Whats your highest score ever on a single hole?

Lets assume an important tournament/club championship and your hcp is solid - whats the highest score you hit/witnessed and how did it happen. What did you learn from hit?

Since Saturday i´m the proud owner of a 14 on a Par 5. It was the club championship and by then i didnt even had a double bogey on my card. Came to 16 which is a dogleg Par 5 with forrest on both sides off the tee. First two shots i topped into the left forrest (almost into the identical spots) and decleared unplayable. 3rd ball into the left semirough - tried 3wood as a slice cutting it around the corner - went dead straight into the rough at the end of the hole - havent found it - walked back pretty pissed already just to hit the next ball into the right rough - reload - finally a ball in the fairway - next shot into the bunker - 3putt - voila - 14....

The next time i´m in such a spot - i immediately change clubs after the first horrendous mishit - i cant really think of anything else to do...

I've put up a 10 on a par 5. 4 putts. I love it.

I've had an 11 before.

Drive goes right into the trees a bit. Tried to punch out, hits a low tree and sits underneath it. Punch out from under the tree, lying 3 in the fairway maybe 10 yards ahead of where my drive was. Hit 4th shot short and into the front bunker. Proceed to thin the bunker shot over the bunker over the green into thick rough. Do my best out of the rough and have a 25 footer for double bogey. Push my putt 2 feet right of my line and hit someone else's ball. Take my penalty strokes and am putting for 11 from 20 feet and drain it for an awesome 11.

I was second place in the club champ on Number 8 where I took a 12 on a par 5:

dogleg left, gambled try to hit it over the trees, lost ball, hit a provisional, lost that ball, had to drop under the trees shooting 5. Couple miss hits and caught the shanks and shanked a couple chips, cant remember what happened after that.

I then took a 9 on number 9 as well.

First high school match of my life, 3rd hole par 5:

Drive OB
Drop
Drive OB
Drop
Hybrid Topped
Hybrid Skied
6-iron punch OB
Drop
6-iron punch OB
drop
Sand Wedge punch
6-iron OB
Drop
7-iron
Wedge
Putt
Putt

Yep, a 17 on 1 hole. I gave up, shot 61, cut my wrists.

15 on a Par 5, the 2nd hole I ever played in my life.

One of my best golf moments came on a national scale, in a national college tournament (National Junior College Championship), in front of a gallery.

I was only a couple over, going into #11...a tricky, bendy, par-5 surrounded by desert trouble. I went from 1 cactus to another, on my way to a 9 (anyone who has played serious golf in front of a gallery can agree with me...a very bad hole is a tough thing to deal with...you want to crawl up and hide). I almost couldn't believe I had to write a 9, on the national championship scorecard. The next 4 holes were a long par-3 over waste area, a medium-length, tight par 4, a very long par 4, and another par-3. I went birdie-birdie-birdie-birdie. 4 over on one hole, followed by 4 birdies to erase the quad. On a national scale. F-ing crazy, isn't it? Anyway.... I didn't win, or even come top 25. But the reminder that I was able to put the quad behind me, and answer it immediately, in such a high scale event, is something that I've put in my mental golf bank forever. Hearing the compliments about my resolve from total strangers in the crowd, was an amazing feeling. One of my proudest accomplishments....that 5 hole stretch was.

10. Had one today. That freaking hole kills me. Not only did i have a 10 today, but i have done it on that hole at least twice before. Also carded some 8s and 9s on that hole.

Maybe you shouldn't be playing from the tips?

9 on a par 5 with a lost ball and a unplayable lie.

I had a 17 on a par 4 once. It was the third golf hole I'd ever played. I was 15 and my dad agreed to take me and a buddy of mine out to play. My friend was giving me a hard time about my 17... then he proceeded to get an 18 on the next hole.

The worst in recent years was a 13 on that very same par four. In that case I managed to hit another player en route to the hole -- fortunately I didn't put the guy in the hospital but he did have me worried for a few moments. (I mentioned this incident in another thread.)

That indeed is remarkable - i often expierence or see from other people that they just cant keep their head straight and blow up on coming holes and only when they get into a status of mind where they tell themselfs, it doesnt matter anymore what i shoot now - that they start playing normal/better again.

Shot a 12 on a par 5 and ended up having to shout drinks on the 19th. Not one of my best days. I suppose it was good entertainment for the boys. They loved it anyhow.

I had an 11 with no penalty shots on a par 5.

After the hole someone in the group asked me how many trees I hit. My reply was all of them.

I don't remember the hole scores, but I once was hitting my 36th shot from the 4th tee. Had a very rough night the night before.
That was a 3 hole average of 12.
My hdcp at the time was around 12. That didn't help it much even after adjustment.

Absolutely. It all sounds cliche, but it's so true. You have to focus on each shot independently, as it's the most important one. If the goal in the game is to shoot the lowest score possible, doesn't that make a "blow up" after a bad hole counter-intuitive? Anything can happen in a round, and you have the ability to really increase your odds of a comeback by staying in the present, and focusing on the task at hand. I've read a couple of Bob Rotella's books ("Golf is not a Game of Perfect" and "Golf is a Game of Confidence"), and they really help you realize where you need to be mentally. I highly recommend them to anyone on this board. As hard as it was to put the 9 behind me, I didn't hit the first shot on the next hole until I was entirely focused on that shot, and no longer on the quad. It's not easy, and it even takes practice....but you have to do it. One thing I did notice, is that as I worked extremely hard to get my brain focusing on the present, I had eliminated all of those "other thoughts" (Out of contention, ruined a good round, looked like an idiot in front of the gallery etc.) that had come into my mind during the 9. I think the majority of golfers don't have a great state of mind, and I'd like to think that it's an advantage of mine. That's an advantage completely withing the grasp of all golfers, and it has nothing to do with the beauty of your swing.

Anyway, thanks Kafka, for the comments.

Made an 11 on a par 5 in a club tournament.

1. 3 wood off the tee to the left rough
2. 9 iron punch out to fairway
3. 5 iron into hazard
4. Drop
5. 5 iron into fairway
6. Sand wedge to 40 yards short of the green (!)
7. Lob wedge to greenside bunker
8. Sand wedge to greenside bunker
9. Sand wedge to back fringe
10. Chip shot to a foot
11. In the hole

Wow, that was brutal. Thanks for making me relive every gory detail.

The worst part is the previous time I played that course, I made a 10 on the same hole. #6 was the worst shot of the bunch. Laid the sod over what should have been a pretty easy shot. I hit the green on the next hole and made par, which made me pretty happy.

An 11, with only 1 putt, is quite an accomplishment!