Gimmicky Hole Designs
- Moderator
- #2
Long holes with small, unreceptive greens. If you do it on a par 5, that's up to the golfer if they want to risk it. However, par 3's and 4's where you have hybrids or fairway woods into? Come on now.
We play a hole that claims it is 320 yards but it has a 90 degree dogleg left. There are two trees that guard each corner of the dogleg that leaves you about an 8 yard landing area to have an unobstructed shot to a green the size of a postage stamp. I hate it! It's only two short irons but they better be precise!
A double dogleg par 5 with a giant tree in the fairway at 170 yards with a creek in front of a shallow green.
kc720
Active member
A 600 yd par 5 that you cannot hit driver on. Welcome to my home course #1. No chance in hell of getting on in two unless you can carry the ball 360 due to a hazard.
tpluff
I <3 GAWLF
Par 5 forced layups off the tee are annoying. And gimmicky. Then having to carry said hazard 150 while threading bunkers and trees and the like.
What's odd, most of the par 5s at my home course are awfully unreachable in two. I do think long holes with forced layups on the tee are gimmicky. 3 shot par 5s, not gimmicky without further examination.
kc720
Active member
Yes it is... then #14 at my course is almost as bad. 580 yd par 5. First, have no idea where to hit to unless you are told the first time. Then there's a bunker at about 240 and behind it the fw severely narrows and slopes hard left. To get a tee ball in play behind the bunker requires a 270 carry and hitting about a 10 yds wide fw. But to hit that, you need to land the ball about 30 yds right where it will kick left. I've hit that tee shot so many times and thought it was perfect and got the eject left down into hazard... so now I hit 3i, 7i and wedge every time
kc720
Active member
I don't mind holes that are really risk/reward. I just don't like holes where I don't have the choice
245 yd par 3 with a postage stamp size green and trees lining both sides of the hole. The chute is probably 15 yds off the tee with trees overhang the right side. The only shot shape that works is straight. Just a brutal hole, last year in our city tourney there were more others than pars.
Par 5s where your first shot is a forced layup are gimmicky.
bigskyirish
Well-known member
Lots of people have mentioned long holes with forced lay ups off the tee. I totally agree, but just as bad to me are shortish par 4s with forced lay ups off the tee. I'm just fine if you want to protect a short par 4 by making the tee shot tough, but there has to be some risk reward. If my only option is 7-iron, 7-iron, I'll judge the hole gimmicky every time.
Thechosen1
#Thistagwilltravel
One of my biggest pet peeves in golf
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Ummm which hole is that again at Brandywine?
You know your favorite hole in Ohio?
Pw, Pw, Pw, 7iron into green?
I've only played a few of them, but extra ordinary elevation drops, there's a par 3 at Honey Creek we played for an Iowa event, such a drastic drop off, seemed unnecessary.
mski
Active member
A gimmicky hole is one that is a design mistake. Like the designer just stuck it in there because he ran out of room or ended up with 17 holes holes then figured he'd put this stupid hole somewhere to give him 18 holes.
I would agree with this, there is a course around here that has a Par 3 that the drop off is so steep you can't see the green from the tee box, any of the sets of tees.
The same course has a par 6 that is super gimmicky as well.
Par 5's where I'm forced to hit iron off the tee. This hole comes to mind although the picture doesn't tell the story. A 571 yard double dogleg par 5 that really requires a 210 yard tee shot perfectly placed to set you up for a much longer and tighter 2nd shot. The second shot requires that you hit a 20 yard cut with a 3 or 4 wood to stay in play or layup for a 175 yard approach. I hate this par 5 more than any other I've played and it's not close.
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What course has that par 3? That's terrible.
- Thread starter
- Moderator
- #22
haha that is a prime example of a gimmicky hole.
TheHeez
Well-known member
I've played a few that were bordering on ridiculous, but I kind of like them. It's fun trying to work out the yardage and sending one out there with a hope and a prayer.
There's a par 3 at Crystal Springs in north Jersey that drops 80 feet into a quarry that is a fun tee shot. Green-to-tee view in this article: http://www.njherald.com/story/28933932/crystal-springs-hole-no-11-is-beautifully-deceptive
Green view (flag is in the back left section of the bowtie green; it's 2 clubs less to the right side of the green and 1 less to the back left):
Lake Chabot. I think it was 180 yards from the blue tee, you had a to pick a tree past the green to aim at. I don't think it played more that 145 yards.