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GrayBull Hole #4

Templet0n

Templet0n

Putting the Shirley in Spittin Shirleys
Albatross 2025 Club
Joined
Jun 7, 2019
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Location
Reno, NV
Handicap
snow..
Hole 4 is the first par 3 you will face. It is also the longest par 3 on the front side. This is where GrayBull will start to ask you the question of. Can you be creative? Can you play links style golf? The hole will play around 180 yards from the mens tees. It will also most likely be playing down wind. There is a large and very scary bunker front right of the green. The green is also tilted from left to right and from front to back.

It also looks to be slightly up hill with the green partially hidden. So, all you see is that giant bunker looking you straight in the eye.

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With the combination of being down wind, and a green that is tilted away from you. Flying a ball all the way to the green, may not hold at all and there is a good chance the ball will run through the green. As such, the play may be to take less club, and play up the left side. Hitting a shot that is short of the green and uses the contours of the course to funnel the ball down and onto the green. Or if the pin is in the back, play to the front left part of the green and let the green take the ball to the back right.

THIS IS LINKS GOLF AT IT'S PUREST!! Let the course help you to the hole and you may walk away with a great score. Fight it, and it will just beat you up.

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The green itself does have some contour to it, but is a little toned down compared to what we have seen so far and will come across further into the round. The biggest question asked by this hole is can you hit the right shot to the green with the given conditions you are playing in that day.

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This is a great first par 3 that will having you grinning as you and your group test your shot making and iron game abilities.

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Back right pin there seems diabolical
 
Now we’re talking. My little fade at the front left of the green and let the course do the work. I want no part of that bunker!
 
This hole never fit my eye and I played it like garbage. Really all you have to do is get it there, which is the theme of the par 3s here. Lots of room left (even a little short left) and long. The wind will be off the back so you’ll have to consider stopping power.

Fun fact: In alt shot, all 4 of us either lost or shanked our balls so we restarted the hole and I believe all but one of us did the exact same thing after we restarted😂
 
bsbmike said:
Back right pin there seems diabolical
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Trust me, you don’t know diabolical pin placements until we get to the first par 3 on the back 9. The hardest pin placement I have ever experienced or even witnessed
 
Man I feel like I’m gonna be reading all these posts 100 times each before June like I’m studying for an exam. This is great stuff. Can’t wait to see the rest.
 
BuffaloPlunger said:
Trust me, you don’t know diabolical pin placements until we get to the first par 3 on the back 9. The hardest pin placement I have ever experienced or even witnessed
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That one's all sand in front too if I remember correctly right? Great par 3's here...well great 18 holes in general
 
I will be the jerk.
If you are a fader of the golf ball off the tee, and do not have solid control of said golf ball, you are making 5 here.
 
The biggest question asked by this hole is can you hit the right shot to the green with the given conditions you are playing in that day?

My answer to this question has been “no” for years now. Not this year!
 
bsbmike said:
That one's all sand in front too if I remember correctly right? Great par 3's here...well great 18 holes in general
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Yeah most of them have sand in front. The first half of the green slopes back to front and the pin was like 3-4 paces front left. The only way to get it remotely close was to land it into the bank a foot past the sand. Otherwise you settled for a 20ft putt
 
It's only two bunkers...

View off the tee in that light really shows the shadows of the bunker lip. Nice design but that would mess with me, for sure.
 
JB said:
I will be the jerk.
If you are a fader of the golf ball off the tee, and do not have solid control of said golf ball, you are making 5 here.
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If you hit it in that gigantic bunker.. It looks miserable from there.
 
bsbmike said:
Back right pin there seems diabolical
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Hunger Games Odds GIF

This does not seem like a place to chase. If it was a breezy day I think I’d be taking my chances trying to hit something lower and to the left. That bunker right has probably swallowed some souls 😂
 
Hole 4 looks like it should be an easy par 3. It caused a lot of trouble. Most holes are winding in between the rolling hills. Here you are up on top fully exposed to the wind. So many tee shots end up in the big nasty bunker on the right.

Don’t get cute off the tee and play to the left side of the green. If you do miss left and long there is a ton of flat grass to chip from.
 
My miss is hooking left w/ my irons. First time I've felt like it's not the worst miss there is.
 
What a beauty. I love links golf and I really need to get to this freaking course!

180 playing downwind with roll up, I'm thinking I take a little more club and hit something a little punchy up the left. Probably choke up and hit a 7i but shorten the finish. Hopefully it carries 150-160 and rolls up onto the green.
 
Templet0n said:
If you hit it in that gigantic bunker.. It looks miserable from there.
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The tough part too is the bunkers are considered waste areas so you’re likely to never have the same lie twice
 
JB said:
I will be the jerk.
If you are a fader of the golf ball off the tee, and do not have solid control of said golf ball, you are making 5 here.
Click to expand...
There will be a pick 6 here.
 
I can play a running draw shot but I can't play a running fade that would be fun to play here. My normal iron shot is an elevated draw. That could work out well but that bunker will probably bring in an unconscious pull/hook. I think I would aim at where the flag is on the green in the picture and expect it to be on the left side of the green or just off. I think I would actually prefer a chip here rather than a putt from all the way across the green.
 
BuffaloPlunger said:
The tough part too is the bunkers are considered waste areas so you’re likely to never have the same lie twice
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The areas not being raked the top of the sand was inconsistent. Club head going through the sand it is incredibly consistent and probably the best sand that I have ever played in.
 
Wow. Looks like a hole where you're walking off the green happy to manage a 4
 
leftybob said:
The areas not being raked the top of the sand was inconsistent. Club head going through the sand it is incredibly consistent and probably the best sand that I have ever played in.
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I did not fare too well out of the sand. I struggled to gauge how much sand I had to deal with. Luckily, outside of our alt shot round, I didn’t spend much time in the sand
 
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