Your Home Course #1 Handicap Hole

[rbarthle17]

Since my course is three separate 9 hole courses, there are three #1 holes.

Wolverine #2

This one is #1 based purely on it's length I believe. OB down the entire left side of the hole from tee to green. A bad tee shot makes par your best possible score simply because most people are going to need three shots to reach the green with good tee shots. I have never seen anyone get closer than 100 yards out in two shots. Go left (but not OB) and your second shot is likely going into my ball bucket if you try a hero shot. Trees always seem to be in the perfect place to block shots that went the right. The green itself is flat and the easy, rewarding you once you get there.

And if you hit it into the yard of the house at the 150 markers, at least ask if my kids are okay before asking for your ball please.

Buckeye #5

I'm a little surprised this is the #1 hole on this course. The tee shot plays into most amateurs biggest swing fault. A fade and even a slice can put you right in the middle of the fairway. If you find the woods on either side you likely have to punch out. Water guards the right side of the green but there is a ton of bailout room left of the green.

I personally find #6 to be the hardest hole. It's straight but a much tighter tee shot with trees lining both sides of the fairway all the way to the green.

Irish #3

Another one I don't quite see as being hard as long as you play with even a modicum of brains, but I guess most people don't and that's why it's #1. OB all the way up the left side, and the barn juts out to block cutting the slight dogleg unless you can legitimately carry 290+. I always tee off with a hybrid even from the blues, and am left with 150-180 for the second shot. No need to take driver out here at all, the gains you get from it are minimal for most people. There is a little bail out room to the right off the tee, but go too far right and there are some trees but many times there is a nice alley through it. Once you pass the barn it's wide open to the green. The green has a slight ridge in it, and they like to put the hole on it or near it. Hard to one putt unless you go pin seeking, but easy to two-putt it most times.

 

[Mtdream]

Yellowstone Country Club, Billings Montana...Robert Trent Jones Sr. design 73.9/135 from tips...completely tree lined...in the trees, take medicine hit out sideways (if you can)

Bunkers on both sides 240-260 to carry them...Driving Range right (if you slice, forget about finding ball)...Green slopes back to front, so you have to leave ball below hole...overshoot green, your NOT getting up and down...Greens generally roll 10.5+, tournament conditions roll north of 12... Landing zone for drive is 28 yards wide...trees allow for 5 yards of rough, then totally block approach....The core hall mark of this course, tree lined....

 

[Brianbigoats]

my home course the 1#HC hole is a 530yd par 5 with water on both sids of the landing zone and water down the right side all the way to the green it is not as hard as other #1 HC holes i have played but there is a ton of water so it can be tough

 

[Drumdog]

The 16th at my home course (Meadow Wood GC) is the #1 handicap hole. The photo does not reflect the difficulty on this hole. Besides the 607 yards from the blue tees, the prevailing wind is right in your face and averages 5-15 mph. There is no cutting the corner due to the huge aspen trees protecting the left side of the green and the OB left of the trees. If that is not enough, from the yellow square (about 170 yds out), it is uphill about 80 feet to a tough 3 tier green. If the pin is located on the front left tier which is the lowest, you MUST hit your approach to that tier. If you are putting from either of the 2 higher tiers and don't make the putt, you will not stay on the green. The ball will then roll down the hill about 30 feet off the green to leave you with a tough, severe uphill chip back on. Par 5 is a good score on this hole.

 

[startedat40]

County Club of Jackson Mississippi #7 on Azalea (plays as #16 Dogwood / Azalea)

Azalea #7/#16 (469 yds. / 407 yds.) Our signature hole, this par four requires two of the most demanding shots you will be faced with on the course. The swamp protects the entire left side of the hole and crosses the fairway approximately 80 yards from the middle of the green. The bailout tee shot finds the right side of the fairway or rough forcing you to hit back towards the water on your approach. The aggressive line off the tee is to challenge the left side of the fairway where the ball will run out. The long iron/hybrid approach shot is into the largest green on the course at approximately 40 yards deep. This shot is very demanding with the swamp left and a large bunker protecting the front right side of the green. When playing from the fairway, determine the distance to the middle of the green and subtract twenty yards. This will give you a minimum distance to carry the shot allowing for the ball to roll/release into the middle.

 

[jrs362]

#7 on my home 9-hole course.

Par 4
White: 325 yds.
Blue: 343 yds.
Red: 304 yds.
Gold: 277 yds.

It doesn't seem like much, but you tee off through a narrow opening over a gully that is an easy carry unless you top it. Fairway slopes left to right the entire way and around the landing area it's pretty uneven. About 300 yds from the tee is a rock ditch across the fairway. Any shot played from the left side of the fairway has an obstructed view of the green by a nice side hill. My typical play, since I have trouble holding the green, is to play it off the hill. If you catch it low enough on the hill, it will bounce off and trickle a few yards onto the green. It beats missing long or to the right where you end up down a steep hill on the cart path or beyond.

 

[AoxomxoA]

My home course #1… 15th hole, Dry Creek Ranch GC, Galt, CA

Requires a tee shot threaded through monster oaks, only to be left with a long ways to the green with more trees. O/B all along the left. If your tee shot clears the big one at the dogleg on the right, it's fairly smooth sailing. Get just a little left and trees will block. Leak the drive to the right at all and the ball is usually in serious trouble.

 

[rollin]

Its the 14th hole Par5 and at 535 yards is not the longest par5 on the course but has a forced carry (over water) to an elevated green that slopes back towards the water. The course has 3 of its 4 par5's rated the top 3 holes. But many would argue that its hardest par4 which is rated 4th could be rated as 2nd hardest over a couple more of the par5's.

That par4I mention is 435yrds and again not the longest one on the course and is even fairly straight forward. However, the approach shot is all uphill significantly and the green is very narrow with bunkers left and right and trees and steep downhill on right.

Its probably the least par'd hole on the course according tyo just about anyone that discusses it. And now for the funniest part. Not being very good at golf yet for some reason i have more pars on that hardest par4 (arguably hardest hole) than any other hole. For whatever reason i just love this hole. I dont par it often because i dont par anything often but do have more there than any other. Go figure??

 

[cpljohnst]

My home club has 36 holes.

The Lake Course the 1 handicapped hole is the long par 5, 12th hole. Black tees 620y, Gold 590, Blue 568, White 477, Red 230 (the red tees have a different rating, The 12th is the 14th handicapped hole from them.

Takes 3 good shots to get on the green. There is a ditch that separates the fairway but only the super long hitters have to worry about driving into it. An average 2nd shot will leave a down hill approach of 140y to 160y to a multi-tiered green. The front pin position is the easiest. Ridges in the green can make middle and back pin positions tough to get close to.

In image below the green is top right and the tee boxes are bottom left.

The Mountain Course - the 18th hole has the well earned 1 handicap. A tough par 4 where bogey is a good score. Black tees 458y, Gold 407, Blue 375y, White 336y, Red 330y.

Slightly uphill tee shot that if long enough into the narrow neck will roll down hill leaving a 150y shot (from the black mark on map) to middle of peninsula green. Hitting that bottom area is tough though. Landing area to get the roll down the hill is only 25 yards wide. Anything left of that finds hazard. A layup from the tee to the top of the hill (blue mark on map) leaves a long approach over water, roughly 200y to middle.

Blue tee boxes I typically play from are the red mark.

I recently posted a course review of my home club. You can find it here: http://www.thehackersparadise.com/f...se-Review-Mirror-Lake-Golf-Club-Villa-Rica-GA

 

[malemotives]

Hole #7: Yelloe Tee: 390 yard Par 4 Dogleg left

More often than not, this hole plays into the wind. Missing the fairway can be disastrous. Especially a miss to the left. I slice (rt hand) will put you on #6 fairway and give you a longer second shot, back across the trees. A hook puts you in the forest, often forcing a sideways pitch back to the fairway. There is no OB, except if you hook it over the fence on the left.

 

[zeroputt]

The No. 1 handicap hole is a 520-yard or so (white tees) par 5. It's pretty much straight (though it does turn a bit to the right off the tee and a bit to the left closer to the green), and there isn't much trouble on it. What makes it hard for the average golfer (i.e., shorter hitters… like me) is that the landing area for the tee shot is on an upslope that kills the forward momentum of the golf ball, leaving over 300 yards to the green.

 

[Veryslowsnail25]

It is a common misunderstanding: the hcp index is not the difficulty index, it is to make match plays even.

And then, it uses theoretical textbook scratch and bogie golfers. At my course, the #1 hcp hole is a dogleg guarded by water. If you have a straight, 240+ drive, which our mythical scratch golfer has, it is a short iron to a largish green, easy par at worst. The bogie golfer lays up and if you don't have a 240 drive, you don't have a 200+ yard shot to the green either, so you have a longish pitch to the green and looking for bogey at least. In practice, the scratch in my group lays up too and is hitting a hybrid to the green against my fairway wood. Imo, that is not a full shot advantage.

Ahhhh that explains things - thanks for clearing things up.

A lot easier than many of the other awesome holes I've seen on here, but I think my course's SI 1 plays to that explanation pretty well. For low cappers who can't stomach hitting right over the water to a landing zone they can't see, it leaves a 4 iron at best into a protected green with a drop off to the right as well as the pond, water in front and a steep drop off to OB at the back. Approaches to the left are good, but some well-placed trees and a fairway bunker guard those who try to be too cautious on their tee shot or don't shape the shot. Of course, if you hit the best drive of your life, like mine today (see below - never again!), it shortens things considerably. Still fluffed the birdie putt though, didn't I...

I do love it though; it's a genuine risk-reward hole that puts a lot of pressure on your tee shot, and there's a number of different ways to play the hole. The first couple of times I went for the 4 iron, 4 iron approach and it quickly became clear that was the low percentage strategy rather than the sensible option I thought it was! Looks beautiful as well...

Edit: For some reason, Swing by swing is only showing the red tees, the yellows are a good 30 yards back and the whites 15 further.

 

[Lefty78]

Number 8 is a short par 4 at 330 from the blue tees, 350 from the golds. There is a pond between the tees and fairway then a creek lining the left side of the fairway and trees right of the fairway. The creek runs into another pond in front of the green then the creek runs from that pond and runs by the left side of the green with 3-4 yards of bermuda rough between the creek and green. No miss area to the right though with a couple of green side bunkers guarding that side. The green itself is pretty severe and two putt is always good.

 

[Vegan702]

Have 3 18 hole courses, so 3 1 handicap holes.

Wolf #7 Par 4 plays uphill, boxes at 332,373,410,470 and 495.

Snow #5 Par 4 uphill, boxes at 342,383,425,458.

Sun #6, par 4 with bunkers left for tee shot and left for green shots.

 

[cpljohnst]

Have 3 18 hole courses, so 3 1 handicap holes.

Wolf #7 Par 4 plays uphill, boxes at 332,373,410,470 and 495.

Snow #5 Par 4 uphill, boxes at 342,383,425,458.

Sun #6, par 4 with bunkers left for tee shot and left for green shots.

Love those courses! Have played 2 of the 3. Need to get on Wolf sometime.

 

[DaBuckBoys]

Its not a great depiction from the scorecard layout, but #2 at Majestic Springs crosses a major creek three times from the back tee box, 436 yards. Its tree lined and if you are in the right third of the middle fairway, you'll need to go over some massice sycamores or play a fade into the green.

Its not nearly as hard from the normal tee box, 360 I think. The creek is about 240 to carry but it has to be a straight ball because of the trees. Usually just layup but it is tough to judge, pull you layup left and the creek begins at 160 or so, give yourself more room to the right and the sycamores block the green.

The just extended the tee box to #3 which is beyond #2 green and some border landscaping, rocks & mulch really frame the hole in nicely.

 

[Greg Kulbick]

So, is it just the fifteen or so courses I've looked at after noticing it, or are all the odd number handicap holes on a course on one 9 and the even number handicap holes on the other, standard operating procedure? How have I never noticed this before?

 

[flog2424]

Par 4 that plays 490 from the tips. OB left and water right and around the left and backside of the green. Played many club championships where the play is to lay up 20-30 yards from the green and play for bogey


Proud Member of #TeamParadise

 

[JuKu]

So, is it just the fifteen or so courses I've looked at after noticing it, or are all the odd number handicap holes on a course on one 9 and the even number handicap holes on the other, standard operating procedure? How have I never noticed this before?

Yes, this is the standard. The standard is here.

 

[O'Carroll]

Fairways of Halfmoon #4. Only plays 330, but there is a forced carry (not a lot, but it's there); trouble left (hill/trees) and OB right, there is just nowhere to miss off the tee. I've hit everything from 8 iron to driver with limited success. It's also downhill from 100 yards to the green with a pond in back. Here is a picture from the tee on the home that eats me up.

 

[Veryslowsnail25]

Fairways of Halfmoon #4. Only plays 330, but there is a forced carry (not a lot, but it's there); trouble left (hill/trees) and OB right, there is just nowhere to miss off the tee. I've hit everything from 8 iron to driver with limited success. It's also downhill from 100 yards to the green with a pond in back. Here is a picture from the tee on the home that eats me up.

Looks an awesome hole, if a bit painful!