A par 5 hole for 9Wood

[DrvFrShow]

2 hours ago, Fourputt said:

This thread is partly for @9wood.  Just to dispel your idea that I only play "easy" courses or holes, here is one the most challenging par 5 holes I've played.  I've played it a couple of times every year for the last 10 years, and I've only parred it once (when I first played it I was still an 11 handicap).  This is the 7th hole of the Meadow 9 at Pole Creek GC in Tabernash, Colorado.  552 yards from the white tees - elevation about 8500 feet above sea level.  Tee shot is somewhat down hill, second shot is more downhill as you work through a wetland valley, then the third shot is steeply uphill to a green where you can't see more than the top of the flagstick.  This is an example of a solid par 5 hole that was laid out on the land, not created by moving a lot of dirt.  (All 27 holes at Pole Creek make great use of the natural terrain for fun but challenging golf).

Yellow track is the "planned" route, but the blue track is closer to the normal way that I end up playing the hole.  That second shot on the yellow track is to a patch of fairway that isn't much larger than a green, with hazard on three sides.  

I usually aim my drive on the yellow track, but only a perfect shot will let me go for the yellow second shot.  If don't hit a perfect drive, I don't even try for it, because the second is from a downhill lie with the ball below your feet as well. I can usually make no worse than bogey by playing my third shot on the blue track, so the blue layup is my usual second shot.  If you carry the fairway bunker on your drive, you have a strong chance then of running through the fairway into a bad lie in deep rough.  If I try the yellow track and my second shot ends up in the hazard, then bogey is mostly just a dream.  Since I play for score, not for whatever esoteric satisfaction you seem to get from the game, I will usually go with the odds.

I'm adding the altitude bonuses

You know, why kill myself? I'm 63 yrs old woman. I've got back problems now. I can still hit the ball, but I'm just playing for enjoyment. So I'm playing forward tees not the seniors. I'm not trying to impress anyone. This is a 444 yd par 5. 

I hit a 7 iron off the tee about 166 yds and I probably hook it a bit - this cuts the dogleg. I can't reach the green anyway from where I am, so I have two choices: lay up to one of two green-sized areas surrounded on three sides by nasty s***. One is about 190 yds or a solid 5 iron away, and the other is 135 yds or a 9 iron away. I'll take the 9 iron shot. This leaves me with a Gap Wedge of 110 yds to the green and a birdie putt which I'll probably miss and par the hole.