Long hole management.....

[RGuk]

There is a hole at my club which I just can't get near in 2. I'm feeling OK about it though, because there were 3 at my last club!
There are nasty trees on the driving distance encroaching on the fairway (right edge). So my plan is to play safe with a 5 wood and treat it like a par 5. At S.I. 1, I feel a 5 is a good result. BUT, but, BUT it's very uphill and if I hit another 5 wood, I seem to be left with 70-ish yards. This in itself is not scary normally except a) you can't see anything other than the flag b) if you are two foot short, the ball could roll back to your feet c) a bit long is gorse-ville Tennessee. So (bear with me), I'm thinking of playing 4? iron, 9 iron and try to leave a full wedge. (phew, this is like a shaggy dog story........) I think a full wedge takes the chance out of hitting a pitch.

Anyone know what I'm on about, is this crazy? should I go for therapy, or just hit driver, 3 wood and be prepared to hit double figures if it all goes wrong......made a 6 today, not done better yet.....it's making me

 

[thebelgie24]

There is 2 ways to deal with this prob of yours
1)try to plan hole,damage limitation if you like,play a safe game,walk away happy with a 5
2)grip it an rip it!driver then 3wood,if you dont push yourself you may never beat your voodoo!

 

[rgs]

the hole appears to have you struggling and i think you are right to consider playing it as a three shot to the green hole. On in three and two putts gives you 2 stapleford pts and no damage to the scorecard-or you could be on in three and sink the putt for a par and a bonus point.

 

[Golfer2112]

You should definitely treat this hole as a "three-blow job", i.e. it's gonna take three shots to get there.

 

[RGuk]

OK, so I'm not mad, and you are clearly supporting my strategy (in all seriousness). The problem is the 3rd shot....arghhh....messing with my head or what!

Not being able to see anything other than the top of the flag makes the pitch SO hard...also, the pitch lands like a 7 iron "runner" chip due to the uphill.

As it's all uphill for the last 140 yds, maybe I need to learn to hit a combination to about 90 yds out and then launch a full wedge with snow on it to stop the darn ball.

Reminds me (in a different way) of a par 5 hole at "The Vale" in Worcestershire. I played is as a 3 blow job (!) and left 100 yds to go. I hit a solid wedge, it (the ball)careered into some railway sleepers in front of the green (w.t.f. were they doing on a golf course?) and returned to my feet. Next one (9 iron) went over the back......

new rule....announced by GOD....all uphill holes MUST have 15 yds of flat before the putting surface....having a 30 degree slope 2 foot short of the pin is the work of Satan.

Dave

 

[Golfer2112]

Strategy for 3BJs: ensure that the third shot is a favourite: in my case this would either be a 100yd SW to the pin or a 20 yd pitch/run. Leaving a 60 yd shot would defeat the purpose of laying up and, in all likelihood, could lead to a six or more.

Dave, the 3rd shot does sound hard but try to say to yourself: "Ok, it's a 3BJ. If I play sensibly, it's a 5. If I play amazingly, it's a 4. if I play badly, it's a 6."

Damage limitation.

 

[Dave3498]

Sounds like avery interesting hole. Unless you are off scratch, you are expected to drop a shot there, so it must be considered as a par 5. Why not try lying futher back with your second shot and leave yourself a good full shot into the greeen, instead of a pitch, say 100 - 120 yards?

 

[viscount17]

Since I'm a beginner feel free to ignore this.

You say it's all uphill from 140 out. What's the view of the pin like from 140? How well can you hit from 140?

Sounds as much as it being a blind pin as it being the greenskeeper's revenge.

 

[RGuk]

Strategy for 3BJs: ensure that the third shot is a favourite: in my case this would either be a 100yd SW to the pin or a 20 yd pitch/run. Leaving a 60 yd shot would defeat the purpose of laying up and, in all likelihood, could lead to a six or more

Yep...agreed 100%. I'm thinking I might go down early one morning and hit 12 shots from around the 90-120 range. Because of the uphill stance and extra-lofted effect, it might be that 90 is actually a full PW and 120 an 8 (not a 9) etc.

I'm so with you on the 60 yd thing....it's fine if you can run it on (like most regular holes) but this is not a safe option.

Dave

 

[RGuk]

You say it's all uphill from 140 out. What's the view of the pin like from 140? How well can you hit from 140?

More of pin, maybe, 140 would be an 8 iron but probably as much as a 6 here. That would mean the ball landing on the green pretty horizontally. However, you might have something with this, a straighter faced club would still get on if the ball lands 10 yds short of the front.
I feel like I want to use the bank to help me rather than the low percentage landing areas of 5-10 yds. Damn the woods back down the fairway, on a 2BJ, a 3 wood second would scuttle on the front eagerly.

Dave