What spot would you aim for.

[iacas]

I think a decent player would do just fine on that hole.

[Fourputt]

15 minutes ago, 9wood said:

Good observations. One thing you're not able to notice however is how fast the green actually is on this hole. 

Every ball I have ever seen hit the green has always ended up somewhere near that 542' marker, and that's a good distance uphill and back to the green

The 542' marker is not 20 yards off the green - more like 20 yards from the center of the green.  

As mentioned, it's very hard to evaluate with any certainty because we have never actually seen the course, but it really doesn't look as hard as you say it is - it may actually be, but none of the available data indicates one way or the other.

[Lihu]

1 hour ago, DrvFrShow said:

Everything looks flat on Google Earth.

Here's hole 4 at Altadena that I alluded to in an earlier post in this thread. Actually, it looks much worse on Google Earth than in real life, although most golfers feel like it's this bad.

[9wood]

1 hour ago, Fourputt said:

The 542' marker is not 20 yards off the green - more like 20 yards from the center of the green.  

As mentioned, it's very hard to evaluate with any certainty because we have never actually seen the course, but it really doesn't look as hard as you say it is - it may actually be, but none of the available data indicates one way or the other.

You'd have to see and play it before you could fully understand. 

[iacas]

3 hours ago, 9wood said:

You'd have to see and play it before you could fully understand. 

I'm going to just come out and say it, and I'm sure you will disagree, but still…

I don't think that it's possible for a 138-yard hole with a little bunker to be anywhere near as difficult as you are portraying it to be. Not without the green being gimmicky firm or something, and in upstate New York, that's almost impossible given that your weather isn't going to be very different than mine.

I think you simply aren't giving credit to how good a player can be. PGA Tour greens are quite firm, and yet, they stop balls on them from 200 yards out hitting 5I downwind. I'm pretty sure a good player can stop a ball on a green that doesn't appear and doesn't measure in Google Earth to be severely tilted.

I fully believe that you've never seen anyone stop a ball on the green. But for that to be true, you've simply never seen a really good player hit a PW or 9I on that hole.

The sixth green at Whispering Woods takes anywhere from a 7I to a 3I depending on your length, the temperature, and how far back the tees are. It slopes away from you and is atop a hill. Golfers can stop the ball on the front third of that green, or hit the middle and stop it well before it goes off the back. And that's from 185-210.

If this hole is such that a good player cannot stop a ball on the green, it's gimmicky and not really worth discussion.

Outside of that, the answer to your question remains: hit the ball so it finishes as close to the hole as possible.

---

P.S. If you're asking people how YOU should play the hole, or how they would play it given some conditions that match up with your game (i.e. you're hitting a 7I and can't stop it on the green easily), then that's a different question altogether. I'd say hit an 8I so it bounces or trickles on to the front edge and play it from there. It sounds like you'd get closer doing it that way than bouncing a 7I off the back.

[Austin_Sachs]

 

Other than the fact that this is an impossible green to play unless you hole your shot, I would hit a cut to the pin so the chances are higher that my uphill putt will be shorter.

[vangator]

I think a urethane ball could hold just about any green if struck properly.  I'd usually hit a smooth 8 iron from 138, but I could get a SW there if needed.  That might be the shot if it really is that tough to hold.

There is a 200 yard par 3 that I play for just short of the green because I can't get a 4 iron to hold the green.  I usually play a cut to help it stop as well.

Back when I first started and played Rock Flites all the time, there was on par 5 that I could never hit the green and hold.  Too much clay in the soil.  The green was like asphalt.

[9wood]

59 minutes ago, iacas said:

 

I don't think that it's possible for a 138-yard hole with a little bunker to be anywhere near as difficult as you are portraying it to be. 

I think you simply aren't giving credit to how good a player can be.

If this hole is such that a good player cannot stop a ball on the green, it's gimmicky and not really worth discussion.

Those who have played the hole say it's a very difficult hole

And finally I never stated in any of my posts that a good player cannot get the ball to stop on the green. If you go into the pro shop the word is that it is almost impossible to to get a ball to sit on this green. That comes from the management. 

[Ernest Jones]

1 minute ago, 9wood said:

Those who have played the hole say it's a very difficult hole

And finally I never stated in any of my posts that a good player cannot get the ball to stop on the green. If you go into the pro shop the word is that it is almost impossible to to get a ball to sit on this green. That comes from the management. 

Then management should fix the green, because a par 3 that is impossible to stick is bullshit. 

[9wood]

Just now, Ernest Jones said:

Then management should fix the green, because a par 3 that is impossible to stick is bullshit. 

People who play it love the challenge it presents so no change will be coming any time soon

[vangator]

I like a good challenge, then I like masochism.

[billchao]

1 hour ago, 9wood said:

People who play it love the challenge it presents so no change will be coming any time soon

That doesn't sound like a challenge, it just sounds gimmicky. Good hole designs reward good shots and punish bad ones, give you different risk/reward options, etc. You hit the green with a good shot and it should stay there, not funnel all the way down the back for no real good reason.

This hole sounds like the golf equivalent of a carnival ring toss.

[colin007]

I don't think there's any 140 yard hole that I can't land on the green and hold it. Certainly not any I've ever played. And I'm not any good either, so...?

[boogielicious]

@9wood,

These kind of threads can be fun. We are all trying to improve our game and how to play different holes helps out. In the future, if you could provide a bit more information in the OP, even a Google Earth photo, it would make it easier to discuss. Details on why the hole plays a certain way help too. Things like ground condition, green hardness, etc.are helpful as well.

[Lihu]

1 hour ago, colin007 said:

I don't think there's any 140 yard hole that I can't land on the green and hold it. Certainly not any I've ever played. And I'm not any good either, so...?

Ditto, here. I get at least 7000rpm with my 9i, I can't imagine not sticking that green if I hit it.

The times I've hit the green on this hole below which is a short 326 yard par 4 with LW to 8i approach depending upon what you use for the tee shot has a similar shot to the one described in the OP, I stuck it even when the ground was really dry. I also rolled off about half the time as well when it was that dry (Teflon greens). It's Brookside Course 2 hole 8. I hit it about 25% of the time, and stick it most of the time except when the greens are running really fast and dry.

[9wood]

11 hours ago, billchao said:

That doesn't sound like a challenge, it just sounds gimmicky. Good hole designs reward good shots and punish bad ones, give you different risk/reward options, etc. You hit the green with a good shot and it should stay there, not funnel all the way down the back for no real good reason.

This hole sounds like the golf equivalent of a carnival ring toss.

Personally, I find the hole challenging as do many other who play it. It's a hole that you have to work to just get par. 

[Lihu]

3 minutes ago, 9wood said:

Personally, I find the hole challenging as do many other who play it. It's a hole that you have to work to just get par. 

Most par 3 are like that. You need to work hard for par.

[9wood]

3 hours ago, boogielicious said:

@9wood,

These kind of threads can be fun. We are all trying to improve our game and how to play different holes helps out. In the future, if you could provide a bit more information in the OP, even a Google Earth photo, it would make it easier to discuss. Details on why the hole plays a certain way help too. Things like ground condition, green hardness, etc.are helpful as well.

The greens on this course have the shortest and fastest turf of any course I have ever played. Take that combined with the firmness, slope and speed of the green and you have a challenging green. People who never played it say it's not difficult. Those who have actually played it say otherwise