That One Shot???

[CoachB25]

So, when you sit back and think of "that one shot" that was the greatest shot of your life, what was it?

My boss is a pretty serious scramble player.  (4 man scramble)  His brother was ill and so, I was asked to fill in on his team.  We were up and down for the round as scrambles go and so, I started feeling the heat to produce.  We were on a Par 5 Dog Leg left that can only be described as narrow.  I was hitting last and so, typically the leadoff put one in the fairway so the rest of us could blast away.  The first 3 went OB.  I hit a 3 wood and caught it pretty good but we were behind a tree that is the Midwest version of a giant redwood.  LOL  #1 pitched out.  The rest did as well but we really didn't have any great options.  I took my 3 wood out again and lined up my shot.  My Boss wanted to know if I was crazy.  I told him we were on the green and that he didn't know it.  I told him I was going to draw one around that tree and with that draw, down hill run and some luck we were going to be putting.  At the same time, inwardly, I knew I was about to make a fool of myself it I hit that tree.  I still dream about that shot.  It is the single greatest shot I have ever made.  How about you?

Edited November 19, 2015 by CoachB25
Typo

[DrvFrShow]

It's a toss up between two shots. It was a par 410 yd par 5. FYI, anything over 400 yds is a par 5 for women except for LPGA. The first half of the hole had a downhill slope.  I'd put myself in pretty bad shape with my drive which due to summer conditions went further than I thought it would. It was in the rough on the left under a pine tree with a pine tree in front. I had two shots: a chip out onto the fairway - the safe shot; or since I wasn't having a career best round to begin with, challenge the hole and try a low hook around the tree.

I was 145 yds from the flag with the green up from my position for my second shot. I chose an 8 iron. Took a stronger grip than usual, squared it to the target, played the ball back, aimed right, and hit it about as hard as I could. I didn't see where it landed, but I did see it start to the woods on the other side of the fairway then curve. It stopped 18 feet above the hole. (Grabs brim on visor)

This set up the next shot - the 18 foot breaking downhill putt. Lines up putt like a pro. Picks line. Stokes putter. Watches ball roll, turn at exact break point and roll straight down into the cup. My first eagle. (Waves on way to hole to retrieve ball)

 

[David in FL]

I'm still trying to wrap my mind around the term "pretty serious scramble player"....

[jbishop15]

At my home course, the 18th hole is a 554 yard par 5. It's a straight hole that goes down and then back up a hill. Bisecting the fairway the cart path; anything past the cart path is 330 or better. 

I hit my drive, and had 292 to the pin. To carry the green on the most direct line to the pin was 282 yards. I decided to go for it. I carry a Rocketballz Stage 2 Tour 3W, which on stock setting has about 13 degrees of loft. I set up, get my aim, and absolutely nail the thing. The ball comes off like a rocket, starting about fifteen yards right of the pin, and carrying all the way to the center of the green, which was about 287. It bounds off the green, leaving me about thirty feet for eagle. 

I then, of course, naturally, obviously, precede to take four strokes to get the ball in the hole from there. 

[SavvySwede]

The 9th hole at Sea Oaks CC during the Ocean County High Schools tournament. Only a 500 yard par 5 but uphill all the way and it happened to be into the wind that day. I'm 240 out and in the fairway, hit a high cut with a 3 wood working it into a strong quartering wind to get it to drop softly onto a front right pin location tucked behind a bunker, 18 inch tap in for eagle and I went on to win the tournament by one shot.

[mcanadiens]

On the par-4, No. 9 at WGC Golf Course in Xenia, OH, I was on stroke four and still 100 yards out. This was probably in my second year playing and I was really raw.  Anyway, I hit a tidy PW that took one hop in the fringe and into the cup with just the slightest sound issuing from the flag stick for an unlikely par.    

[pganapathy]

Two recent shots stand out, though there are some others from before.  First was a short par 4.  Inside a 100 yards to the green and hit a PW.  Drops and a hop or two later it goes in for an eagle.  Second is a 310 or so yard par 4.  Never hit the green before and the group in front is putting.  Drive and perfect contact.  It runs on and is 10 to 15 feet from the cup.  Just miss the eagle putt by like a few inches

[Patch]

In addition to some aces, I have had a few "one  shot to remember" in my days. Most have involved less than normal shots. Stuff like having to hit a severe slice or hook to reach the green.  Ones where the previous poor shot left me  in a bad position. 

I do remember a high, 6i fade/slice I needed to pull off to get over a tree and on the green. This is the shot that stands out the most I think.  Another was a 150 yard shot to a pln tucked behind a bunker with little green to work with. Ball stopped 3" past the cup.

There have also been some pretty spectacular putts that I have made. Those having  been of the multi breaking, snake types. 

My thanks to the OP for this topic and past memories. 

[CoachB25]

This was not my shot but I wanted to mention a shot one of my girls made on the golf team.  We were playing at a course with a lot of trees and water.  For my team, not good.  My #4 is sitting in jail.  Not much to offer unless she hit the ball backwards.  Water in front and tree canopy.  She looks up and sees one hole in the canopy and says to me that she can hit the ball through that hole.  Keep in mind that this is my #4.  This is an impossible shot.  I don't make them play as I want and let them play the game, make decisions on their own etc.  I do give advice if they ask.  She looks at me and asked what I would do.  I told her backwards and play for bogey at best.  She tells me she can go through that canopy.  So, I tell her commit to the shot and do it then.  She swings and that ball went through that very small hole in the canopy.  Parents and opponents are all cheering for her (This girl has been voted most enjoyable to play a round with by the girls in our area.) as that ball goes through.  As she swings, she cries out "Carpe Diem."  We are so excited UNTIL we hear the pop of a tree.  She has hit a tree beyond the green, the ball rolled back across the green and into the water.  LOL  Still, she walked around as proud as could be because she put that ball through that small hole in the canopy. 

[shanksalot]

 The hole. a par 4 400 yards. The layout of the hole. Heavily tree lined with one big Oak that hung over the fairway on the left side. OB left and one big oak that hung over the right side opposite the other big oak tree. The fairway was built like a road with slopes on left and right to allow water to drain away from the middle. Very narrow fairway that would not have allowed two cars to drive down it side by side. The strategy is to hit the ball down the right side with a little draw to just short of the two big oak that shut down any drive in the air that might go past them. Thus I hit a Cally original Big Bertha heavenwood off the tee and it landed just where I wanted but it got a kick to the left and rolled up behind the big oak on the left. When I got to the ball I was just short of the oak and my only shot was to hit it around the oak and hook it quickly as the other side of the fairway was all trees all the way down to the green. If I pulled it just a little I would hit the oak in front of me and if I did not hook almost immediately after I would go into the woods on the right. I hit what was a perfect shot that curved around the oak and inside the trees on the right. The ball started low and starting rising and turning to the left landing on the green about five feet from the pin and released just past it. Birdie on the toughest hole on the course. I could hit a bucket of balls and never replicate that shot again. I have holed out from the fairway for eagle many, many times also have three holes in one and numerous hero shots that I pulled off but this one shot will remain in my memory as the greatest shot I have ever hit. 

[mdl]

Shot that started my turnaround on still my best round ever, a 74 at Encino in LA (par 72, 6,933 yards, 72.5/121 from the back where I was playing, pretty wide generally, known as a place to go to feel good about your scoring, especially if you've got good distance like I do).  Was playing well through the start of the round, then bogey, double on 8 and 9 to finish the front at 41, which pissed me off as I hadn't broken 80 yet but kept flirting with it and failing.  10th is a 507 yard, straightaway par 5 that I can reach with a good drive and a good 4i to 2h, depending on how far I drive it.  Was hoping to recover a shot there, but hit a solidly struck drive right into the trees.  Smart play was a punch out that only advanced the ball ~30 yards, but there was a tiny window in the trees right at the pin.  Was pissed about driving it into the trees, so I went for it with my 2h, hit it perfectly, snuck it through what couldn't have been wider than a 1-2 foot window, dropped and stopped 5 feet below the hole, sunk the putt for eagle on my way to a 33 on the par 36 back 9.  

[Jaymancds]

Playing a 420 yard par 4.  From the tee box down to the middle of the fairway is about 250 yards on about a hundred foot drop.  I had never hit the fairway on this particular hole until I hit the shot of my life went about 300 and rolled a good 20 or 30 yards after that.  I went on to a decent approach onto the green in 2 shots. 2 put for par.  First par I ever made.  Havent hit that fairway since.

[inthehole]

177 yd 4h to 1/2".

Golf is a cruel game ...

[possumkiwi]

You know that bit in Paper Tiger when he's playing with Dr Suttie and the annoying college kid, and he hits the shot that from the start of his downswing he knows will be perfect?

I had one of those recently, 3rd on a 550yd par 5.  I'd just driven the green on a short par 4, then split the fairway after playing through.
9i in hand, my one swing thought was "takeaway".  Swung smooth as silk, perfect divot flying right in line with the ball, which was dead at the pin, hopped once and stopped a foot away.  Tap in birdie, then par on the next hole - golf's easy. 

[Dave2512]

It's not something I think about. If you took the best 10 shots of my life or whatever all are probably down to luck. In fact I've hit some real ugly WTF shots with incredible results. One time I hit a freaky power push that was so far right it was heading off the course to an area so far out of play it's not marked OB. It hit a gas well that sits between holes 6 and 7, I was playing hole 2, and bounced backwards and left about 40 yards rolling on to the green and stopping about 4" from the hole. We didn't even know what happened to it until we got up to the green and thought someone had left a ball there. I use Kick X balls with a very specific personalized stamp so it was my ball.

I suppose there was one exception and it was actually a string of good shots. At my former home course I hit a drive far enough that I had an 6 iron approach on a short par 5. It was before I used GPS or laser so not sure how far but it was freaking far. I stuck the approach to about 4 feet and made the eagle putt. The next hole is a long uphill par 4 and again I killed a drive this time to 8 iron approach distance on a hole I often had to hit a 7w into. I hit the 8i to about 2 feet with the hole cut on the funky little crown part of the green and made the birdie putt.

So in 2 holes all off a sudden I was under par for the first time ever, -2 due to a bogey on #1. Next up 6th hole. Again I smash a drive to 54 wedge range on a short par 4 but blew it and left it on the fringe. Perfect example of good luck and happenstance I chipped it in for birdie so I played the middle 3 holes on the front -3. It was the best golf I've ever played but it was short lived, bogeys on 7-9 to turn even.

[bkuehn1952]

19 hours ago, CoachB25 said:

So, when you sit back and think of "that one shot" that was the greatest shot of your life, what was it?

This is easy.  We came to the last hole at my father's club's Member/Guest one up against the previous year's winners.  My father had carried our team the entire event until this last hole when he dumped his 2nd shot in the water.  It comes down to me against the other team.  They both manage to get on the green.  My ball is in the fairway with a hanging lie.  I have to hit over the water hazard to a well-bunkered green.  I hit my 4-iron perfectly (I still carried a 4-iron back then) and put it on the green about 15 feet away.  We won the Member/Guest, which was probably the high point of both my and my father's competitive golf lives.  Best shot hit under pressure.

 

[WUTiger]

I was playing years ago at the old Eagle Green GC near University of North Texas in Denton. (Course since turned into housing).

Hole No. 9 was an uphill, 490-yd. Par 5 with fairway bunkers about 60 yds. in front of the terraced green. I hit a solid drive into the right rough, and decided to lay up short of the bunkers with a 6i.

A big hitter in our group then put a fairway wood onto the back fringe of the green, with the cup just below the terrace on the lower lever. I hit a half PW that bounced three feet in front of the cup, but skipped up to the upper level about five feet above the terrace.

The big hitter took his putter, and ran a shot off the back fringe. It was a smooth stroke, but it ran down to the edge, rolled over the terrace and skipped back off the front of the green!

I put away my putter and took a 7 iron, and hit a putting stroke with it. The ball checked up just before the terrace, and trickled over the edge and rolled slowly into the cup for a birdie.

The check spin meant the ball was propelled mainly by gravity - not by the force of the stroke - and was slow enough to find the cup.

===============

I also sank a hole-in-one with a 6 iron last summer, a month after I got my X20 Tours reshafted with NS Pro 8950 R-flex shafts. But you guys already heard about that one. 

[Sidehatch]

Lost Canyons, Sky Course in Simi Valley, Hole 18, Par 4. On a really windy day, hit a drive into the middle of the second fairway. Then holed out from 131 yards away with a full pitching wedge (I am not a big hitter, but the elevation change helped my distance). It was the end of the day and was using a lighted ball that blinks after you strike it, so my buddy and I both watched it hit the landing zone about 10 feet in front of the pin, blinking as it rolled in. Prior to that, my longest shot ever made was a 60-hard chip, so this was easily a big step up. 

 

But the 131 was a year ago. My best recent shot was a 200-yard par 3, and a guy was kind enough to let me play through because I was playing way faster than he was playing. Thanked him, took a quick shot with the intent of minimizing his wait, put it 3-4 feet from the pin, easily tapped it in and was done with the hole in 2-3 minutes. Since then, I haven't even come close to doing that again on that hole, hehe.