Do you have a "nemesis" hole?

[bumpnrun]

The 13th hole at Baywood Golf and Country Club is a short, 334 yard dogleg right par 4 with a massive grove of redwood trees at the corner.

The perfect shot is 230 - 240 yards (perfectly struck 3 wood) to a landing area about the size of a green.

If you go even slightly to the right you are blocked. Far right is in the water. Left is in the woods, lost ball.

If you are short your ball will kick right off a hill and you will be blocked, have lie that is severely below your feet or both.

If you are slightly long or catch the slope wrong you are through the fairway into the undergrowth for an unplayable lie (if you are lucky enough to find your ball that is.)

Once you make it past the dogleg the hole isn't so bad. Wedge to a good sized green that slopes back right to front left, a couple of greenside bunkers and a big slope off the back.

If you hit a perfect drive it is a birdie hole, but that is a 1/10 chance for me. Otherwise it is the worlds shortest par 5.

 

[dhjkelly]

i dont have a home course yet but Waterrock Golf Course 17th kills me every time we play there, its a par 3 195 yard uphill to a small green with a bunker front left. anytime we play the wind is always from left to right. i always hit my 5 wood and every time it ends up on the bailout area on the right leaving me with a horrible chip over a high mound and the green slopping away from me. only once have i hit the green from playing there 8-10 times a year for the last 6 years

 

[SirSliceALot116]

530 yard Par 5 8th at Stoneybrook East. We call it "the road hole" since the road that cars drive on is directly on your right the entire length of the hole. You definitely want to stay left otherwise your ball may end up in someone's windshield. Landing area is guarded by bunkers on both sides of the fairway so accuracy off the tee is vital. From there, you want to stay left again for two reasons... 1) There's an outcropping of trees to the right that juts into the fairway about 2/3 of the way down and 2) gives you the best angle of approach into the green since there's water right as well. Just nutty... Shot birdie here just once and it was because I stuck my third next to the pin and had a kick-in for the score. Can definitely be brutal sometimes... most times actually.

 

[wull]

my home course is a 9 hole course and the 4th is a pain in the ass,2nd time round it's even worse because the tee is further over to the right.

i naturally draw the ball and this hole was not made for me.

you have to hit your tee shot over a blind hill and your 2nd shot is over a blind hill again.the tee shot has trees to the right and over the hill to the left is a massive banking with thick rough.......there is very little margin for error and i hate the hole with a passion.

 

[MWard]

Par 4 18th at a course called Heritage Harbor right near where I live. It's a straight away par 4 with a forced carry starting at about 135-140. Not a big deal, it's usually just a fairway wood off the tee for me to about the 150 marker. There's trouble all up the left side of the approach. The shot calls for aiming at a grouping of 3 palm trees just long and even with the green complex and draw it in. If you over draw it, you're all but guaranteed to not find your ball as they let the bushes left and long of the green grow up considerably. Every single freaking time I'm on this hole, I seem to over draw it into the junk. I've played it over 60 times and I think I've parred it 3 times. Never birdied it. I want to attack this bush growth with a chainsaw, or fire, or a combination of the two. You've probably got 3 steps left of the center of the green to work with before you hit the growth. Right's really not much better as there are a lot of bushes, and long's also no good but you probably have about 8-10 yards before you're into it.

It's just a cruel round ruining hole.

 

[Golfingmedic]

yeah... Mine is a par 4, slight dogleg left, with a carry over TWO lakes... I always make the first lake with ease... but the second lake that sits right in front of the green... Well.. It doesn't matter if I am 180 yards out or 80 yards out.. that lake EATS MY LUNCH every time!! I hate that hole!

 

[subvet]

2 holes on my home course. both par 3s.
#2 is 185 but I always push my tee shot to the right of the green...easy chip-on but almost always walk away with a bogie
#12 is anywhere from 120-155 depending on pin placement. again...fade my tee shot into a r/h bunker. lucky to get up and down from there..usually a bogie or worse. The closest I have ever come to an ace was on this hole though...dropped one 2 feet from the pin one day in a points game....got so rattled I missed the birdie.


My worst:
#3 at a neighboring course, Country Hills. It's a 350yd par 4. Your target off the tee is the 150 yard mark over a deep ravine w. woods & OB left, and a sharp drop-off right into a steep embankment leading to a pond. You are left with a landing zone probably 20-30 yards wide and long and is the only flat spot on the hole besides the tee box.
At the 150 mark, the hole doglegs left and has a right to left slope. If you hit straight, you'll roll through the landing zone down the embankment unless you can hit a 200-yarder dead straight that lands softly. If you can hit a controlled draw, this is the ultimate shot but has to be dead accurate. Again..land soft or you'll catch the slope and roll into the pond. If you miss the landing zone and are lucky enough to stop short of the water and can find your ball in the rough, you have an impossible uphill shot through some big Willow trees between you and the green.

The green is long & narrow and is surrounded by a moat of bunkers, and moguls covered in HEAVY rough. If you miss the green and are lucky enough to even find your ball in that stuff, you have a tough out.

I hate that hole. I have lost more balls than I can remember and have picked-up and taken a double-par just to keep from blowing my top many times. I have never parred that hole, not one time.

 

[milehighgolfer]

Hole #12 at Indian Tree Golf Course in Arvada, CO. This entire course is demanding off the tee as you are constantly left with long iron approaches to difficult greens. But #12 was plotted by the devil himself. 642 yards from the tips and "only" 604 yards from the blue tees. It is a hard dogleg right with water and trees preventing you from cutting the corner. It requires a long and acurate drive followed by a 175ish shot to make the corner of the dogleg. Then it is 150-175 to an elevated green depending on how well you made the corner. Three PERFECT shots are required to be putting for bird. If you misplace any shot along the way you are scrambling on a merciless hole. Always the hole that ruins my round and its only the 12th. I would gladly card a bogey and skip this hole and be well ahead on the deal.

 

[colnago1331]

The first 18 holes at my club kill me. Fortunately, things tend to come around for me at the 19th.......

 

[BulldogsGolf]

Just found one: the 13th at albany CC. Tripled it the last 2 times I've played it.... and any hole that has visible, in play roots.

 

[cnosil]

Definitely have a nemisis hole. It it the 17th at Cypress Creek in Smithfield VA.

One of the single toughest par 4s on the course, which requires a big carry over the wetland area, avoiding bunkers front left and behind. Three bunkers on the right side of the fairway are not only directional, but come into play for an errant shot. A bunker guards the front left of the green, and allows for a bail out to the right.

Champion​	457​
Medal​	437​
Club​	412​
Forward​	332​

Simply a long hole and plays uphill. Struggle whether I play from the whites or the blues. From the whites OB to right and ravine to the left and from the Blues it is just long and leaves a long shot into a green where the pin always seems to be back left. Bogey this hole way too much for the number of times I have played it.

 

[Hanks]

holes with water around the green or protected by huge bunkers

 

[jmaier]

For me, it is the Par 5 6th hole -- 515 yards, dogleg right with out-of-bounds from tee box to green on the right side. For your second shot, you have water to the left side. A slight fade, if aimed improperly can bounce OB since it slopes to the right and then there is a huge drop off just off the fairway down to the woods. I've birdied this dude once, made par a couple of times and a rash of bogies (usually by going into the water to the left on the 2nd shot trying to steer away from the OB). I've also cardied a 9 AND a 13 on this puppy. Cold chills everytime I approach the tee box. Fortunately, I'm usually good for a par on the 5th & 7th holes!

 

[TylerD]

Hole #7 at Cameron Hills in King George, VA(my home course). It's a par 4(don't know the yardage off the top of my head). It slopes severly right for about 300 yards and there is nothing but forest down there followed by a ravine. No matter what I hit off the tee I go right like there is a large magnet over there. From there my second shot is always short(if I can find the ball). Absolutely hate the hole.

 

[McKillian]

This would qualify on my list. Its the signature hole on one of my old clubs. I try and return to play it once every year for pure love of the course, alas I live too far away to remain a member now. This is a par 4 that BEGS you to go for green in one shot. If its even a breeze - forget about even trying (Which you naturally do anyway...).

[/IMG]

[/IMG]

Distances are in meters, so just add 10% for yards.

Don´t now how many balls I´ve put in the water back when I was a member - but I can tell you it was a lot......

 

[Spaceman_Spiff]

Definitely have a nemesis hole on my home course. And it really shouldn't be that hard. Its a par 4 that usually plays about 406 with a slight dogleg right. Which most would think sets up well for a faded driver. But I can count on one hand how many times I've hit this fairway this summer and having played it almost 20 times that's terrible. IF I hit the fairway, the green is a long and narrow two tiered setup and slightly elevated. I can count the pars on one hand as well. So sad. This hole follows a VERY manageable par 5 that I usually score very well on. So its always BRUTAL leaving the par 5 feeling good on a roll and then to come to this hole and literally throw my card away.

 

[subvet]

This is a par 4 that BEGS you to go for green in one shot. If its even a breeze - forget about even trying (Which you naturally do anyway...).

[/IMG]

Distances are in meters, so just add 10% for yards.

Don´t now how many balls I´ve put in the water back when I was a member - but I can tell you it was a lot......

what does Greenkant mean? "can't reach the green?" :act-up:

 

[DrMWP]

Hole 13 Orchard Valley. Longish and narrow par 4 with water cutting across the fairway at 210 yds (260 to carry), then around 180 to the green. But you've got to hit the first in the 175 - 185 range to have a good lie, then a well struck fairway wood or 3h to a rather small green with bunkers on the right, and OB 10 yds left and back. Most of the time I just play it as a par five and try to put my third stroke close to the pin. I freakin' hate that hole.

 

[T0AD]

Every one of my usual playing buddies hates this hole....as do I.
Par 5 double dogleg; first left, then right. Problem is, the entire fairway, all 500yds of it, lean left into the woods, IF you're lucky enough to draw one around a tight corner, it'll keep going down the hill into the left rough (well, at least half the time, sometimes the grass will catch it). If you straight-shot it, or slice it, you're looking at an approach over 100ft pines.
IF you get the clean approach shot, the entire left side is death. It's a giant hole with really long grass. Right is usually burned grass and dirt. You'll either par this baby, or get at least a double.

This SOB has killed me two days in a row. An 8 Thursday and a 7 today. Right is death.

 

[CBaker]

slight bump on this one.

Finally beat my nemesis hole on the front 9 of Sweetbriar in Avon Lake, OH the last time I played it. It's the par 4 #5 that plays 408. Not necessarily a hard hole, which I think is what made it my nemesis...it's not that hard. Only danger is that it's tree lined down the left side (which my normal shot is left to right anyway), so I SHOULD have been able to play it easily, but I always had a mental block on it and played terribly. I rarely pull or hook my driver, my usual miss is a slice, but I always seemed to pull or hook my drive on that hole straight into the trees haha. Well...the other day I killed my drive straight down the center, outran the first set of fairway to about 100 left, and got up and 2 putted for par. First time I had ever pared that hole. It felt so good and now I think that clears the mental block out of the way.

 

[IceyShanks]

The first hole at my home course is slowly becoming my nemesis, and in a bad way, if I seem to figure the hole out the rest of my round is junk, but when I struggle a bit more on it, the rest of my round seems to be fairly flat, it's a weird connection, which in reality is only in my head.

The hole itself is fairly straight forward, shorter par 5, but if I have a good drive and play smart, lay up, I still end up missing the green more often than not. What I'm trying to do is take a contrastive line off the tee, lay up to a nice yardage, and then just get the ball on the green to have a birdie putt. And with the fast greens the way they are right now it's not only tough to get the ball to stop on the green, but the short game chips/pitches are even tougher in these conditions.

All in all I'm learning to play the hole smarter, but it's slow going for sure!

 

[Golf Ghost]

Number 13 at the home course. Short par 4 at only 340-350, yet I can never seem to hit the green in the right spot. Sort of a two section green, large difference in elevation between the front and the back. Not sure I've ever made par on that hole, if so, only 1-2 times.

 

[ATLGolfer]

17th hole at Crystal Falls in Dahlonega GA. It's a 430ish, uphill Par four that has deep trees (played as hazards) on both sides. The hole also narrows at about 250 from the tee. If you're left, you can hit it long into the hazard. Everything to the right falls off to the right, so missing over there stinks as well.


I'm still trying to figure out how to hit the tee shot. I've played the hole four times and been in one of the hazards each time.

 

[ryebread]

Three come to mind.

1) "Home" course: 200 yard par 3. Traps to the front right and left, though there's about a 10 yard gap in between them to run one up. Back falls off and a chip back up from the back likely rolls into the traps. The trap on the right runs around the right side like a kidney. It should be easy. I often make 5. I rarely see pars when paired up with randoms.

2) "Crummy" course near my parents: 180 yard par 3 over a pond but uphill about 4 stories. The pin is blind from the tee box. Traps right and left. You've got to have height and distance. The only time I've pared it was banging a FW into the side of the hill and having it skip up and onto the green.

3) "New" nemesis discovered last weekend playing at a course near my FIL: 550 yard par 5 (as the crow flies) wrapped around a pond. The green is pushed back into trees so that the only angle in is from the fairway once the pond is crossed. It's 230 to the pond off the tee, but not even a tour pro could drive over it. You've got to lay up off the tee. The FW itself was maybe 20 yards wide as it wrapped around the pond, so the second shot is a risk/reward shot setting up the approach. What gets you over the pond, but also lets you land and stop in that 20 yard ribbon of a FW? You could take the longest third shot (say 220 in) and probably only have 140 over the pond. Start trying to cut chunks off the lake for the easier approach and you can get to a shot requiring 230-240 forced carry. I chose a line that was about 160 in forced carry, but pulled it and landed in the lake. I ended up taking a 9. My FIL took a gentleman's 9, but was really about a 14. What a brutal hole.

 

[ryebread]

17th hole at Crystal Falls in Dahlonega GA. It's a 430ish, uphill Par four that has deep trees (played as hazards) on both sides. The hole also narrows at about 250 from the tee. If you're left, you can hit it long into the hazard. Everything to the right falls off to the right, so missing over there stinks as well.


I'm still trying to figure out how to hit the tee shot. I've played the hole four times and been in one of the hazards each time.

Dumb question, but can you "play for bogey" and then knock shot #3 stiff? Given your handicap, you've probably got a heck of a short game.