Have you a Nemesis hole at your club?

[RGDave]

Hmm.

I have all sorts of strategies for some of the holes on the courses I play regularly.

There is one "18th" which is a tough hole, not surprising, as it has been an Open qualifying course (not any more?) and/or hosts lower-level pro tournaments.

If there was a run down on masterscoreboard for my results on this hole (it's a par 4) it would read something like 5,5,5,4,5,5,4,5,5,5,5,4 - you get the idea.

I hit a 3 wood down the left, a 4 iron short of the cross bunker and wedge it onto the green. Can't ever remember 3 putting and now and again 1 putt.

It's not rocket science but it is boring.

t.b.h. I trying to stop playing this way.
1) it's boring, zombie golf
2) I don't get much (any) handicap movement
3) I'll win nothing. Zero.

Would I play safe to protect a 1 under position? No.
Would I go for it to score 38 or 39 points? Yes.

Risk and reward. Next time, look at where your score is and choose.

If it's getting you too badly too often, develop a strategy.

Our 6th is a beast, quite often nobody in the whole field pars it.

4i, 4i, wedge every time. Make 6 at worst. Better than an 8.

 

[G1BB0]

I have a few on my course but at the same token I have parred them all before also. Its my consistency that is at fault not the way I play the hole so I keep playing it as I see it each time.

I could play reserved and take iron/hybrid off the tee but whats to stop me duffing the 2nd?

By all means lessen the risk but still try and make a score :thup:

 

[Bucket92]

2 holes I usually mess up. Our 2nd; dogleg right, tight fairway, OOB on the left (not good for my hook) huge trees on the right, narrow green. And the 4th; 230 yard downhill par 3, can't remember the last time I parred it!

 

[richart]

4 and 5 at my Club. Get through those two holes without too much damage, and whilst the remaining holes are not easy, they don't hold the same fears.

 

[patricks148]

The 16th at Nairn i find the toughest at the moment, but it can ll depend on the wind.

its a 425 off the white with a blind tee shot. with thich heather and rough in the leftand gorse on the right anything other than the fairway is mostly lost.
There is also a burn short of the green some 30 yards short of the green with 3 pot bunkers just the other side.

Now if its down wind not a problem, but this year we have had an east wind which is not the prevailing wind. its been playing very long.

last week, it was drive a 3 wood just to get over the burn and anything thats low and bounces over is straight in the bunkers.

Down wind its a not too bad hole. its almost a birdie chance if you find the fairway. into the wind its a whole other story.

On saturday drive 7 iron 2 putt par, down wind.

 

[ScienceBoy]

This for me is clever SB......Iv noticed also that there are some holes that you can make bogie on and sometimes like you say an infrequent par.....

I am a big advocate for laying up on long or tight par 4s. Much safer to just keep it on the short stuff twice than hit two high risk shots.

It doesnt always go to plan and when that happens you do get the feeling "if only I had taken a risk...". I usually combat this with the fact I would rather have a bad hole and get a 6 than have the same bad swings with other clubs and get an 8!

I got out the habit of playing percentage golf when my ball striking got quite good in the middle of last year, it only lasted for about 5 weeks and when I lost a bit of form my rounds crumbled. I should have gone back to my old habits but I was a little too macho. Plus I lost my job, you all know that story.

Now when I go out on a course I also forget to play percentage golf, mostly because I want to have fun and try the risk, whats the fun in paying £30 for a round and then bunting mid irons down the middle on a par 4? I want to have a go and squeeze every penny out the round!

When I am a club member playing frequently again I will go back, just not yet though

 

[DaveM]

If you think a hole is your "Nemesis" that hole will be your "Nemesis". Clear your mind. There are "NO" problems on those holes. Go for it.

 

[Birchy]

Ive started using a low punch/stinger/punt/bunt off the tee whenever i have bad thoughts about a hole and it has worked well on any trouble holes. I still usually find another way to wreck my card but i feel like im giving myself a better chance to put in a good score. Ive had mostly buffers recently so it has helped a bit.

Another thing i did when playing a practice round on my own is have two different tactics for each hole and play two balls one with each tactic. It opened my eyes to a few things i could do to keep a lid on running up big scores.

 

[patricks148]

its not just me at 16 either.

On saturday i watched the group in front of me who where two 4 handicaps and a 2 handicap hit 8 balls between them off the tee

 

[HawkeyeMS]

The nemesis is your head, not the hole. If you believe you're gonna mess it up you probably will.

We have some holes that are tough off the tee and more often than not you find yourself blocked out by a tree unless your tee shot is perfect. As Homer said, the key is to not compound your mistake, take every shot as it comes

 

[kid2]

The nemesis is your head, not the hole. If you believe you're gonna mess it up you probably will.

We have some holes that are tough off the tee and more often than not you find yourself blocked out by a tree unless your tee shot is perfect. As Homer said, the key is to not compound your mistake, take every shot as it comes

The problem with me is that my confidence was up standing on this tee Hawkeye....
And when its high i look at the shot i want to hit and just swing....
More often than not it works but there's always the exception......

 

[HawkeyeMS]

The problem with me is that my confidence was up standing on this tee Hawkeye....
And when its high i look at the shot i want to hit and just swing....
More often than not it works but there's always the exception......

If driver is the right club and the club you are confident with, hit it. If you're under handicap on the 18th tee and you're thinking about trouble chances are you're getting a bit tight. I would say you need to take a couple of slow deep breaths before you address the ball, then once you've addressed it and are ready to swing, completely relax your grip. You will probably feel the tension in your forearms relax. Grip the club again, making sure your forearms don't tense up. Then hit it.

It's not foolproof by any means but it should help. All I have to do is remember to do this myself

 

[hackerjack99]

For me it's the long par four seventeenth. Lay up before driving bunkers and don't make the dogleg so unless i make a blind 200 yard carry i have to play it as a three shotter. I can never manage to get up and down after 2 and still struggle to make a 5.