What's the most daring shot you ever pulled off?

[bernie]

We've all been there... trees, wrong fairway... bushes. "Going for it" is tough when all you really have to do is make a chip shot back to the fairway. But for some of us the temptation to go for it is too strong. Too often we say "Oh! all I had to do was chip out!" Now I'm in the water, bushes, or hit a tree in front of me and the ball wound up 35 yards behind me.

Mine was about two months ago. I was in the trees on the right with no shot except to "slice" one around the trees and hope for the best. I did it and wound up a few feet from the green and parred the hole.

So how about you?

What's the most daring shot you ever pulled off?

[DrvFrShow]

10th hole. I pulled my tee shot just off the fairway into some trees. I'm really tired of chipping out onto the fairway. I didn't have that great of  a front 9, and if I'd shot a sub 40 front 9 I'd not have tried this shot - I would have played it more conservatively. But what the hell. When you're playing 90s golf you suck anyway. Challenge the hole!

I can't hit a fade on command with my irons but I know  how to  hook. I took out my 8 iron and aimed for the trees on the other side of the fairway. Took a strong grip. Played the ball back, clubface square to the green and let it rip. A lowish banana shaped shot came out that I didn't even see land on the green and stop 18 feet above the hole. Putted it in for my eagle.

[SavvySwede]

You want daring? Try hitting off of rocky dirt with a brand new wedge.

[newtogolf]

Par 3, 180 yards, hit my 4 hybrid off the tee and sliced it way off the green onto the left bank of a pond perpendicular to the flag.  There was so little room to stand without my feet being in the water I had to establish a stance that had my shoulders pointing towards 1:00 even though the flag was at 12:00.  To make things worse I was short sided with very little green to work with.

I knew to get the ball near the flag I'd have to really open up the club face and create a lot of backspin.  I hit under the ball perfectly, the ball flew over the pond, hit the flag stick about 2" off the ground and thanks to all the backspin dropped into the hole for a birdie.

I probably could hit that same shot 1000 times and not get that result again but I was really only hoping to get the ball within 6' of the flag and was happy that overall I had the right idea.

[Patch]

With the words "pulled off" in the question I would have to say hitting my driver off the fairway. I very seldom have the opportunity to try this shot, but if the conditions are right, I will give it try. Usually when  I need something longer than my 3 wood. with clear sailing in front of me. A downhill run is also a plus.  I set up a little left of my target with the ball back where my 3 wood ball would be. After that I just haul off, and clobber the ball. If I hit it just right, my ball will fade to the right close to my intended target. I am usually left with a decent chip/putt to the hole about 30% of the time. 50% of the time I should have left the driver in the bag. The other 20% is not too good, but playable.

The only "daring"  shot I am pretty good at is fading/slicing the ball around an obstacle. I can pull that shot off most of the time.

[Mr. Desmond]

Par 3, Greenside Bunker, Lake on other side of green, one foot in rough, one foot in bunker, ball far below my feet. About 20 feet to hole from bunker.

Holed it...

[vangator]

I've told this story before, but it's the luckiest / greatest shot I've ever done in over 40 years of golf. It was back in the 70's and I sucked pretty bad. I hit my usual banana ball off the tee deep into the woods. I'm probably 30 feet in. I can chip out sideways or I could shoot the ball between a small gap in the trees further down the fairway. I could even see the green. I'm 180 yards out anyway. I said what the hell. It was the 18th hole (at Blueberry Hill). I whale on the ball with a 3 iron with my usual banana ball. After it emerges from the tree, it takes a HARD right. The guy I was with (the best golfer I've ever known), says "nice shot, it's heading for the green. It's on the green. It's in the hole!" I'm still trying to claw my way out of the trees. I never saw the ball until I picked it out of the hole. My first eagle. I couldn't reproduce that shot in a billion tries.

[Pretzel]

I have a couple that stick out in my mind:

The first was in a tournament and I had a pretty good round going at that point (I was -2 for 7 holes at that point), but I hit a wedge fat on a par 3 and ended up with my ball in the water. It embedded itself in the mud such that it was about halfway buried and the top of the ball just peeked out of the water. I knew though that I could at least hit the ball out of the hazard to get it in a better position than if I dropped (a drop would have put me back on the other side of the lake). I removed both shoes and rolled my pants up to my thighs before stepping in and giving it a smack. I never saw it in motion since I had my eyes completely closed to avoid the splash, but it ended up on the green and about five feet from the hole. I made the putt, and it ended up leading to the best tournament round I ever played (I ended up at -3 for a 69).

The second was another tournament shot. I hit a poor tee shot on a par 5, hitting it way off the toe and losing massive distance, but somehow managed to find the fairway. I was left with about 280 yards (my drive only went 260) to the flag in the back-center of the green. The green itself had a bunker guarding the right side from the front, and the only way to run a ball in was on the left side. I was down in the tournament, something like four or five over at the time, and I had been hitting driver off the deck at the range for fun earlier in the week with surprisingly good results. The looks from my playing partners when I waited for the green to clear, driver in hand, were priceless and I had one person on the tee behind us yell at me because he thought I wasn't going to come close. Stepped up to play a fade (the only shot shape I can hit with driver off the deck since it adds some loft), which fit nicely with how the green was bunkered, and ended up rolling the ball onto the front of the green. It got me a congratulations from my playing partners and a nice birdie to boot, along with the ability to rub it in to the people behind us that I made the green.

The last shot that sticks out in my mind actually came on the hole directly following the second shot I mentioned. I again toe-hooked my driver, but this time it ended up in some thick trees. Pitching back out into the fairway was equally risky when compared to attempting to advance the ball towards the green, and I had a small (probably 5' square) gap in the trees about 20 yards away from me and 4 yards above the ground. There was a lake to the right side of the fairway, so hitting it directly through the gap with a straight shot would end up wet, but I am pretty good at hooking the ball. I ended up hitting a 5-iron through the gap that hooked onto the front of the green, allowing me to save par. Unfortunately that was where my luck for the round ended, but at least I got two memorable shots in.

[phillyk]

Mine was in NY at some course in the hills.  Sharp dog leg to the left, carry about 280yds to the green through the trees.  There was one tiny opening maybe 5yds wide at most through the top of the trees.  And I mean the top of the trees, like you have to hit the ball high and get it going quick!  I did exactly that, and the ball was on the fringe of the green when we got up there eventually.  This was several years ago, so my memory of it is going away a bit. It was fun to see.

[bernie]

It's so exciting when you can actually pull it off!!

[Gator Hazard]

I am still a new golfer but mine would probably have been on #6 at Northdale, a par four where I "faded" my ball into the rough and behind a patch of trees.  I could either hit the ball sideways back into the green or I could try and put the ball between two branches and go for the green which was about 80 yards away.  Foolishly I went for option #2 and I pulled it off, some guy out cutting his lawn said "Nice Shot!" and I told him I was actually aiming for the gap between the branches on the right hand side, not the left but I will take it.  Ball ended up about 25 feet from the pin but it was on the green and I made par.

[Brakkus]

The shots that generally stick out are those from range that as a higher handicap you have no right to hit.

Just a couple of recent ones. Hit a hook off the tee into medium rough on a par 4 with a stream all the way down the centre. Always play for the left side and you have a second shot in. Get to my ball and because of the hook I have 230 left. The green is on the smallish side narrow but long from the angle I had. Feeling confident pull out my 3 wood. Hit it pure onto the green and it runs behind the hole 240 yards and I make my par.

Just this week 638 yard par 5 into a stiff breeze. Cock up my second shot sliced into the tree line. No line of sight so I play a hybrid out. Get too much of it and end up in light rough on the left side 207 yards from the pin. Half way between me and the green is a tree line across the fairway. It's  a dog leg left and I can just see the right portion of the green. Planned to bail out to the right and leave a chip at worst. Really got hold of it. I literally missed the trees by 2 ft. Sailed over the top with a 20 degree hybrid. Just a very slight draw to the left of a bunker. Arrived to find ball on the green and 2 putted out for bogey 6. In the past that should have been a big fat 8 or 9 so really pleased.

[Ongle]

Well mine was kind of outrageous but not all that daring consider I didn't have any kind of score going. 

Playing my friend from colleges local course back home, 14th hole is a 340 something par 4, an almost 90 degree dogleg to the left. 

Decided to just hit as big a slice with the driver as I could. Seeing as if I just swing as hard as I can ihit a massive slice, I did just that and the ball took off straight before almost perfectly following the dogleg round the corner and out of sight. 

Friend played his 5 iron to the corner and as we rounded the corner there was my ball, front edge, 10 feet from the hole! 

Few footnotes are fairway was rock hard summer and drops maybe 25 feet from the corner down to the flag. But still, I dared to drive a par 4 green and succeed!

3 putted for a par.

Edited October 3, 2015 by Ongle

[Kenny Lee]

Cash game. Fairway bunker. 175-yard forced carry over water.

Knocked it on the green. Made birdie. Got paid.

[inthehole]

I pulled off a couple over tall tree shots that I never thought I'd be able to.    Most memorable is a 125 yd approach with a single huge tree between me & the green.  Normally would be a 9i, but I hit a hard PW with ball forward to get more height & pulled it off - never really thought I could get over that super high tree.

 

I always fail on long forced carries which I should be able to if I hit the perfect shot  ... problem is, I never seem to be able to hit the perfect shot when I need it.