How would you play it? My Nemesis Par 5

[RealPretendPsychic]

This is the 521 yard #2 par 5. Plays as the 1 or 3 handicap on the course. Dogleg left with wide creek/hazard protecting the green, dense trees down the left, and OB down the right side of the hole. Plays downhill from tee to green. I always take driver off the tee because the prospect of being on in two is just too strong to ignore. The problem is if I don’t go over the bunker on the left and stay just inside the tree line, there’s a chance I’m OB right.
My perfect drive here is ~310 and leaves a 7i into the green. My driving is inconsistent at best, but a 3w likely eliminates the possibility of reaching the green in two and keeps the possibility of OB in play if I push it right. What are your thoughts on the tee?

 

[ddstanford]

I don't have your length, but I'm trying to go down the left side 250 , then lay up to the "death zone" avoiding those traps . Weird they're really trying to penalize the wayward 2nd shot rather than the drive, but OK. Then wedge to green.

 

[OldandStiff]

What course is it? I want to look up distances to hazards before I answer.

 

[greenOak]

How bad are the trees? They don't seem too bad, and as long as you can punch the ball out of the trees, I see no reason not hit to driver. You should be able to aim sufficiently far away from the OB right to not go in there very often. If I don't have a clear shot to the green in the fairway or light rough, I'm laying up - if I do I'm going for it.

 

[Snickerdog]

Driver far enough to clear the corner, 5 wood to the lay up area then a wedge on and one putt for birdie.

 

[RealPretendPsychic]

What course is it? I want to look up distances to hazards before I answer.

It’s Brookside Country Club in Macungie, PA

How bad are the trees? They don't seem too bad, and as long as you can punch the ball out of the trees, I see no reason not hit to driver. You should be able to aim sufficiently far away from the OB right to not go in there very often. If I don't have a clear shot to the green in the fairway or light rough, I'm laying up - if I do I'm going for it.

They’re pretty penalizing. More often than not if I’m in them I don’t get out with a very good opportunity to put my third on the green. I am not consistent with the driver, so I could take 3 swings and be left right and center.

 

[OGputtnfool]

This is the 521 yard #2 par 5. Plays as the 1 or 3 handicap on the course. Dogleg left with wide creek/hazard protecting the green, dense trees down the left, and OB down the right side of the hole. Plays downhill from tee to green. I always take driver off the tee because the prospect of being on in two is just too strong to ignore. The problem is if I don’t go over the bunker on the left and stay just inside the tree line, there’s a chance I’m OB right.
My perfect drive here is ~310 and leaves a 7i into the green. My driving is inconsistent at best, but a 3w likely eliminates the possibility of reaching the green in two and keeps the possibility of OB in play if I push it right. What are your thoughts on the tee?
View attachment 8953191

Is the fairway to the left OB?

 

[RealPretendPsychic]

Is the fairway to the left OB?

No that’s #3 coming back the other way.

 

[OGputtnfool]

No that’s #3 coming back the other way.

That might be the play.

 

[OGputtnfool]

Yep, 265y to the 3rd fairway and 210y to the green. I'm going driver, 5wd to be on or around the green in two. Give me the first tee time of the day and I won't have to worry about hitting anyone in the 3rd fairway.

 

[RealPretendPsychic]

That might be the play.

If you’re in the wrong fairway here it’s a lucky miss, but I’m a purist and refuse do it intentionally. Plus there’s a decent chance I’d end up 2 holes over and that is not where you want to be.

 

[greenOak]

I still think I'd hit driver on this hole. I've mapped out a 100-yard wide landing zone 290 yards from the tee (based on your yardage I think I have the correct tees). Not sure what your exact dispersion is, but as a fellow long and wild driver, even I'm keeping it within this range 95% of the time. Hitting it in the trees can suck, but it shouldn't be a penalty stroke, and you should be able to make 6 from the trees more often than not. Bogey is not going to hurt us mid-handicappers.

3 wood is honestly not appealing on this hole, as it doesn't take any trouble out of play. The other way I'd consider playing this hole is to hit it ~220 off the tee which takes the OB right out of play, then hit it 200 over the bunker on the left hand side of the layup zone leaving a wedge into the green. Having said that, I'm not too thrilled about this either as I know I could just as easily hit it into the trees on my tee shot or the bunker on my layup.

Also the other fairway is probably the best play, but I don't feel comfortable aiming at adjacent fairways - especially with other groups playing.

 

[Daddio]

I'm probably not the right guy to help you because I'm not long enough to ever go at that green in two. Good drives are usually 225-250. So for me that hole would just be a relatively easy routine par on most days. A couple irons and then a 9i in maybe? My birdies would be of the one putt variety.

 

[MWard]

I’d probably just aim at the edge of the trees and fade it back. 250 and in, hey let’s check the lie. If you play a draw though, that sure does bring in some risk if you miss. Might just be easier to go 3w, mid iron, flip wedge in

 

[Turtlerancher]

Driver far enough to clear the corner, 5 wood to the lay up area then a wedge on and one putt for birdie.

Exact clubs and play for me except I 2 putt for par.

 

[Jeff Spicoli]

If you have a 7i into the green, your 3w should still leave you with a 4 or 5 iron, maybe a hybrid or FW, right?

 

[chile]

in my head, i see: driver > 3H > LW...and then a wonderful, soul killing 2 putt.

 

[RealPretendPsychic]

If you have a 7i into the green, your 3w should still leave you with a 4 or 5 iron, maybe a hybrid or FW, right?

Yea, but the challenging part is that the hole plays downhill and it’s almost entirely carry to the green because they let the native area around the creek go wild. So for me it’s challenging to carry and hold the green and you can’t be long or you’re OB.

 

[RealPretendPsychic]

Far too much talk of 2 putts here! If I’m in range (260 & in) and I’m aiming for the pin, I just assume it’s going in. Just like my forecasting process in the working world. It’s always 100% right until the actuals come in

 

[OldandStiff]

If I had your length I'd be hitting driver. 310 leaves you a good a 50-60 yards from the edge of the left tree to OB right. Your landing really isn't any bigger going to 3W because left will be blocked by the tree back there on your 2nd. If you go long and end up in the left trees, you should be able to punch out to a fair approach distance over the creek. Same if the annoying little tree on the right gets in the way. You can get yourself into an easy 3rd shot approach almost every time. Only smart plays I see are to bomb it or go all the way back to a 240 club off the tee, and make it a guaranteed 3 shot hole with easy flights and landings even if something goes wrong with one of them.

 

[blueonblack]

So I don't have to use the correct fairway and its short.
Nemesis what???? Just be kind to approaching golfers.

 

[RealPretendPsychic]

Found a shot I took from the red tees, which have a much better angle than the white tees. The white and blue tees are all the way at the bottom right of the picture in the OP. The rightmost tree on the left side of the photo below is what I aim over. That’s the ideal line on a typical (yet exceedingly rare) straight drive. Unfortunately, when I miss left here it’s usually a snap hook. I don’t have the flight to put it over these pines with any consistency and don’t see it as any better of a risk reward shot than attempting to hit the correct fairway.

 

[blueonblack]

Looks like a 3 shot hole, then.
What's your launch angle? Tree doesn't look that high.

 

[greenOak]

A couple questions you need to ask yourself:

How often do you keep it between the trees with driver?
How often would you keep it between the trees if you played for 220-240 off the tee?

 

[GoldenBuff]

Creek in front of green. I would play backwards looking for 75-100 wedge in. In that thinking 250ish off the tee and an easy iron to the layup area. If I catch a solid ball with some roll (downhill?), I might take a swing for the green. But overall I would be happy to give myself a birdie chance with a wedge in hand.