"Blue Collar" Pars

[sonicblue]

Played in the Chandler City Championship tournament back in August, second day I was playing like garbage, but getting it in from everywhere. We get to # 5, about a 440 yard par 4, over a hill then down to the hole, playing a bit into the wind. I smother hook the tee shot into the "native grass" which is simply weeds that they don't mow, literally about 180 yards off the tee. I'm 5 seconds away from declaring it lost and one of the other guys finds it. Eeesh, I wish he wouldn't have, it's basically in between the thick exposed roots of 3 different stands of weeds. I slash out a 9 iron that I thought I could get on it, it went nearly lateral (we don't say the S word) into the same type of grass on the right side. Advanced it a bit, but not quite what we were looking for.

Your tee shot only went about 180 (leaving you 260), you "advanced it a bit...nearly lateral" on your second (leaving, what, 200?), but then were able to slash an 8-iron out of thick stuff to four feet?

[Jeepthrills]

My best one may have come earlier this year. I was having my best round ever. I had just birdied 6, 7 and 8 to get to one over. Par on the last would beat my best 9 hole score by a shot and would as it turns out end up winning the match for me as well.

360 yard par 4. I pull my tee shot into the left rough. It was thick and I had a big tree about 15 yards in front of me. I tried to get cute and go for the green instead of just advancing it. It hits the last branch and drops in the fairway. Now I have about 65 yards to a pin on the back tier. My shot looks perfect, when it lands two feet from the pin, but releases about 10 feet past. I end up with a downhill putt that breaks about 3 feet. To compound the pressure my opponent chips in for par meaning that I need this putt for my best round ever and to win. I step up and drain it. Great feeling.

[g-funk13]

about 10 years ago:

412 yard par 4.

Off Tee: hit tree trunk about 30 yards ahead of the teebox, and the ball ricochets back and to the right, effectively making the hole about 45 yards longer.

2nd shot: Driver off deck that pushes right into trees.

3rd shot: punch out with long iron that BARELY advances ball.

4th shot: 137yd 9i. Smacked it thin, ball smashes into the pin just under the flag, takes one bounce and falls in.

Golf is sooo easy!

[Zakko]

459 yard par 5

The teebox is about 10 yards to the right and about 35 yards past the previous green. The course built a mesh-link fence infront of the previous green to protect putters from stray tee balls.

Needless to say, my tee shot slams right into the fence and drops right next to it. I have no choice but to chip it backhanded sideways back into the fairway rough.

Pull out the 3 wood and thankfully, blast the hell out of it to about 175 yards. I then break out the 6 iron, hit it a bit thin and leave it in the 2nd cut on the green. Just trying to get it close to make bogey, I grab the putter wanting to slam it home to two feet. Sure enough, that piggie hits the pin and drops for the world's greatest par EVAR!


Kinda sucked standing beside my buddy's eagle, though...

[flash]

On Saturday,12th. hole I hooked driver behind a tree in the rough.Had to hit a low hook to get ball back into play. left with my favorite yardage(80yds) hit a gapwedge thin just over the back of green. Had a 20fotter downhill,fellow player asked if I wanted pin in or out.I remember saying" na just pull it out and I'll get out of here and meet ya all on 13th tee. putt hit back of hole,bounced straight up a couple of inches and dropped in for par.said nothing to replies of'ahh come on,get real' snickered, went to golfbag,stood there as innocent looking as I could,then lost it and we all broke up!!! Cheers Flash

[PhilGood]

I don't make too many. One from today: good drive on a par five, good second shot. 60 yards to the pin, but it's up front and the green slopes front to back. I try to get REALLY cute with it and fat it. My next shot lands perfectly where I want but bounces backwards, so now i'm 25 feet from the pin and still in the fringe. I hole the putt.

For someone capping a 3, that qualifies. I on the other hand, am a completely different story. I'm a short knocker so "blue collar" pars are the norm for me. When I play on a course I'm not familiar with, more than half my pars come from 1 putt greens. Even on my home course, which features a lot of par 3s (par 69) and short par 4s, a huge bulk of my pars are still 1 putt pars.

I would probably have less if I played the tees that were more appropriate for my game but I play with a lot of single digit cappers and they insist on playing the tips which puts me at a serious disadvantage. And when I'm out of town, it's normally at a tournament so I have to play the designated tees, which are normally longer than my home course's tips. Let me tell you that it's no fun hitting a good drive, nailing a 3 wood, and still left with 30 yards to the green facing an up and down for par on a regular basis on a course you've never played before. The only reason I'm carrying such a low index is cos my home course is super tight and has greens that rival Augusta's. This drives the scores of tourists sky high (and we get a lot of em due to the beautiful weather and the number of tournaments held), thus its high slope rating. But I digress. The topic was about your favorite "blue collar" par, and I haven't answered it yet. Guess it's cos I don't really have any. When they come on such a routine basis, it's hard to get excited about one that I remember them 3 days later. But reading about all these pars just brought up memories of my game and how I can relate so I felt like responding. In my last round, I was faced with a 349 yard dogleg left par 4. I hit a drive about 210 into the light rough right of the fairway. Faced with a 180 yd carry to a green fronted by a creek, I decided to hit a 3 hybrid that I felt would max out to just in front of the creek (about 160 yds). I hit a flyer that, for the life of me I can't figure out how, ended up over said creek but in a bunker fronting the green. Blast it out to 4 feet, sink the putt, story of my life.

[beisenhauer]

I just had one yesterday that qualifies for this thread.

309-yard par 4, dogleg right. I hooked my drive (3-wood) into some long grass up on a dune-like hill left of the fairway. After warning my playing partners that I had no idea where my next shot might go, I just whacked at it with a pitching wedge. The result was a line drive just left of the green that wound up about pin high, maybe 15-20 yards from the flag and 7 or 8 feet below the surface of the green. Unfortunately that distance now included a 2-foot thick maple tree. I tried to pitch it to the high side of the tree, hoping the ball might feed down closer to the hole. I left the pitch short, about 5 feet off the green in the fringe, maybe 15-20 feet from the hole. Chipped in.

[Jeepthrills]

I had one Sunday. Decent drive. Skulled my approach over the green. My pitch shot hung up in the rough and died on the green about 30 feet above the hole. I rolled in the putt.

[Matsui]

I am known for my scrambling ablility, so this isn't new for my group that I am playing with. 390 yard par 4 with water along the right side and the green bends to the right around the water. I push my tee shot and it stops in the tall grass right before the water, but still in the hazard. I just punch out to 100 yard away and then hit my sand wedge to 30 feet. Downhill put, but really straight and I just need to get it going to make it. Well, bang, make it.

[Phil]

all my pars are blue collar, haha

[Big Lex]

My brother used to tell a story about a par in his best round ever. I think he shot 72 for the day, one over...he was about an 8 hcp at the time, so it was a very good score for him.

Anyway, he was playing with one of these Mr. Wonderful types who was indeed a very good golfer, but my brother happened to be beating him on this day. They were on 18, and my brother drives it into the rough in a bad lie. He tries to really hoe the ball out and up onto the green and ends up swinging under the ball, moving it about 5 feet. Mr. Wonderful says "you sure know how to f*** up a good round." My brother stares at him and hits his next wedge a foot from the hole and makes par for his 72.

[Jack_2251]

Ok, on Sunday, on a long 560 yard par 5, I slice the s**t out of my drive, into a bunker for another hole. Top the bunker shot about 50 yards. So im about 300 out now. Hit a nice high drawing 3 wood from the wrong fairway into the left rough.
Hit my 54* wedge from about 80 out, to about 1 inch, and tap in for par...

[Thrdroc]

My last Blue Collar par was when i took clients from Columbia out to play. The hole was a par 4, said 370 but was playing like 350 and all way down hill. I cream my drive and i'm about ~25 yards from the green. The pin is in the back and I hit my chip thin and go way over. Next shot i'm probably 20 yards away and again I hit it thin but it stays on the green about 30 feet from the hole. I sink the putt.

[dbornack]

My ultimate Blue Collar par.. shooting even-par, with 18 pars.

It was the weirdest, most frustrating, humbling, and exciting rounds I've ever played in my life.

I couldn't make a damn birdie which was EXTREMELY frustrating.

But I made some unbelievable saves with 25 foot putts, etc..

It certainly wasn't boring.. hahaha

[Terrier]

Pured a Mickelson-like drive @ # 12 at Possum Trot that ended up on #11. Back tees.

Hit a 60 over the Carolina Pines and lipped the putt for bird. Pro I was playing with said, "that's a par to brag about."