No. 1 HCP Hole On Your Home Course

[dagolfer18]

What’s the no. 1 handicap hole on your home course? Give the par and yardage (from the tees you play), a description of the hole, and, if you want, how you’ve been playing it recently.

The no. 1 handicap hole on my home course is a straightaway 421-yard (white tees) par 4. The drive plays downhill, and you can’t go too far right or left. OB lurks about twenty feet off the fairway on the left. You’ve got a bit more room on the right, but not that much more.

A solid drive should leave a long iron or fairway wood approach to an elevated green that slopes severely back to front. If you go long, it’s a tough up-and-down. The approach plays at least a club longer than the yardage. There are also two bunkers right, but those are only there to catch severely offline shots.

I’m usually happy if I make five on this hole, and in my past four rounds, I’ve had a five, a seven, and two fours, both up-and-downs. This par-4 is easily the most difficult I’ve played.

Edited June 11, 2020 by dagolfer18

[Vinsk]

# 7 par 4 442yds. The front edge of that middle fairway bunker is about 280yds Soni seldom reach that. Not too bad for long hitters. Essentially it’s a long approach and you really need to be in the fairway. The rough is treacherous Bermuda. The green is very undulated so unless I stick it close it’s a high percentage three putt.

[DuckDuckFoose]

#16 380 to 420 par 4. OB stakes line the whole right side, and the left is covered by thick trees and a pond if you get really errant. The trees to the left of the fairway effectively block out at a shot to the green if you miss your drive to the left. Ob stakes to the right of the green give you about 15 to 20 yars of leeway, and the trees on the left of the green give you less. Tough for me since I seem to be missing left alot. My last three runs at it were double, triple, triple. Not my favorite hole. 

[Darkfrog]

Per the scorecard, #1, 411 yard par-4.

More intimidating than difficult, especially for the first hole of the round.

It plays about 100-120 feet uphill. When the tees are more forward, the elevation change is greater so I actually prefer playing back from a more elevated tee box. Pretty wide fairway, but it’s pitched hard from right to left, so not a flat lie anywhere on the hole. Slicers lose their balls in the trees on the right. Hooks get lost in the trees on the left or go over the OB fence if hooked hard enough. Miss badly on either side and you’re not likely to find your ball. When it’s firm, a lot of balls roll into the rough on the right side due to the extreme slope.

The green is elevated and shaped into the side of the hill, with a large upslope of rough between the end of the fairway and green. The green is pretty small (perhaps 3500-4000 ft^2), surrounded by steep downslopes of rough to the left and back of the green, so if you’re long or left you’ll have an awkward, off balance short shot. If you’re right of the green, there’s a “native” area filled with waist high weeds most of the year. A false front causes short balls to roll into the uphill slope of rough in front of the green.

I don’t think it’s the most difficult hole on the course, but considering it takes a good drive to have a shot at the green, I can see why low hcp players give a stroke here. Average players are usually facing a 200+ yard, severely uphill approach shot. I see lots of FW or hybrid approaches on this one that don’t come close to reaching the green.

If I hit a good drive, I’m usually about 140-160 yards out, and with a 2 club uphill shot I’m usually hitting a 6/7/8-iron into the green depending on how good my tee ball was. Green isn’t tricky once you’re safely on, so 2-putt is reasonable expectation. 

[Bonvivant]

I don't think that this is the hardest hole on the course, but HDCP 1 is number 3, par 4 (Hills, Community, Kettering OH)

The tee shot is half blind due to the right to left slope of the fairway and a small hill coming off the tee. The right side of the fairway is 15-20 feet higher than the left. The X is where I want my fading ball to land, and the distance split is where I want it to come to a rest. From there, it is a fairly uphill shot from a hook lie (righty) and the green is raised compared to the trees on the right of the green. The grass on the right of the green is generally very fast, even in the rough, due to carts not staying on the path. Any shot to the right of the green is liable to be lost in the honeysuckle/trees. The green is large and slopes back to front. I've made a decent amount of pars here, but bogey is the normal score for me. Compared to my HDCP, this isn't a particularly hard hole.....

The real monster is the HDCP 2 hole, number 11

Severely uphill par 3. Maybe 15 yards uphill, so the 150-160 plays more like 180-190. If I get it passed the blue line, but not off the back of the green, I have a chance at par, but will most likely make a bogey. The green is 3 tiered from back left to front. Completely possible to putt off the front of the green if the pin is down there and you find yourself on the highest tier. The reason why going long is bad is that the rough behind the hole is extremely sloped. You will be faced with a crazy downhill lie on what little grass there is. If I had to make a guess to my average score on this, it is probably somewhere around 4.7. I make 5 on this par 3 most times that I play it. I've had the occasional par here and on those days I jump for joy.

[FlyingAce]

Paako Ridge, NM - Hole 23

477yd/par 5/forward tee.

Not the longest hole but darn all the sand traps. 

I just joined this club a few weeks ago and am still trying to learn the course. I have par this twice. Doubt I will ever birdie it. 

Edited June 11, 2020 by FlyingAce

[mcanadiens]

7 hours ago, Bonvivant said:

The real monster is the HDCP 2 hole, number 11

Agree 100%.

If I played that damn thing 30 times, I hit the green maybe twice. Mostly, I'm trying to chop some sort of wedge out of the gangster grass short and right and hoping for a legit bogey putt. Playing it from the blue tees (as you have to in the quota game) really sucks.

That said, it's probably easier after the great tree holocaust of the other year. That old grove of trees still in your picture to the left of the green got hacked down and you were dead meat if you went there.

Edited June 11, 2020 by mcanadiens

[Mr Puddle]

Par 4 430 yards. Big hump in the middle that 99% of golfer can't take on. Two off rough to the left on a mound, and a beach which is out of bounds to the right. You have lay up before the bump, and then take a 270 yard shot to the green. It's pretty evil, and most people are delighted with a single bogie 

[pganapathy]

Hole 3 - Par 4 - 360 yards - SI 1

About 200 yards straight.  Then a serious climb with a bit of a dogleg right.  The last 150 yards or so easily climbs 25 yards.  Around 230 yards is a road.  All along the right is OB.  Either hit it 200 yards till where it is level and then hit an uphill shot or carry it at least 240-250 and clear the road. A bunker on the left edge of the green.  Fairly small and reasonably level two tier green.  Maybe a difference of a foot or two between the two tiers

 

Think I had one par and a couple of bogeys the last couple of times I played it.  Now that it is raining quite regularly and the monsoon is about to hit, am finding reaching the green in two is more difficult.  In summer it tends to be easier to get there.  Most of the times on in 3 and occasionally a bad 4 on.  Rarely been over two putts on that green.  Have had a birdie or two when I have managed to hit the green and had a good putt.  Think I once even was on the fringe and chipped in.  But as a rule am super happy with a par and my goal is no more than bogey if at all possible

[No Mulligans]

12th at Torrey South is considered one of the hardest holes in San Diego.  Par 4 504 yards from the back tees, two tee boxes up where I play it is 443 yards.  Straight into a prevailing breeze which is usually about 10 mph but sometime worse or even much worse.  The wind is consistent enough as this hole points right at the hang glider port where they glide off the nearby cliff usually 7 days a week.

I've never reached the green in two, it plays as a par 5.  The green is elevated, repeals pretty good shots, deep bunkers.

Pretty easy strategically to figure out.  Hit driver, then hit your longest fairway wood, then for me sand wedge or lob wedge if the wind isn't too bad. Lat week I stuck a lob wedge 8 feet from the hole, made the putt, and got par, felt like a birdie

Edited June 11, 2020 by No Mulligans

[David in FL]

Two courses at my club, so I’ll post both #1 hcp holes.  Both demonstrate nicely that the #1 hcp hole need not be the “hardest” hole on the course, but rather, is the hole where the bogey golfer most needs a stroke from the scratch golfer.

 

#7 at Heathrow CC.  400 yd par-4.  Intimidating drive with water all the way down the left and OB right.  Any drive less than 230 yds will leave the need to carry 180ish to ensure you clear the pond that wraps around and fronts the green.  The fairway narrows between the two bunkers at about 250 yards.  Needless to say, either bunker presents a significant challenge for the approach with soft sand and another 150ish yards to carry.  I’ve seen more than a few single digit players make a double digit score on this one.

 A couple of years ago we played 27 holes one rainy, windy afternoon.  Playing the front 9 twice, I played this hole in a combined total of 5, count ‘em, cinco strokes!  It was so windy that I hit 3-wood in both times.  To 10 feet the first time, and holing it the second time.

Perhaps the highlight of my entire golf career.   

 

Number 4 at The Legacy course.  525 ya par-5.  Even as a relatively short hitter, I consider it to be one of the easiest birdies on the course.  Another intimidating tee shot makes the higher hcp players struggle though.  It takes an accurate 230+ drive to carry the water and to keep from being blocked on the left for your 2d shot.  Following that there’s no real problem except for the green side bunkers and the large double tiered green with the lower tier in back.  

 

Neither hole is terribly difficult, but both tend to give the higher hcp player fits...

[billchao]

On 6/16/2017 at 9:11 PM, billchao said:

That would be #8 at Green Knoll. A creek crosses the middle of the hole 3 times, OB left and the same creek with fescue on the right. You have to hit it 200 yards to carry the hazard off the tee which isn't too bad with a 45 yard wide playable landing area but you have to hit your line which I struggle with. You can't see the green on the approach so you have to aim at the center of the townhouse building as roughly the center of the green. Fortunately the green is largest on the course but the creek is in play if you hit it short.

If I ever wanted a stinger type shot I could hit on a string, it would be for this hole.

That’s the #1 handicap hole which I posted in another thread. Scorecard says 387 from the back tees but it plays more like 400. The real problem is that it requires two good shots which makes it hard.

13 hours ago, Vinsk said:

# 7 par 4 442yds. The front edge of that middle fairway bunker is about 280yds Soni seldom reach that. Not too bad for long hitters. Essentially it’s a long approach and you really need to be in the fairway. The rough is treacherous Bermuda. The green is very undulated so unless I stick it close it’s a high percentage three putt.

I don’t remember this hole being hard, even after I hit my drive into a bush.

1 hour ago, David in FL said:

Number 4 at The Legacy course.  525 ya par-5.  Even as a relatively short hitter, I consider it to be one of the easiest birdies on the course.  Another intimidating tee shot makes the higher hcp players struggle though.  It takes an accurate 230+ drive to carry the water and to keep from being blocked on the left for your 2d shot.  Following that there’s no real problem except for the green side bunkers and the large double tiered green with the lower tier in back.  

 

That’s the #1 handicap hole? I’m surprised at that. I had a chance to reach the green in two even after a good but not great drive.

[saevel25]

The scorecard says hole #5, but i think this is because it's just a long par 5. You can easily play this as a three shot hole. Even if you end up in the trees, most of the time you can advance it forward enough to go for the green on the third shot. 

I would say Hole #10 (430+yard par 4) is the toughest hole. The tee shot requires a towering fade to cut the corner. Most people will be hitting a 200+yard approach shot at the corner to a very narrow green that has a drop off on the left. 

In general, I think hole #10 will require a longer approach shot than hole #5, to a tougher green. 

[jsgolfer]

3 hours ago, No Mulligans said:

12th at Torrey South is considered one of the hardest holes in San Diego.  Par 4 504 yards from the back tees, two tee boxes up where I play it is 443 yards.  Straight into a prevailing breeze which is usually about 10 mph but sometime worse or even much worse.  The wind is consistent enough as this hole points right at the hang glider port where they glide off the nearby cliff usually 7 days a week.

I've never reached the green in two, it plays as a par 5.  The green is elevated, repeals pretty good shots, deep bunkers.

Pretty easy strategically to figure out.  Hit driver, then hit your longest fairway wood, then for me sand wedge or lob wedge if the wind isn't too bad. Lat week I stuck a lob wedge 8 feet from the hole, made the putt, and got par, felt like a birdie

I played here once about 6 or 7 years ago and I made a 4 on this hole and thought I was playing a par 5, took two good shots and a lob wedge to get on the green into a pretty stiff breeze.

[Vinsk]

1 hour ago, billchao said:

don’t remember this hole being hard, even after I hit my drive into a bush.

That’s probably because you hit the bush at 300yds...then hit a sand wedge 140yds to the green😯

[David in FL]

5 hours ago, billchao said:

 

That’s the #1 handicap hole? I’m surprised at that. I had a chance to reach the green in two even after a good but not great drive.

That’s because your “not great drive” goes 290! 😉

Edited June 11, 2020 by David in FL

[Shindig]

435 yard par-4.  O.B. left off the tee, trees right.  The fairway narrows with trees about 40 yards out from the green.  Depending on my tee shot, I may deliberately play about 20 yards short -- and I won't hit anything longer than 3H for my second shot after anything resembling a decent tee shot.   After going through a bunch of scorecards with a friend on this site a few years ago, I realized I was averaging closer to double bogey than bogey on this hole (and three others). 

 

So I treat it as a par-4.5 : the hole is safe enough to hit driver.  If I have a good hybrid-or-lower shot in, I'll do it.  Otherwise, I'll come up short (with some roll) and try to get up and down.  But I have lowered my average on the hole quite a bit since then -- when I'm not rusty, I'm pretty much never making worse than 5.  I've had enough pars sprinkled in to make me happy.  I probably won't make birdie on the hole again for a while.

 

Last time I played was, IIRC, my second round in three months with no practice (unpleasantness from earlier this year).  Hit a good drive, a better-than-expected second shot and was pin high after a good rollout, but off the green.  I duffed two chips, hit a good third chip to a few feet, and missed the putt. 

[billchao]

4 hours ago, Vinsk said:

That’s probably because you hit the bush at 300yds...then hit a sand wedge 140yds to the green😯

 

8 minutes ago, David in FL said:

That’s because your “not great drive” goes 290! 😉

You guys and your fish stories crack me up.