Badly designed holes?

[BrizoH71]

Can't remember the hole number, but there is a hole at Murrayshall, a mid-range par-4 that I think could have been better designed.

The green sits amid trees on either side of the green, and a steep bank runs along the left of the hole for a lot of its length. The green is slightly elevated and there is a pond to the front. You have to play over the pond, between a small gap in the trees to get to the green. Go down the left, and you're playing a toughie off the steep side of a hill.

From the tee, it looks like you need to go slightly right of centre to get the line, but I found that a drive right of centre, and you're more or less blocked out of hitting the green in 2. I played 3w down the right side, straight as a die, thinking I'd put myself in a decent position. Got to my ball and, still on the fairway, found my only option was to play my second sideways to give myself a line. Otherwise I'd have had to have thrown a 60 up over the trees with around 80 yards carry.

It may well be in actual fact a brilliantly designed hole, but I thought it was a crazy hole that unfairly punished a good drive, so my perception may be skewed.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I think the par 3 at Temple (10th???) is a poor hole. Green is sunk out of sight with a bunker you can't see and plays over 230 yards. Nothing to aim at but a marker pole

 

[NWJocko]

no way. that hole is a stroke of genius. you can even pull it left and hit down over the top of the hill with something like a 3 wood. I could play that hole all day. granted you need some luck when you roll down the hill, but it seemed to feed to an area where you would get a decent look at the green.

Each to their own Gary, seemed a bit Mickey Mouse to me.....

Nice course other than that.

 

[bozza]

Theres a course local to us called Norton that has a stupid par 4, that must be around 420yards, but the fairway slopes really bad left to right and slightly uphill, you have to hit towards a tree and bunker on the left where you get anychance of a slightly level lie that must be a good 230 to reach. Which leaves just shy of 200 yards to a small green that has 3 big tiers from left to right also, oh and anything right or long on your 2nd shot is dead.

 

[garyinderry]

Each to their own Gary, seemed a bit Mickey Mouse to me.....

Nice course other than that.

it does have a touch of the "Mario golf" for the Nintendo 64 about it! that's probably why I loved it!!

 

[ScienceBoy]

The short par 4 at Remedy Oak is poorly designed in my opinion. Huge lake short of the green, but unless you can hit it like Swinger, it is a seven iron, wedge. Would have made a cracking longer par four, driver, mid iron, or a lovely medium length par 3.

I would love to play more short par 4s that are mid iron, wedges with a real tempting green. It sounds more inventive than poorly designed.

 

[John_R7]

There is a Par 5 at Murrayshall (back nine somewhere I think) that is a 90* dog leg.
If I remember the tee shot is vastly down hill then a right hand 90* turn. I am sure I hit 8 iron from the tee and run out of fairway. If you knew the hole and played a lot i am sure you could cut the corner and have an easy(ish) second to the green. There was some type of warning (or forbidden?) about cutting the corner as it was over the fairway of a previous hole. Naturally it is marked as internal OOB.
Very strange hole - short iron, wood, wedge, putt.

 

[Ethan]

The short par 4 at Remedy Oak is poorly designed in my opinion. Huge lake short of the green, but unless you can hit it like Swinger, it is a seven iron, wedge. Would have made a cracking longer par four, driver, mid iron, or a lovely medium length par 3.

Agreed. It is a hole squeezed into the land left over after designing some others. It doesn't offer a realistic choice to most golfers.

Not a fan of the par-5 2nd either. Strong par-5 playing right to left and down a hill, with water in front of the green. But the water is too close to the green, so almost everyone plays short, and it negates the benefit of a good drive. The hole would have been better with the water further away from the green and an apron for a more aggressive second shot.

Pity, because there is much to like with the rest of the course.

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

Agreed. It is a hole squeezed into the land left over after designing some others. It doesn't offer a realistic choice to most golfers.

Not a fan of the par-5 2nd either. Strong par-5 playing right to left and down a hill, with water in front of the green. But the water is too close to the green, so almost everyone plays short, and it negates the benefit of a good drive. The hole would have been better with the water further away from the green and an apron for a more aggressive second shot.

Pity, because there is much to like with the rest of the course.

This is a hole that might play better as a long par 4 with the tee moved forward and retaining the par 5 purple tee.

Agree about the 8th, off the back tee it is 7I then wedge, you can only go for the green off the front tee.

 

[BrizoH71]

There is a Par 5 at Murrayshall (back nine somewhere I think) that is a 90* dog leg.
If I remember the tee shot is vastly down hill then a right hand 90* turn. I am sure I hit 8 iron from the tee and run out of fairway. If you knew the hole and played a lot i am sure you could cut the corner and have an easy(ish) second to the green. There was some type of warning (or forbidden?) about cutting the corner as it was over the fairway of a previous hole. Naturally it is marked as internal OOB.
Very strange hole - short iron, wood, wedge, putt.

I think that is the 9th hole.. you can't cut the corner as you carry directly over the 10th green, which is the one I was talking about.

 

[chris661]

The 9th at lough erne. Stupid par 5 that plays something like driver, 8-9 iron then 5 iron (although not the last time I played it ). Ruins an otherwise great course for me.

 

[talksalot81]

8th on Malone (Belfast) Edenderry course. It is a fair enough par 5, up the hill. You can get up with 2 good shots but the green is elevated with a big bank behind. The trouble is that the green slopes back to front very significantly and there is no flat area. It it hard to come up just short or the hole because it will tend to run back down the steep green and steeper slope up to it - come up 5 yards short and you could find yourself 60 yards away during the summer. If you are long, the grass is long enough that the ball will stick and it is a 1 in 10 to keep the ball on the green at that stage. Even if you get pin high, from 20 feet you could have a 10 foot break on the putt. If you are any distance away, you have to give it so much that you can easily putt off the green.

 

[Foxholer]

I think that is the 9th hole.. you can't cut the corner as you carry directly over the 10th green, which is the one I was talking about.

This might be the one that you can see on your left as you drive in. A group of us were meant to play there a while ago, but it was deemed too wet - from rain the couple of days before, though I'd happily played 9 at Craigielaw that morning. A free lunch and gratus round on Blairgowrie Lansdowne seemed to be a bargain!

Kings Acre has a marmite one too that seems a bit similar (15) - that causes quite a bottleneck at the wrong end of a round.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

Theres 2 local to me that spring to mind (albeit given some thinking time ill porbably add more later!)

The first is the 17th at Leighton Buzzard. Utterly rediculous par 4 of about 230 yards, and about 5 yards wide at the neck of the green, left is a ditch/bushes and everything runs to the right which is down a hill and then out of bounds. If I played a medal there I expect I would hit a knock down gap wedge off the tee to try and leave a 100 yard pitch into the green. Utterly horrible.

The other is the final hole on the blue course at Whittlebury Park. Its a par 4 dogleg around a copse of trees. You actually hit down to the corner, past the level of the green, then are supposed to pitch back on yourself to the green. Green and tee seem only about 200 yards apart but they ask you not to try and fire over the trees (which would be tough to clear), mainly because they have built a big conservatory behind the green lol

The 17th is a proper risk/reward finishing hole. You can either play 9 then SW or go for the green through a tight gap. Even playing it safe is tough because of the OOB. Think its part of a great set of finishing holes that could easily wreck your card. Can't understand why it's horrible because it's tight ?

 

[Jumboross]

The 12th @ The Addington

In contrast, the 13th is one of the finest golf holes I've ever played.

I was a member there years ago. Such a frustrating hole. In the end I just used to take five iron off the tee hoping to get a flat lie for the second - quite unusual/silly on a par five. I can't tell you the amount of 'perfect' drives I hit over the hill to never see the ball again. I heard the new regime cleared out a lot of the gorse on the 12th fairway though?

It was annoying, but with so many other great holes (agreed on 13 by the way) it was a pleasure to play - and I could take the dog round which was great for me and him - don't see that at many clubs these days - Sunningdale excepted. Happy days....

 

[srixon 1]

Yes, I never know how to play the 7th at Broadstone. And the whole of Wareham, I just don't like that place. The 17th at Yeovil is odd too.

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

The 17th at Yeovil is odd too.

That's the short dogleg where you can launch one over the trees straight at the green? Yeah, bit of a marmite hole