par-five play...

[Golfingdad]

I don't know what it is, but it seems to me that the very long par-five holes seem to not have the big trouble on the drive or the second shot, it's mostly the third shot

See, now that seems like pretty good common sense to me, but there is one hole at a course I play occasionally around here that is a joke in that regard.  From the tips,it's 624 yards, and from the blue tees where I usually play, it's 613 yards.  Even from the white tees, its 597.  From the blues, you can't hit more than a hybrid off the tee or else you risk running through the end of the first fairway into a ravine that bisects the hole.  Even if you hit a perfect drive - 240 or so down the middle near the end of the fairway - you are left with an uphill second shot from a DOWNHILL lie (since everything feeds towards that ravine) and "only" 350 or so yards to the green. This means you have to take as much club as possible, but it still has to be something that you can get up in the air, so as not to line drive it right into the first part of the fairway on the opposite side of the ravine.  I usually end up going hybrid-hybrid, and even when they're both struck well, I'm lucky to be inside of 150 for my approach.  More often than not, one of the first two shots is not ideal, and I'm hitting my third from 200 or 180 or something.

I have no trouble with a par 5 that forces you to think, and even one that forces you to take less off the tee and play it as three shots.  I also have no problem with a par 5 that is a mile long.  I DO have a problem with the idea of combining those two into one hole and thinking that is a good layout.  This and one or two other joke hole layouts are part of the reason I've stopped playing this course, for the most part.

[rehmwa]

I go for it more than I should.   But in tournament play, I lay up most of the time.

I go for it more than I should.

But in tournament play, I go for it more than I should.

It pays off most of the time.

(unless it's really penal around the green, always go for it.  if I miss, then at least I'm trying to get up and down for birdie.  I never want to take a full swing on the 3rd shot to a par 5.)

[vangator]

I always play par 5's to get the par at least. Nothing I hate more than a 6 (or higher on the scorecard). If a long drive is possible, then reaching in two becomes an option. If I can't bust a drive, then I pretty much play for on in 3 (unless it's a short par 5).

[dfreuter415]

Let's say you hit a really good drive on a par-five and are close enough to be able to reach the green in two shots.... We all play different courses and have different conditions... So in what situations would you go for the green? What situations would make you lay-up?

Go for the green every time except:

1) water surrounds the green

2) out-of-bounds near the green

3) long, US Open-ish rough around the green

[onthehunt526]

Go for the green every time except:   1) water surrounds the green   2) out-of-bounds near the green   3) long, US Open-ish rough around the green

How near the green are we talking with the O.B.?

[dfreuter415]

How near the green are we talking with the O.B.?

Before we moved, I played in a league where the OB on the 18th hole was within 15 yards of the right side of the green. It was a par 4, not a par 5, but it was an uphill 420 yard dogleg. Many times I bailed out to the left or laid up with my second shot rather than challenging the green, especially with the pin on the right side. Bu there were times I got brave and it cost me a stroke, too.

Having said that, I would go for the par 5 in two if the OB was more than 15 yards from the green.