Play This Hole - Par 5 514 yds or 539 yds

This hole has eaten everyone's lunch at one time or another. There are more balls at the bottom of that water hazard than there are at Dick's Sporting Goods. There is a sign nailed to a tree that says 180 yds to water. So I marked it on the fairway just to be fair. I'm sure some of you power hitters will clear that easily. Just remember that the bunker on the other side of the water has a deep lip, and the tree on the right tends to deflect balls back into the water. The green is sloped toward the hazard, and trust me you do not want to land on the upper part of the green unless the hole is up there, because you don't want to putt downhill on this green - If you miss your first putt you are 3 putting because that ball will roll up to another 20 feet downhill. It's nasty.

The rough on the right is thick and between the trees and the water the ground slopes pretty bad toward the hazard. The ball probably won't roll in, but you'll have an uneven lie, and those trees can be nasty hitting over.

So how would you play this hole?

From the whites, I think I'd be forced to play 4h or 5w off the tee because I can't carry the narrow gap with the driver. I'd feel better with the 2nd shot - 5w or 3w to keep it short of the water to where the fairway opens up. Then wedge to the green.

For us shorter hitters, that looks like a tough hole off the tee.

Assuming that we are playing from the white or blue tee's there is too much trouble and too far carry for me to go at it in 2.  I'm going to lay up as close to the water as I comfortably can, from the looks of the picture probably left edge if I can manage, then pitch to the green.

Guessing it's 180 yards from the red tees to the water and something like 270 from the back tees (539 yards)?

If so, driver off the tee for sure. Depending upon the drive, I could be 250 to 350 yards away. Hybrid or less towards the small grove of trees on the left. anything from a PW to a LW to the green.

If I bomb the drive and feel confident with the 3W and get my absolute maximum distance I might be able to make it in 2. The odds of that happening are pretty slim. :-P

This hole ate my lunch late in the season this year. Early in the year there was no fear because I knew I sucked. I hit my driver off the reds. Hit a 7 iron to lay up to the water. Or if I duffed my drive which happened on occasion, I'd pull out my 4H or 7W and bomb one up to the water. And Pitch over. Once I was hitting third shot from the 150 marker and hit a 6 iron and dropped it dead on the green, and parred the hole. Then I got scared. I hit a 10 during a tournament. It would have been my first sub 100 round of the past two years with a 94 if I parred it. I dunked two, and hit the next one in the bunker. Then I started bouncing them off the tree and back into the water. Taking a drop back across the water in line with the pin wasn't fun. Or playing out from under the pine tree wasn't fun either since it was a lateral hazard there. In those cases I kept hoping it hit the branch over the yellow or at least someone thought it did. It gave me a yellow drop.

This year, however, if I'm anywhere inside of 190 to the flag, I'm taking out my 4H and I'm banging it. If I carry it 175 it'll hit the rough on the other side of the bunker, and run up onto the green. If I don't hit it solid 165 it's touch and go and I've got a bunker shot or worse, I dunk it and I'm hitting my 4th over for an U&D.; It's either putting for eagle or par. if it doesn't go in I know it's 3 putts for par or 3 putts for DB. It's a risk, but the prize. Is it worth it?

Optimally:

1.  Driver and try to keep it on the fairway.

2.  Layup to probably 80-90 yards out to the left third of the fairway.

3.  Have a nice wedge shot into the green...probably aiming to the middle but not past the hole unless it was up front.

I would never go for it on this hole.  I would probably be around the 180-to-the-water mark with a decent drive so that is probably 240 out...Even if I killed one and found myself 220 out I would just layup....that green is just too protected.

And the better the drive, the more aggressive I could be on my layup shot.  Looks like you want to stay toward the left third of the fairway and it would be nice to be inside 120.  You have to remember the tree on the right and that the water angles toward you on the right...so the triangle between the 100 marker the water and the left side of the fairway might be a little dangerous if you are left with a less than optimal second shot.

Then I would really just try to hit the middle of the green.  If it is tiered I would try to hit it on the correct tier...two putt and get outta there!

Green isn't tiered. The lower part near the bunker is fairly flat, but about 1/4 the way in it starts to slope upward pretty steep and has a crown in the middle. That's what makes it a tough green. I hit a shot long on this one once and was putting a five footer for birdie downhill, and I did the stupid thing. I went for the birdie. I should have hit very weak, left it a foot short, and taken the par. I watched in horror as the ball barely rolled another 20 feet down slope past the hole I missed by a pencil width. Four putted for a double.

Short hitter here and from the start, I'm definitely not hitting the green in two.

From the whites, I'd definitely start with a driver. Assuming I hit the ball nice and straight (about a 240 yard drive), I'd be left with about 275 yards to the hole and maybe about 210 yards from the front of the water.

Now it's decision time. I hit about 200 with my 3W, so depending on how the fairway slopes going towards the water (i.e. sloping down towards the water), I'd either hit a 3W (maybe not a full 3W) or a full 4H.

Assuming it went straight again, I'd have about 10-20 yards to the start of the water (maybe even a bit closer again depending on how the fairway slopes) and about 60 yards to the hole. Now depending on flag location, I'd hit a wedge onto the front part of the green just short of the flag and let it roll towards the hole, leaving me with an uphill putt.

I can see why this hole would be difficult now. I'd like to play it, just to see if I could pull it off.

Driver into the trees on the left, 4 iron back out into play, 5 iron (maybe the 4 iron) to the edge of the water and wedge onto the green, easy enought!

I couldn't reach it in 2 from the white or blue tees, so I'd start with a 3w and then hit whatever would be left to get me as close as possible.

From the blues, that would probably mean 3 wood, hybrid.  That would probably get me to about 95 with two good strikes, or 115 with less than good strikes.  I don't think its worth taking out the driver to try to get a little closer.

From the whites, I'd probably do the same but end up a little closer.   2 great strikes would put me around 69, or maybe 90 with less than good strikes.  If I struck the tee shot well I could take a little off the hybrid to make sure that I don't reach the water.