Hit it Over the Ditch or Lay up Short?

[9wood]

Here is a hole at a course about 1/2 mile from my house which presents a challenge for me. This hole is entirely up a steep hill and demands accuracy. It's the 14th short 265 yd par 4. And since I definitely am not able to drive to the green I have to avoid the many hazards on this hole. I have two options as shown in the photos. But the best option for me is the layup which leaves me with 100 yds to go.

 

Edited March 10, 2016 by 9wood

[SavvySwede]

5 minutes ago, 9wood said:

Here is a hole at a course about 1/2 mile from my house which presents a challenge for me. This hole is entirely up a steep hill and demands accuracy. It's the 14th short 265 yd par 4. And since I definitely am not able to drive to the green I have to avoid the many hazards on this hole. I have two options as show in the photos. But the best option for me is the layup which leaves me with 100 yds to go.

 

That's a really poor hole design and on top of that it appears you need to go out on the road to get to the tee. You play at a lot of strange places.

[billchao]

On 3/7/2016 at 0:13 PM, jamo said:

Grip it and rip it. Go big or go home. Other clichés indicating that I'd hit it over the ditch.

Didn't you lay up on #8 at WW a few years ago? 

[Valleygolfer]

25 minutes ago, SavvySwede said:

That's a really poor hole design and on top of that it appears you need to go out on the road to get to the tee. You play at a lot of strange places.

There are quite a few courses that are built in areas that require some short road travel around here.

[jamo]

29 minutes ago, billchao said:

Didn't you lay up on #8 at WW a few years ago? 

Umm. No comment. 

[Lihu]

1 hour ago, 9wood said:

Here is a hole at a course about 1/2 mile from my house which presents a challenge for me. This hole is entirely up a steep hill and demands accuracy. It's the 14th short 265 yd par 4. And since I definitely am not able to drive to the green I have to avoid the many hazards on this hole. I have two options as shown in the photos. But the best option for me is the layup which leaves me with 100 yds to go.

 

Go with the first solution. The second one is putting you too close to trouble. If you could hit 200 yards that tight, you wouldn't need to worry. I feel like driving the green would put me into the trees. It's one of those holes where you need to play it many times to get comfortable. . .

[9wood]

57 minutes ago, SavvySwede said:

That's a really poor hole design and on top of that it appears you need to go out on the road to get to the tee. You play at a lot of strange places.

Well someone must like the course seeing how they pay big bucks to play it.

[vangator]

I'd lay up on that hole.  But there are options.  Hit a 4 iron to your 203 yardage.  And you could bang a driver past the bunkers.  Looks like it calls for a fade for the longer shots.  These short, drivable par 4 are great.  Everybody loves them on tour.

Still think I'd lay up on it though.

[9wood]

6 hours ago, vangator said:

I'd lay up on that hole.  But there are options.  Hit a 4 iron to your 203 yardage.  And you could bang a driver past the bunkers.  Looks like it calls for a fade for the longer shots.  These short, drivable par 4 are great.  Everybody loves them on tour.

Still think I'd lay up on it though.

That would probably be a shot for my 3-4 hybrid. But it could be trouble if it went short or long, so I hit my 6 iron to the 165 yd marker instead since it shouldn't be a problem getting on the green with my PW from there and then hope to birdie putt or at the worst par the hole.

[9wood]

Here is an actual look at the 265 yd par 4 from the the tee box. There is a 25 foot increase in elevation between the tee and the green

 

Edited March 10, 2016 by 9wood

[vangator]

Man, that looks pretty tight.  Those trees on the left looks like it will make you need to layup in that slot.  I think the only way I wouldn't layup would be a scramble with a good layup in play.

If that pic was taken recently, the weather looks pretty nice up there.

[Lihu]

1 hour ago, 9wood said:

Here is an actual look at the 265 yd par 4 from the the tee box. There is a 25 foot increase in elevation between the tee and the green

 

The other option is to go for it with a 3W. I would need to play it a few times to get comfortable with making a definitive answer.

Very scenic! Beautiful course.

[baller7345]

13 hours ago, 9wood said:

Here is a hole at a course about 1/2 mile from my house which presents a challenge for me. This hole is entirely up a steep hill and demands accuracy. It's the 14th short 265 yd par 4. And since I definitely am not able to drive to the green I have to avoid the many hazards on this hole. I have two options as shown in the photos. But the best option for me is the layup which leaves me with 100 yds to go.

 

This is similar to a lot of the par 4s on the back 9 of my home course.  I'm in a similar situation as you are in that I can't drive the green.  Lately I've been picking either my 18 degree hybrid or my 6 iron (depending on how I feel about my sub 80 yard play for the day.

Edited March 10, 2016 by baller7345

[9wood]

3 hours ago, vangator said:

Man, that looks pretty tight.  Those trees on the left looks like it will make you need to layup in that slot.  I think the only way I wouldn't layup would be a scramble with a good layup in play.

If that pic was taken recently, the weather looks pretty nice up there.

Pretty tight indeed. This hole demands accuracy. Best shot for me is to lay-up with my 6 iron which leaves me with PW shot of 100 yds to go

The pic is not recent because things haven't greened up as yet

[Lihu]

6 minutes ago, 9wood said:

Pretty tight indeed. This hole demands accuracy. Best shot for me is to lay-up with my 6 iron which leaves me with PW shot of 100 yds to go

The pic is not recent because things haven't greened up as yet

Yeah, but the landing area behind the bunkers is about 230 yards away. In summer temperatures, I can carry my 3W to that larger landing area. It looks like there is a lot of room under the trees around the greens. It doesn't look like really thick brush. Wide left 220-250 yards does not look that penal either. Forced carry looks to be about 200 yards.

[9wood]

3 minutes ago, Lihu said:

Yeah, but the landing area behind the bunkers is about 230 yards away. In summer temperatures, I can carry my 3W to that larger landing area. It looks like there is a lot of room under the trees around the greens. It doesn't look like really thick brush.

Either way, you're still talking about getting on in two. I still believe it's a safer shot to be left with an easy 100 yds to go. So what benefit would you get from trying a riskier lay-up?

[Lihu]

12 minutes ago, 9wood said:

Either way, you're still talking about getting on in two. I still believe it's a safer shot to be left with an easy 100 yds to go. So what benefit would you get from trying a riskier lay-up?

In this case, the layup option is not for me. I can't get enough spin on my 7i or 6i to hold the 165 position and the ball could roll into the water. I've even thinned my 8i out beyond 190 yards.

I'm better off hitting to the large landing area past the bunkers. Then I have a better view of the green and can bump and run relatively easily. I might even have a chance of rolling to the green? My median 3W is 231 yards measured between January and now. It's a safe club to hit. The worst case is a 60 yard bunker shot, which might mean scramble par from less than 30 yards. Very low risk.

My strategy is completely different because this hole is so much shorter than the 412 yard one in your OP, and the landing zone beyond the bunkers is well within my shot zone (left right dispersion) using a 3W off the tee.

[vangator]

That's going to take a near perfect shot if you try to take it past the water.  Since the layup in just 100 yards, it's a no brainer to layup.

If I were playing with 9wood, I would grab one of his golf balls from his cart while he wasn't looking and hit the shot to see if I could make it.  

During the last scramble I played, the guy I was riding with grabbed my last S3 and proceeded to lose it in the woods.  I hadn't ordered any more yet, so I was slightly miffed.