What's the best "impossible" shot you've hit?

Okay so I'm wondering what the best "impossible" shot is people have hit? By that I mean not a hole in one or a big drive or putt, but a shot where you stand over it scratching your head as to what to do, thinking "this is going to need to be an absolutely brilliant shot to get out of this trouble". The sort of one where you know you won't make it 99 times out of 100, but for one reason or another you decide to go for it, even if it's that unlikely - maybe in a deciding hole in matchplay or because you have literally no other shot possible to play.

I ask because I've had a couple myself but last weekend I watched a buddy hit a 4 iron out of a water hazard with a high draw around a huge oak tree which guards the green, and drop his ball absolutely stiff on the flag to salvage a ridiculous birdie. I was beating him quite comfortably and had a chance to go dormie so he felt like he had no option but to risk it. An absolute once in a lifetime recovery and I had no complaints whatsoever in losing that hole, that shot deserved to win any hole in any tournament!

What would yours be?

Hey y'all, hold my beer and watch this! :-D

Hit a couple that shocked me, but one I'll mention here was during our SoCal outing last Sunday. Pushed my tee shot right, and ended up behind a tree. Options were chip out or try and hit a big 'ol cut. Went with the latter and pulled it off (actully over cut it a bit, but just as well as there was trouble left.)

Hole #6 at Goose Creek :

Approximate Trajectory of my shot. (@mdl Can you conform this?)

Note: Might be an easy shot for some, but impossible for me ;)

I was playing No. 18 at Fort Sill Golf Club near Lawton, OK. It's a 400-yard hole with a funnel landing area, and a green perched on a plateau about 20 feet above the fairway. I hit a hot draw that bounced into the left tree line and ended up about 140 yards from the hole.

I had an opening about 10 feet in diameter 50 yards ahead in the tree canopy. But, I had a low-handing branch about 10 yards in front of me. So, I played an 8i knockdown shot off my front foot!  It started low, but rose quickly through the gap, hit the front of the green and rolled up three feet from the cup. I sank the putt for a birdie.

My playing partner said it was impossible to hit an iron shot with that shape.

That was the only time in over a hundred times playing the hole I ever made a birdie.

None if it is impossible I don't attempt it. But I have done things that made me wonder where it came from. Here is an example the day after xmas I got home in 2 on 566 yd par 5. Not impossible but a tough task for a 10 handicap. Usually I play 3 or more shots to get to the green. Even with a couple solid shots I usually have a full wedge approach.

I had one to long ago at my course here in Georgia. My second shot on a par 5 went due NE from where I was aiming and wound up on top of the hill which is the 2nd fairway. I was left with a simple pitch over to my fairway or hit a banana ball way left and let it bend around to the green. I went for it 8 iron flew just like I wanted and hit the fringe and stopped. 2 putts later walked off with a par. I couldn't do that again if I tired. Just one of those things. Its what makes you keep playing year after year.

Apart from that driver from the rough story posted in another thread somewhere, and an "impossible" 'under those branches, over that tree, ride the wind back to the fairway 5 wd" from last year, there's been a couple that would fall into that category. One in particular was at Pasatiempo back in the late 80's. I wouldn't remember what hole until I just went to the site and looked over the holes and figured it was #4. I hadn't really hit a good drive, so I wound up in the rough hardpan type of stuff, down the STEEP slope on the right side about 160 away. Totally dead with trees, brush, a green going the wrong way, bunkers in front, etc... So I shrugged, reached in for MY "Billybaroo" club- a 2 iron, set myself up for a low fade (well, a low, MASSIVE SLICE is more like it...). The folks I was playing with though I was just trying to get back to the fairway so they weren't really watching. I made my decision, committed to the shot and swung away. It went EXACTLY as I had pictured the shot. hugged the slope in the way up, under the trees except it looked like it was going to sail across and wind up the bay or something. Suddenly, it took off to the right and bent along the line of the fairway and swung towards the green. landed about 30 yards short, bounded between the traps, and trundled up to about 8 inches from the hole. Running up the hill and watching the whole way. Except the others weren't looking, not expecting the heroic attempt from the gorge of eternal peril. They all asked "where'd it go?"... I just pointed.

Playing my course, Green Hills here in MO. On the back 9 there is a short par 3, about 141 to the green. There is a water feature in the front and right of the green. With the flag back right, I aimed at it instead of just going for the center. I hit my shot and it went short and went in the water. It splashed under the water then bounced out! Went high in the air and landed about 4 feet from the hole! I still don't understand how it was possible that it bounced out. Anyway, I missed my put and made par.

I've got two shots that I want to share, but I'll keep them brief.

1). Was playing par 3 with an island green. My tee shot hit the bank of the green and rolled back into the water. When I approaced my ball, just about the top quarter of the ball was above the water, and the rest was submerged. I was playing with my bro-in-law, and he said he could see it in my eyes that I wanted to hit the shot. Well I put my hero suit on and went for it. Amazingly, the ball sailed up to the green as if I had hit it from the fairway, it hits the pin, and then bounces out to about 3 inches. I thought I had it holed, but had an easy tap in for par. About 4 months later I had a similar scenario, except more of the ball was showing (easier shot, right/). Tried the shot again, sprayed water everywhere in a display of excellence, except this time the ball goes about 4 feet up the bank, and then rolls backward deeper into the hazard where it could not be played.

2). More typical hero shot. Hugging the inside treeline on a dogleg right par 5, not far enough around the corner to go for the green. Options were to chip about 50 yards where I had a straight shot, or go for the cut. If the ball doesn't cut enough, it ends up in the pond. If it cuts too quickly, I'm in the trees. Once again, I put on the hero suit and bent the ball around the corner like something out of a Tiger Woods video game, landing about 12 feet from the hole. Missed the putt.

Short par 5, drove my ball behind these trees on the left, and I had a gap. I took my 3-wood and blasted a shot just short of the green. Though another great shot on this hole was when I was on the steep slope behind the green and I flopped it to about 3 feet. This is a fun hole, great course in the middle of no were eastern Ohio.

Yup.  I remember that shot.  Played very nicely.

I tend not to try super ridiculous shots.  The hardest shots I'm generally a bit surprised at are when I have to hit a huge draw or fade around trouble and I'm not really expecting to get it to curve all the way to the green but it's not a horrible miss if I don't bend it enough, then I hit just what I was trying and hit a huge bend and get on the green.

Most ridiculous shot I ever attempted and succeeded at was in my lowest ever round (74!).  Had never broken 80 and came to 8 at 30 strokes (8 and 9 are par 4s) and proceeded to bogey 8 and double bogey 9 and got all pissy and whiny about how I was ruining my chances at breaking 80 (yes I have mental game issues that have improved a bit but not enough!).  Then 10 is a short par 5 where I can easily reach the green in two if I hit a good drive.  Hit a long drive but pushed it right into the trees.  Was then even more pissed cause I'd been hoping to make up a stroke with a 2-putt birdie.  Get to my ball and there's a ridiculously small window, couldn't have been more than 3 feet wide, through the trees directly on line with the flag.  I say screw it and pull my 2h, hit a perfect shot, clean through the trees, stiff the pin, make the 5 foot uphill eagle putt and put up a 33 on the back.  I played the hole something like this:

One I remember was from playing an unfamiliar course on a par 4 dogleg right.  I thought my drive would be safe but it ended up right next to a tree trunk guarding the dogleg corner sitting on top of some loose sticks and behind some low branches with 150 yds left to the green.  There was room to make a swing but no window out more than 5 ft off the ground.  I took my 19 degree hybrid, gripped down and swiped at it with a near full-swing.  Call it feel or call it luck, but the impact was perfect and the ball shot out low, carried most of the way and found a runway up onto the green allowing it to roll the rest of the way and stop pin high.

The 18th at Pebble Beach.  I hit my drive down the center of the fairway but, of course, there are a couple pine trees in the center and I was pretty well blocked.  Going right with a draw/hook required me to flirt with OB and really long rough.  Going left with a fade/slice required aiming into the Pacific Ocean.  I went left with a 3 wood and my fade landed in the fairway, setting up a short shot to the green.

The best impossible shot I ever saw was a guy playing an explosion shot out of a water hazard with the ball mostly submerged, one foot in the water, one out, to about 5 feet (which, naturally, he 3 jacked, thus restoring balance to the World).

(high five!!) I had the SAME EXACT scenario when I played. I knew I couldn't hit the 3 wood straight so I flailed it out over the ocean- swung back into the right middle about 100 yds out. Had to hit over the corner of that tree (the old one before it fell down and replaced), and wound up hitting the putt for birdie in front of the porch gallery!

The best shot I can recall was from a "dead" position in a bunker behind the 8th green at Talega. The bunker slopes back to front, making any lie a down-sloping bunker shot. Not exactly my forte. To make matters worse, I had the following things going for me.

- Rear pin location (giving me about 12 feet of green to work with short of the pin)

- Middle location in the sand (meaning I had about 15 feet of sand to clear before) I even reached the fringe

- Green the sloped back to front (meaning any shot is going to run away towards the front of the green)

- Fried egg lie (do I even need to explain this one?)

I thought that a fabulous shot might keep me on the front of the green and give me a chance at a bogey. But realistically, I was preparing for my double. I proceed to load up 90% of my weight on my front leg, take as steep a hack as I can, close my eyes and swing with all my strength. Miraculously, the ball pops out perfectly, hits the 3 foot landing area between the bunker and the green and rolls down about 25 feet, leaving me an uphill 15 footer for par.

It would have been a miraculous shot even without the happy ending, but fortunately I drained the putt for a very unlikely par.

Most impossible shot.

1 - It was a par 3 (#17 The Classic in Brainerd) that had hidden wind up high, I saw everyone come up short in the water so I took one more club.  Pushed it, but looked like pin high distance.  It made a real thud in that middle right bunker (so it must have been a little short instead of pin high)  I thought it 'might' be not too good.  But didn't really see the impact.
2 - I wish I had taken a picture of the lie.  It was so deep in the sand you could only just see the edge of the ball by looking into the wet plug (it was raining all morning).  It was plugged well over 2 inches deep, 3 inches below the thick high overhanging grass lip -  (the bunker was about 5-6 feet deep, so it's embedded just under the grass into a vertical sand face kitty corner to the green side)

3 - oh - and the pin with tight to that side

4 - I took my 60 (random guess) and hammered the face of the lip and balls squirted out from under and through the turf with a pretty little sand spray and rolled to about 6 feet.

did I mention I wish I had taken a picture of the lie?

'best' shot?  absolutely not, a crappy tee to a bad lie and a really amazing pile of luck on the "underground sand shot"

I don't recall, I might have 3 putted.

(I pull off shaping around stuff and weird imaginative stuff and using non-standard clubs for shots, quite a bit, just because I try those shots a lot as I find them fascinating and great fun.  But this story is better than any of those)