How Would You Play It? (1st Hole at Capital Hills)

[vangator]

I've only started hitting driver again within the past month so I don't have enough seat time to know for sure how consistently I can aim it under pressure, but I'm about the same distances as you and would do the same as you, I think: driver 250, 5-wood / 4 hybrid 200ish as close to the green as I can get, and figure it out from there based on distance and lie. If I managed to get a really long drive and terrific lie, I would consider going for it with 3 wood, but that would really be circumstance and friskiness-level dependent.

I hate it when my playing partners get frisky on the course....

[dkolo]

I hate it when my playing partners get frisky on the course....

People on adjacent fairways also hate it when I get frisky, haha.

[Lihu]

So, this hole is 507 yards and I think an interesting Par 5.

How would you play it?!

Winter conditions:

Driver to somewhere before the trees, 3i (or something that gets me 175 to 200 yards) past the first two bunkers, 52/60 degree wedge.

Not sure about summer conditions.

[colin007]

how would i?  or do you mean how do i?  lol,,,ive played Cap Hills eleventy billion times.

first thing i do is i declare this hole to no longer be a par 5 but instead a par 12.

next.  i hit hybrid.  christian, i think the drop off from the tee is more severe than you implied, im gonna say its closer to a 50 foot drop than a 30 foot drop.  driver will put me way too far either into the woods left or the tree cluster right.  also, the fairway is severely pitched left to right.  the only flat spot is the 5 foot wide path that goes down the center of the fairway.  from there it goes uphill on both sides, so thats a challenge.

so hybrid, hoping for left center of the fairway, then i try to punch a 3 iron or hit a full 5 to about the 110-120 mark.  i do this because from the sidehill lie that you invariably have, its increasingly difficult to hit a hybrid or wood from there.

its a tough hole, especially to start off the round.

[boogielicious]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dkolo

I've only started hitting driver again within the past month so I don't have enough seat time to know for sure how consistently I can aim it under pressure, but I'm about the same distances as you and would do the same as you, I think: driver 250, 5-wood / 4 hybrid 200ish as close to the green as I can get, and figure it out from there based on distance and lie. If I managed to get a really long drive and terrific lie, I would consider going for it with 3 wood, but that would really be circumstance and friskiness-level dependent.

I hate it when my playing partners get frisky on the course....

Quote:

Originally Posted by vangator

I hate it when my playing partners get frisky on the course....

People on adjacent fairways also hate it when I get frisky, haha.

Gentlemen (and I use that term hesitantly),

Behave and stay on topic.

[Lihu]

how would i?  or do you mean how do i?  lol,,,ive played Cap Hills eleventy billion times.

first thing i do is i declare this hole to no longer be a par 5 but instead a par 12.

next.  i hit hybrid.  christian, i think the drop off from the tee is more severe than you implied, im gonna say its closer to a 50 foot drop than a 30 foot drop.  driver will put me way too far either into the woods left or the tree cluster right.  also, the fairway is severely pitched left to right.  the only flat spot is the 5 foot wide path that goes down the center of the fairway.  from there it goes uphill on both sides, so thats a challenge.

so hybrid, hoping for left center of the fairway, then i try to punch a 3 iron or hit a full 5 to about the 110-120 mark.  i do this because from the sidehill lie that you invariably have, its increasingly difficult to hit a hybrid or wood from there.

its a tough hole, especially to start off the round.

In light of this data, I would hit Hybrid/Hybrid/PW or something.

[dkolo]

Gentlemen (and I use that term hesitantly),

Behave and stay on topic.

Sorry! What I was inelegantly suggesting is that, especially on a hole like this where it'd be pushing my abilities, I'd have to be supremely and misguidedly confident to go for it in 2 when the risk / reward calculus was so out of alignment. I'd be as likely with my handicap to hit the next fairway with that 3-wood as I would the green, with other bad results smattered in. Breaking it up into 3 shots with the second aiming to get as close to the level of greenside bunkers as possible without going past, is the way to go.

[Patch]

If I had never played the hole before, most likely I would go with 3W, 3W, and a AW to the green. Even with my driver, I could not reach the green in two.

[RFKFREAK]

i think the drop off from the tee is more severe than you implied, im gonna say its closer to a 50 foot drop than a 30 foot drop.

[quote name="Lihu" url="/t/79045/play-this-hole-with-me-507yd-par-5/0_100#post_1092150"] In light of this data, I would hit Hybrid/Hybrid/PW or something. [/quote] I'm just going by what Google Earth says the drop off is. I'm horrible at estimating distances, square footage, and things of that nature.

[LeftRightLeft]

Does anyone else use Google Earth to map out a golf course they haven't played before?   I started doing this a few years ago and it really helps me figure out yardages to key hazards and how much room I might have, which might not be evident from the tee box. An architect can make a hole look far scarier than it really is.  In this case, noot knowing the yardage to the pinched area (is it in my normal landing zone?), I would be conservative, perhaps more conservative than need be.  If I know the yardage from the tee is 270, I might still hit driver since that's not in my normal range, even from an elevated tee.   Google Earth is especially useful when crossing hazards on doglegs. I can figure out a general line of play before stepping foot onto the course.

[RFKFREAK]

Does anyone else use Google Earth to map out a golf course they haven't played before?   I started doing this a few years ago and it really helps me figure out yardages to key hazards and how much room I might have, which might not be evident from the tee box. An architect can make a hole look far scarier than it really is.  In this case, noot knowing the yardage to the pinched area (is it in my normal landing zone?), I would be conservative, perhaps more conservative than need be.  If I know the yardage from the tee is 270, I might still hit driver since that's not in my normal range, even from an elevated tee.   Google Earth is especially useful when crossing hazards on doglegs. I can figure out a general line of play before stepping foot onto the course.

This is the first time I've done it as I got the idea from this book I bought last year.

That said, it's pretty time consuming to do it as best I could to scale on graph paper.  I think in the future, I'll just make yardages rather than make it to scale.

[Patch]

Try this for yardages; http://www.provisualizer.com/2dplanner.php

[dkolo]

Does anyone else use Google Earth to map out a golf course they haven't played before?   I started doing this a few years ago and it really helps me figure out yardages to key hazards and how much room I might have, which might not be evident from the tee box. An architect can make a hole look far scarier than it really is.  In this case, noot knowing the yardage to the pinched area (is it in my normal landing zone?), I would be conservative, perhaps more conservative than need be.  If I know the yardage from the tee is 270, I might still hit driver since that's not in my normal range, even from an elevated tee.   Google Earth is especially useful when crossing hazards on doglegs. I can figure out a general line of play before stepping foot onto the course.

I do it for every golf course I play, including ones I've played before. I'll make a word file with a hole by hole breakdown of how far notable things like fairway bunkers are from the visible tees, measure green dimensions, etc. Helps me with club selection on tee shots. Also useful for measuring driving range markers and seeing which stall they're most accurate from. I never noticed the elevation feature, so thanks to this thread for that.

Google Earth is awesome for holes like this one.

You're right about doglegs, too. So hard to figure it out yourself on the course.

[dbuck]

how would i?  or do you mean how do i?  lol,,,ive played Cap Hills eleventy billion times.

first thing i do is i declare this hole to no longer be a par 5 but instead a par 12.

next.  i hit hybrid.  christian, i think the drop off from the tee is more severe than you implied, im gonna say its closer to a 50 foot drop than a 30 foot drop.  driver will put me way too far either into the woods left or the tree cluster right.  also, the fairway is severely pitched left to right.  the only flat spot is the 5 foot wide path that goes down the center of the fairway.  from there it goes uphill on both sides, so thats a challenge.

so hybrid, hoping for left center of the fairway, then i try to punch a 3 iron or hit a full 5 to about the 110-120 mark.  i do this because from the sidehill lie that you invariably have, its increasingly difficult to hit a hybrid or wood from there.

its a tough hole, especially to start off the round.

In light of the left to right fairway, I would change my second to fade off the left bunker instead of draw off the right, still probably hit the 5W because I love that club. I don't think it would change my decision off the tee; I would still have to see how it fit my eye. How far to the woods on the left? With the elevation of the tee and slope of fw right to left, it might make me more inclined to hit 3W as it would be easier to work to the left side of the fairway and the elevation would help get sufficient distance.

[RFKFREAK]

I do it for every golf course I play, including ones I've played before. I'll make a word file with a hole by hole breakdown of how far notable things like fairway bunkers are from the visible tees, measure green dimensions, etc. Helps me with club selection on tee shots. Also useful for measuring driving range markers and seeing which stall they're most accurate from. I never noticed the elevation feature, so thanks to this thread for that.

Google Earth is awesome for holes like this one.

You're right about doglegs, too. So hard to figure it out yourself on the course.

Haha, I have another hole I want to share that's a dogleg that I'd be intrigued to see how people would play it.

[colin007]

In light of the left to right fairway, I would change my second to fade off the left bunker instead of draw off the right, still probably hit the 5W because I love that club. I don't think it would change my decision off the tee; I would still have to see how it fit my eye. How far to the woods on the left? With the elevation of the tee and slope of fw right to left, it might make me more inclined to hit 3W as it would be easier to work to the left side of the fairway and the elevation would help get sufficient distance.

I'm gonna say 250 on the left before you start to get blocked. I like the idea of aiming left with a 220 club and playing a fade. If you stay up on the hill it's still a better angle to hit your second.

[boogielicious]

Does anyone else use Google Earth to map out a golf course they haven't played before?   I started doing this a few years ago and it really helps me figure out yardages to key hazards and how much room I might have, which might not be evident from the tee box. An architect can make a hole look far scarier than it really is.  In this case, noot knowing the yardage to the pinched area (is it in my normal landing zone?), I would be conservative, perhaps more conservative than need be.  If I know the yardage from the tee is 270, I might still hit driver since that's not in my normal range, even from an elevated tee.   Google Earth is especially useful when crossing hazards on doglegs. I can figure out a general line of play before stepping foot onto the course.

I've done it for a couple of courses.  I made a little card and kept it with a score card.  It comes in handy.

[RFKFREAK]

I'm gonna say 250 on the left before you start to get blocked. I like the idea of aiming left with a 220 club and playing a fade. If you stay up on the hill it's still a better angle to hit your second.

Maybe it's selective memory but when I've hit it to the left of the fairway, I seem to remember the ball trickles down to the flat part in the middle of the fairway.  Does it stay up a lot of the time for you?