How Would You Play this hole?? (Hole 1 - Scarborough North Cliff, England)

[Royster1984]

I am playing in a rabbits (16-28 handicap) event tomorrow and the course we are playing at has an easy first hole, The hole itself is a straight forward very short par 4, there is out of bounds on right and 20 yards off back of green, the rough is not too bad and the only bunker which is a pain is the one at 188 yards. The tee box is down in elevation around 15-20 ft so cant see the green from the tee box and on the right of the hole is the beach and sea line.

normally I just hit a 6i off the tee and play it as a short par 4. Now this works fine but after reading through the other "how would you play it?" threads I am trying to look at my game a little different. On the other thread somebody mention if it was labelled as a par 3 people would go for green every time without thinking and hes dead right. So ignoring that this is a par 4 and thinking its a long reachable par 3 I would be hitting my driver going for green every time, still not sure if its the correct way to play it.

My Club Yardages

Driver - 240-250

3W - 220-225

3H - 195

4i - 185

5i - 175

6i - 165

7i - 155

8i - 140

9i - 130

PW - 120

52d - 100

58d - 80

[boogielicious]

I hit my driver about 220 at most on an uphill like this.  I would aim for the center of the fairway to the right of the 220 bunker.  We have a hole similar to this at my league course but a dogleg left instead.  I used to do six iron, but now do driver.  It is about 235 to the green front edge, so I don't make it, but I get close.  I have parred or birdied the hole the last four times with this approach.

How far do you hit your driver @Royster1984 ?

[Strandly]

3 wood up the right side of the fairway and then a wedge from there.

[Royster1984]

I hit my driver about 220 at most on an uphill like this.  I would aim for the center of the fairway to the right of the 220 bunker.  We have a hole similar to this at my league course but a dogleg left instead.  I used to do six iron, but now do driver.  It is about 235 to the green front edge, so I don't make it, but I get close.  I have parred or birdied the hole the last four times with this approach.

How far do you hit your driver @Royster1984?

My driver distance is a little in-consistent but I would say on average when I hit it decent it will go around 250'ish. We have a short par 4 at my home course 270 and I have drove the green a few times and had a couple go long off the back when down wind.

[jakepalm]

I would probably take out the hybrid and shoot up the right side. If I get a good bounce and roll, I would assume that I would be able to use a wedge and just chip it up to the green. If not, I would use my 4i off the tee and then just use an 8i or 9i to get to the green. Its a good looking hole.

[dchoye]

I generally don't like taking my driver out on the 1st hole as I need a few holes to warm out and feel if my swing is working well Frankly OB right scares me and ruins me whole round if I in there on the 1st hole So no I would not take a driver out unless I'm confident The hole dogleg right makes me want to fade so I really don't like the look of the hole with OB right cause I generally like to play away from trouble aka hook on a OB right hole I play safe on the first hole play 5 wood or long iron and over the corner Have an easy wedge to the pin Make birdie that way

[iacas]

If you can consistently carry your driver 220, hit it at the green.

If you can't, aim left of the bunker at 220 enough to take it out of play, and swing away.

[Royster1984]

If you can consistently carry your driver 220, hit it at the green.

If you can't, aim left of the bunker at 220 enough to take it out of play, and swing away.

Sounds good to me captain, i'm bombing the driver its stableford format so is not so bad if i goes too wrong.

[mvmac]

For sure hit driver at the green, slightly favor the left side.

[Royster1984]

For sure hit driver at the green, slightly favor the left side.

Yeah going to aim my drive over the centre of the bunker at 188, my bad shots are either a hook or a push so hopefully should be alright, will let you all know how I get on in the comp tomorrow hopefully will rewards me with some decent points :D

[Golfingdad]

I am playing in a rabbits (16-28 handicap) event tomorrow and the course we are playing at has an easy first hole, The hole itself is a straight forward very short par 4, there is out of bounds on right and 20 yards off back of green, the rough is not too bad and the only bunker which is a pain is the one at 188 yards. The tee box is down in elevation around 15-20 ft so cant see the green from the tee box and on the right of the hole is the beach and sea line.

normally I just hit a 6i off the tee and play it as a short par 4. Now this works fine but after reading through the other "how would you play it?" threads I am trying to look at my game a little different. On the other thread somebody mention if it was labelled as a par 3 people would go for green every time without thinking and hes dead right. So ignoring that this is a par 4 and thinking its a long reachable par 3 I would be hitting my driver going for green every time, still not sure if its the correct way to play it.

My Club Yardages

Driver - 240-250

3W - 220-225

3H - 195

4i - 185

5i - 175

6i - 165

7i - 155

8i - 140

9i - 130

PW - 120

52d - 100

58d - 80

I don't know ... if you hit your driver 240-250, and this is uphill, then its going to be a little less than that, obviously.  If you know you can clear that 220 bunker every time, then it probably makes sense to go driver. But if not, is the extra 20 yards you are gaining over hitting, say, a 3 or 5 wood just short of that bunker worth the extra risk you are bringing in by hitting driver AND aiming closer to the OB??

[mdl]

Sounds good to me captain, i'm bombing the driver its stableford format so is not so bad if i goes too wrong.

I agree with Erik here.  I'd go for that green every time (I have a couple clubs I can carry 220).  But I especially agree in a Stableford scored tourney!  Increased risk from going OB trying with the driver is reduced by the cap for 0 points at double bogey.  Anything not OB with the driver is close to or on the green and you've got a great chance to go under par.

[Royster1984]

I don't know ... if you hit your driver 240-250, and this is uphill, then its going to be a little less than that, obviously.  If you know you can clear that 220 bunker every time, then it probably makes sense to go driver. But if not, is the extra 20 yards you are gaining over hitting, say, a 3 or 5 wood just short of that bunker worth the extra risk you are bringing in by hitting driver AND aiming closer to the OB??

I think as long as its not direct into wind I should be able to clear that 220 bunker more times than fail. If I duff it and ball does land around 220, the bunker is 15 yards wide so hopefully with my bad shots being a hook I should miss short left of it??

[mvmac]

Heck another reason to hit driver is that it's the first hole, might not get to warm up before you play, I'd rather hit the club with the largest, most forgiving head in the bag.

[flopster]

That OB on the right looks a good 30 yards right of the fairway and the grass on the right how closely mown is it? Looks like only little bushes and saplings in that area also. This hole is a big time green light for me I very rarely hit a slice and if I do it's more of a push fade about 15 yards to the right so I know that OB is nearly 100% out of play. Basically my aim will be the left edge of the left greenside bunker with a baby fade, if I hit it straight I'm ok with a chip over a bunker or bunker shot and if I do turn it over some there is a ton of room long and left. I almost wish I was playing a course like this for a month or so just to feel good about my game, the course I play slopes no lower than 131 and I'm ready for something a bit easier for a while. Honestly I kinda like 3 wood over driver because it will put me right on the front edge of the green with some roll out, driver may roll through sometimes. Just learned it is uphill so I guess driver could work.

[late347]

- the course looks like it's longer than it seems to be in reality... I hope those yards are accurate

- I hate being in difficult green bunkers though, it's just annoying if you're steep in the bunker, basically just close to the front lid, uphill lie.

-conservative play on a hole like this would be for me:

-teeshot hybrid carry over 188bunker fairway, wedge shot to middle of green (50yards), 2 putt for par.

- But then again, this hole is so short... the risks are pretty low, all indicators point to this. And considering that it's in tournament setting!

-my usual mishit is a hook, so I'd be in about left side rough - at the line of 220bunker

[Royster1984]

That OB on the right looks a good 30 yards right of the fairway and the grass on the right how closely mown is it?

OB is about 30 yards from centre of green on right and area on right is very playable not very punishing rough last few times I've played there.

- the course looks like it's longer than it seems to be in reality... I hope those yards are accurate

Yardages are taken from Google Earth so are quite accurate. Using middle of tee box as a datum.

[Royster1984]

Bloody event got suspended before I got chance to tee off then got cancelled :(