Courses with 'silly' holes

[User 105]

Only on that springs to mind is the 12th at Luton Hoo. 249 yard Par 3 to a small narrow green with a big slope on back to front. Big tree just right, bank and thick grass to the left.

Darn near impossible to drive, the 'sensible' play is to lay up 50 yards short and try to get up and down. Any par 3 that you need to lay up on is silly IMHO.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Rather than pick a specific hole, I'll just generalise with any hole that has the green adjacent to the plate glass windows of the club house, or is adjacent to the car park.

That'll be Royal Lytham & St Annes them..

 

[Gunny]

Not usually one to post (more of a viewer) but Horton Park in Epsom's 10th is a very tricky island green par 3, 180 (or something off the whites). They've got the pro playing it on their site. This hole can get more than a little 'silly' sometimes!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cA3CiThBxBM

 

[spongebob59]

Have to disagree with you, mate. Frustrating, yes. Testing, yes. But not silly. However, in the height of summer (haha) you can be really unlucky with the bounces even on a perfect drive, but still not sure they're "silly".

So whats the secret to playing them ?
I've never managed to find anything but the LHS rough on both holes.

 

[thecraw]

1st at Craigmillar Park.

16th at my course.

1st at Erskine

11th at Largs

Every hole at Port Bannatyne

Every hole at Blairmore & Strone

 

[GB72]

Have to agree with the comment about any hole without a decent distance between the back of the green and the clubhouse windows. I hate that shot and rarely hit it well, ironically normally the pressure causes me to thin it in the general direction of the windows anyway.

 

[Neil20]

Only on that springs to mind is the 12th at Luton Hoo. 249 yard Par 3 to a small narrow green with a big slope on back to front. Big tree just right, bank and thick grass to the left.

Darn near impossible to drive, the 'sensible' play is to lay up 50 yards short and try to get up and down. Any par 3 that you need to lay up on is silly IMHO.

Forgot about that one. It's not even possible to have a crack at it unless you're a superb golfer because there's so much trouble all over the place.

 

[User 105]

Forgot about that one. It's not even possible to have a crack at it unless you're a superb golfer because there's so much trouble all over the place.

Exactly. You have two shots. Perfect drive or short and straight. Anything else and you don't stand a dogs chance of even getting on in two.

 

[Khamelion]

That'll be Royal Lytham & St Annes them..

I was thinking of the two courses I play regularly, Westerhope and Whickham, especially Whickham 18th where a long drive might see you clear the burn, but if not you end up at the bottom of the hill with a blind(ish) shot to the green.

All well and good, but if you thin or go long on a shot, you'll need insurance, left or right and you're into the car park, long middle and your next shot has the potential to be from the bar.

Is your ball in someone's pint classed as a water hazzard?

 

[dufferman]

Stockley Pines near Heathrow Airport - 10th hole.

It's all on its own (5 min walk from 9th AND 11th) and it's about 1000ft in the air (great for plane spotters as you're well above Heathrow and see all the lovely planes coming and going ).

Firstly, because it's so high up, it's as dry as a bone. 6 iron off the tee goes (with bounce) 200 yards (for non pro me, 6 iron usually goes 160?).

Then, it's a U shape hole, so you can risk a 9 iron off the tee and aim over the (12ft raised) rough to be on for eagle. But the condition of the green is so diabolical nothing will hang on it, and if it does it'll be in a crater.

Good luck taking anything off the deck from the fairway, it's a mess!

 

[AmandaJR]

The 16th (I think it's 16) at Brampton Park. Called "Badgers Alley". Very narrow tee shot to corner and then not much to go at to the green either. Main gripe though is that, to protect the fairway, you have to tee up every shot - including small chips to the green!

 

[gripitripit]

Cromwell Course at Abbotsley. The 3rd and 12th share the same green. But the green is huge and if you are too long on your approach on the 3rd you could be left with a massive uphill putt. Roughly 140 ft long by 120ft wide at widest part.

 

[Paul_Stewart]

Not usually one to post (more of a viewer) but Horton Park in Epsom's 10th is a very tricky island green par 3, 180 (or something off the whites). They've got the pro playing it on their site. This hole can get more than a little 'silly' sometimes!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cA3CiThBxBM

Spot on - that hole is a bloody joke. If they shortened it to 120-130 yards, it would be a fantastic short signature hole. As it is, everyone there lays up. Then again, the whole course is crap and just a bunch of cow fields put together.

 

[Paul_Stewart]

Stockley Pines near Heathrow Airport - 10th hole.

It's all on its own (5 min walk from 9th AND 11th) and it's about 1000ft in the air (great for plane spotters as you're well above Heathrow and see all the lovely planes coming and going ).

Firstly, because it's so high up, it's as dry as a bone. 6 iron off the tee goes (with bounce) 200 yards (for non pro me, 6 iron usually goes 160?).

Then, it's a U shape hole, so you can risk a 9 iron off the tee and aim over the (12ft raised) rough to be on for eagle. But the condition of the green is so diabolical nothing will hang on it, and if it does it'll be in a crater.

Good luck taking anything off the deck from the fairway, it's a mess!

That place used to be a great course. Then they destroyed three of the best holes, 1st, 9th and 18th, to make a dreadful driving range and ruined it. And that 10th hole is just pathetic. The only thing missing are a bunch of pikeys with their caravans on the "fairway".

 

[User20205]

I can name a few;

the 10th at Walmer & Kingsdown, downhill 300yard ish down hill. No matter what club you hit, from 6 iron-driver, because of the camber of the fairway all the balls collect in a 20 yard area in the rough, short and left of the green.

the 10 and 18th at Woodlands Manor, a par 3 straight up hill at the start of the back 9 and a par 3 straight down hill to end it. Just a couple of filler holes !

Also unfortunately, as I love the rest of the course, the 8th at Remedy Oak. A risk reward hole, with no risk. Has anyone ever tried to carry the water? its a 7 iron/wedge

 

[stevek1969]

That par 5 at Murrayshall that you hit 8 iron off...........stop the thread we have a winner.

Then again there is the 6th at the Bamburgh.

That hole is a joke at Murrayshall i've played it once and never again and i played well to, totally stupid imo.

 

[Bratty]

So whats the secret to playing them ?
I've never managed to find anything but the LHS rough on both holes.

It all depends on how far you hit the ball, but:

6th: The turn is 200 yards away off the white plates, so the shot is a nice fade, which should hold the fairway, but only if you judge the distance right. I would say you want to be fading the ball around 5 yards to the left of the tree as it's reaching it.

17th: The 150 marker is approx 240 yards off the white plates. I take anything from a 5 iron to a 3 wood to get me in or around it, but ideally still on the fairway. Yes, it's tight, but golf shouldn't be too easy, right? From there, it's a case of fading a shot about 10 yards short and right of the green, as everything slopes left and away and downhill.

Now both shots may not always come off (and don't I know it), but generally, that's the way to aim to play them.

Hope that helps?! )

 

[Imurg]

Yucky little 9-holer around here (No names mentioned "Ivinghoe" - damn...)

Wonderful little course - not

The First hole is a par 4 over a crest. You can't see the green but it's within driving distance because once you get over the crest it's like falling off a mountain.....
You need someone to walk 150 odd yards to the crest to see if it's clear - they then run the gauntlet of the rest of their group's drives to get back and hit theirs..

The 2nd is a Dog-leg par3.............
The green is tucked behind a corner of the adjacent field.........

Need I go on....?

 

[Kurt92]

Concord golf club has a 190-200y par 3 up the biggest hill I've ever seen. It's a major incline and I've only hit the green once with 3w.

 

[C&R]

Have to disagree with you, mate. Frustrating, yes. Testing, yes. But not silly. However, in the height of summer (haha) you can be really unlucky with the bounces even on a perfect drive, but still not sure they're "silly".

The most ridiculous hole in Kent is 14th on the Spitfire at West Malling. Ditch about 180 yards away, thick rough either side of a 15 yard-wide fairway. Massive tree on left about 220 distance, massive tree on right about 260 distance. If you hit a good drive down the very middle, you then have a huge slope to get up - it's got to be 50 foot minimum to a green with bunkers, bumps and hollows surrounding it.

i agree 100%