paper, but don't take it for granted.

#14 (2 HDCP) is a 516yd Par 5 where a safe drive will sit you right atop the fairway, staring straight down the 90 degree dogleg left, back at the green but easily still 230yds+ out. Your 2nd shot is the money maker...OB to the left and trees line the hole on the right back towards #12 tee box. A great shot will leave you with less than 100yd in, but a smart shot will sit you right in the fairway for an easy 150yd approach. A very large sand bunker on the left and a deep grass bunker front right make this enormous green shink every time. Easily one club lengths' difference between front/middle/back pin. Green slanted slightly up. Put it on and escape with a 2 putt par.
 
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