Your Toughest Hole; Your Nemesis Hole

[iacas]

I don't know that I have any "nemesis" holes, but this one is tough…

From the back tees at WW, #15 measures 561. It's slightly downhill, but finishes at a higher elevation than the tee - the second and third shots are both uphill.

A 275-yard tee shot (into the prevailing wind out of the west) with no room to miss left or right: left is in some long rough, some trees, and down into a creek/hazard. Right is 30+ feet downhill into "The Vortex." The fairway isn't super wide here:

The second shot is 240 off a downhill lie to a fairway that's about 16 yards wide or so…

Still against the breeze, and you have to carry the ravine. Again, off a downslope, to a fairway that's back uphill.

Then the third shot has to crest a small bump in front of the green but stop quickly on a green sloping away from you…

It's one of the par fives where five is a good score for a good player.

[Fourputt]

I've posted this one before, but I'll do it again.  This is the par 5 7th hole on the Meadow 9 at Pole Creek GC in Tabernash CO.  It's one of those love/hate holes for both my brother and me.  We have been playing this one 2 or 3 times each summer for 7 or 8 years now, and neither of us has ever made a par here.  We've both parred each of the other 26 holes at least once, but this one kills us.  We play from either the blue or white tees, never the blacks.

The yellow line is the intended route, but it isn't as straightforward as it appears.  The tee shot is downhill and running through the fairway into some deep rough is a common result.  The trees on the left are very tall and it's also out of bounds on the left all the way to the creek.  Hit one over there and you will be reteeing.  The second shot is downhill from a downhill lie if you do hit the fairway, and the landing area is no larger than many greens, with hazard surrounding it on 3 sides.  The approach from there is steeply uphill (about 40 feet, so that 110 yards plays more like 150), and the green itself is invisible on that shelf until you are within about 30 feet.

My best route so far is the blue line, but that just gets me to chipping range in 3, and I've only done that twice.  Even making bogey requires 3 good shots to get near the green without incurring a penalty or a forced pitch out somewhere along the way.  My only realistic hope to par this hole at this point in my life is to play a good chip or hole a long putt.  Usually, by the time I'm across the 2nd hazard, par is already off the table. 

 

Edited June 19, 2017 by Fourputt

[Valleygolfer]

Nemesis hole part 2, a 200 yardish par 3. Pretty much a guaranteed bogey. Tee box lines up to left of the hole, a strange optical aggravation mentally, that I can't overcome. Rarely hit the green and never chip or pitch close enough to sink a putt. In my case, within 3 feet and even those are sketchy.

[BamaWade]

1 hour ago, Valleygolfer said:

Tee box lines up to left of the hole, a strange optical aggravation mentally, that I can't overcome.

This screws with me, too.  At my club, our #3 is an otherwise reasonably-scorable par 5.  But the tee-box, while parallel to the hole, is shifted to the far left so that it points right down the left-side tree line (of huge Alabama pines).  My stock shot is right-to-left (sometimes left-to-left ), so you'd think 'no problem', but it just doesn't work out that way for me.  

The tee boxes that are actually shaped so that they are diagonal to the target line can also mess with my head a bit at address.  It sure is nice to look up and have that nice, long, narrow strip of short grass pointing the way to success.  Seems like it helps me feel square and aligned.

[Fairway_CY]

Mine is the 10th hole at my home course.  It's really not a difficult hole, but I always seem to start the back with an ugly score.  

From the tees I play, it's listed at 349 yards.  It's downhill pretty severely the entire way, but just shy of the green (at about 280 yards from the tee) is a creek.  A lot of people will hit a fairway wood or a hybrid from the tee to try and get as close to the creek as possible, but... I've tried that and managed to run into the creek, so... my play is usually a 4 iron off the tee to about the only flat area on the hole, which is up on the right side of the fairway and about 140 yards short of the middle of the green.  

The problem is, if you don't find the flat area... the ball is going to be on a severe downhill slope.  The green slopes big time from back to front... and balls can spin off the front and roll into the hazard.  To the left is the safest play now, but... it leaves a pretty tough pitch or chip.  Long is dead because you're pitching up a steep slope onto a green that feeds away from you and it's next to impossible to get the ball to stay on the green.  You have to hope it gets held up in the rough short of the hazard.  Just to the right of the green is a small bunker... but literally 4 feet to the right of the bunker is a road that is OB.  

If I find the flat area in the fairway, I'm capable of making par.  More often than not, however... I'm left scrambling for a bogey or worse after rinsing the ball or missing my target and leaving myself an impossible shot.  Starting the back nine with a double or triple is never fun.

CY

[Valleygolfer]

11 hours ago, Valleygolfer said:

Nemesis hole part 2, a 200 yardish par 3. Pretty much a guaranteed bogey. Tee box lines up to left of the hole, a strange optical aggravation mentally, that I can't overcome. Rarely hit the green and never chip or pitch close enough to sink a putt. In my case, within 3 feet and even those are sketchy.

As soon as I bitch about it, I birdie it today. I guess every now and then a blind squirrel gets a nut. I been hitting this stinger shot all day which is really accurate and the fairways were just mowed so everyeverything was running out. I decided to hit a low 4 iron as far as I could and made the green. Yay! Then sank a 40+ foot putt. Double yay me!

[billchao]

On 6/16/2017 at 9:11 PM, billchao said:

That would be #8 at Green Knoll. A creek crosses the middle of the hole 3 times, OB left and the same creek with fescue on the right. You have to hit it 200 yards to carry the hazard off the tee which isn't too bad with a 45 yard wide playable landing area but you have to hit your line which I struggle with. You can't see the green on the approach so you have to aim at the center of the townhouse building as roughly the center of the green. Fortunately the green is largest on the course but the creek is in play if you hit it short.

If I ever wanted a stinger type shot I could hit on a string, it would be for this hole.

I learned something today. After finally hitting this stupid landing area with my driver, I learned that you can actually be too long on this hole, because this tree is now directly between you and the green:

I had to take a higher lofted club than I wanted and hit it super high and I just barely cleared the top of the tree. If I hit the drive any longer, I would have been completely blocked out from the green and looking to pitch it onto the second fairway area.

So now I hate this hole more than I did before. Hit a good golf shot and you don't even get rewarded 

[Chriasp]

I haven't had chance to play so many courses in my short career. But hole 3, a par 5 on my home course is a real bitch for me.

 

It's a dogleg left with water on the right. Heavy rough on the left and right side. The fairway is tilting to the right. So unless you play the tee shot far left you will not be able to stick to the fairway. Then second shot has to be placed between 3 bunkers to have a decent short game on this course. 

 

You can see the layout on the attachement.

[cipher]

This is a hole at my home course that I don't particularly enjoy.  The scorecard says it is 466y from the back tees.  It generally is at least 500y and played well over 500y on this day.  I actually made par but I rarely ever make a par on this hole.  The water on the right is not really a huge factor but favoring the left side to avoid that miss makes the hole even longer.  Very tough mainly because of the length.  I don't know exactly how it was labeled that distance on the card.

[b101]

On 19/06/2017 at 8:38 PM, Fourputt said:

I've posted this one before, but I'll do it again.  This is the par 5 7th hole on the Meadow 9 at Pole Creek GC in Tabernash CO.  It's one of those love/hate holes for both my brother and me.  We have been playing this one 2 or 3 times each summer for 7 or 8 years now, and neither of us has ever made a par here.  We've both parred each of the other 26 holes at least once, but this one kills us.  We play from either the blue or white tees, never the blacks.

The yellow line is the intended route, but it isn't as straightforward as it appears.  The tee shot is downhill and running through the fairway into some deep rough is a common result.  The trees on the left are very tall and it's also out of bounds on the left all the way to the creek.  Hit one over there and you will be reteeing.  The second shot is downhill from a downhill lie if you do hit the fairway, and the landing area is no larger than many greens, with hazard surrounding it on 3 sides.  The approach from there is steeply uphill (about 40 feet, so that 110 yards plays more like 150), and the green itself is invisible on that shelf until you are within about 30 feet.

My best route so far is the blue line, but that just gets me to chipping range in 3, and I've only done that twice.  Even making bogey requires 3 good shots to get near the green without incurring a penalty or a forced pitch out somewhere along the way.  My only realistic hope to par this hole at this point in my life is to play a good chip or hole a long putt.  Usually, by the time I'm across the 2nd hazard, par is already off the table. 

 

This one wins for me. I guess I would tee as far to the right as I can, fade a drive off the trees to the left and over the bunker and then smash a 3 wood to try to get into the bunkers. Not easy by any means. 

Shame about the out of bounds or you could go as the crow flies (on a quiet day!)

[b101]

On 19/06/2017 at 8:38 PM, Fourputt said:

I've posted this one before, but I'll do it again.  This is the par 5 7th hole on the Meadow 9 at Pole Creek GC in Tabernash CO.  It's one of those love/hate holes for both my brother and me.  We have been playing this one 2 or 3 times each summer for 7 or 8 years now, and neither of us has ever made a par here.  We've both parred each of the other 26 holes at least once, but this one kills us.  We play from either the blue or white tees, never the blacks.

The yellow line is the intended route, but it isn't as straightforward as it appears.  The tee shot is downhill and running through the fairway into some deep rough is a common result.  The trees on the left are very tall and it's also out of bounds on the left all the way to the creek.  Hit one over there and you will be reteeing.  The second shot is downhill from a downhill lie if you do hit the fairway, and the landing area is no larger than many greens, with hazard surrounding it on 3 sides.  The approach from there is steeply uphill (about 40 feet, so that 110 yards plays more like 150), and the green itself is invisible on that shelf until you are within about 30 feet.

My best route so far is the blue line, but that just gets me to chipping range in 3, and I've only done that twice.  Even making bogey requires 3 good shots to get near the green without incurring a penalty or a forced pitch out somewhere along the way.  My only realistic hope to par this hole at this point in my life is to play a good chip or hole a long putt.  Usually, by the time I'm across the 2nd hazard, par is already off the table. 

 

This one wins for me. I guess I would tee as far to the right as I can, fade a drive off the trees to the left and over the bunker and then smash a 3 wood to try to get into the bunkers. Not easy by any means. 

Shame about the out of bounds or you could go as the crow flies (on a quiet day!)

---

My bogey hole is our 13th and, strangely, a par five. I rarely have an issue getting to 520/530 yard par fives in two or at least near the green, so this is an odd one, but it's such a quirky hole and I don't think there's a good strategy other than hitting two or even three really good shots. Bearing in mind 'The Rule', I wonder what @iacas's strategy would be...

It looks like this:

Obligatory pictures: http://burnhamandberrowgolfclub.co.uk/course/13/

The difficulties are as follows: 

Tee shot: The path across the middle of the fairway is sandy and in play - no free drops. Right of the fairway = probable lost ball (there's more gorse than the flyover suggests and the fairway cambers to the right). Left = lost ball or severely limited stance. Short = definite layup. Long = bringing the path into play. Also, you want to be in the middle to see the green, so what looks like a wide fairway actually isn't. You can Tiger-line it and go over the left edge, but it's seriously risky. Bear in mind a good drive for me from the whites puts the path right in my shot zone, where the fairway bottlenecks and that's half the issue.

Second/Third shots: Assuming you get the first in position, you can probably see the green (http://burnhamandberrowgolfclub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/hole-13-3.jpg), but will need a running three wood. If you do lay up, then you need to favour the right hand side as there's a giant dune on the left that can block you out. The bunker short right catches a lot of balls and leaves a 50 yard bunker shot. The green is narrow and very long (43 paces long). Slightly left is ok as it can bounce in, but if you're over the dunes on the left of the green, you'll be pitching back over them blindly from about 20 feet below the green. Miss right is death as well with a huge drop off and the most frustratingly placed bush about halfway up that is a guaranteed unplayable if you find it when rolling off. Finally, distance control on the wedge is crucial, if you find the wrong end to the flag, it's a likely three putt.

I've birdied this hole precisely once and it took a forced lay-up and a very, very good putt. What would you do?

http://www.gamegolf.com/player/benpage101/round/1487554?shot_id=90013148&hole_id=30391865

 

[LightsOut]

You know what I'm talking about.  That hole that eats your lunch every time you face it.  It may not even be a tough hole, but for some reason you can't seem to score well.  

Mine is the opening hole on the Gold Course at Martin County Golf and Country Club.  It's a long par 5 dogleg left.  There's water halfway down, huge greenside bunkers, and several well-placed trees to punish any attempt at cutting the corner off the tee.  The rough slopes away steeply the whole way down the right side, often kicking your ball into the woods.  A bogey is my standard score.  I feel like I'm automatically going to be down a stroke right out of the gate.

I've been playing that course since I was 12.  I'm 42 now.  Today, I reached the green in two for the first time in my life, then made birdie.  I couldn't believe it!

Below are some short vids of me on my way to finally conquering this beast.  I'd love to hear about your trials with your nemesis hole.

 

And then the 3-wood, high draw to the green:

 

 

[DennisMiller]

My worst hole is the first at Killian Greens. Since there is no driving range at KG, it's really hard to get loose before a round.

The hole is a slight dogleg right with a canal 100 yards in front of the tee, another canal to the left side of the hole and a big lake to the right side. That lake bends around to the left, so from whatever position you've hit your drive into, you eventually have to hit over the lake, whether you lay up or not. The green is elevated at the right side and back and it has a could bunkers on the left.

It's not a long hole. It's simply got too much trouble to get into when you can't practice and loosen up properly first.

Through all the time I've played there, I've often made double or triple bogey, with or without penalty strokes. It just sets a disappointing tone for the whole round.

[The Flush]

#4 at Big Beaver Creek in Piketon, OH causes me the most grief.

It is about a 500 yard par 5 from the white tees. The white and blue tees are elevated probably 50 feet or more above the fairway.  It takes a well placed 230 yard drive to set up a clear second shot. Not many high handicappers like me can do that reliably.  The second shot must stay between trees on both sides to set up your third shot. The only danger on the approach is trees and the creek to the left of the green. The underbrush around all the trees is so thick that it is unlikely that you can find your ball in under 3 minutes, but you will probably find one of mine and get in poison ivy while looking for it.

Good golfers might be able to clear the trees on the left with a good second shot, but I can't. If I don't slice my drive into the creek on the right, I frequently either didn't hit it far enough to have a clear shot across the little stream crossing the fairway and have to lay up.  Or I pulled it to the left and also don't have the skill to reliably cross that stream. The tree just across the stream on the left has knocked down many of my 2nd/3rd shots on this hole. 

The pond on the left is in play at about 260 yards out and if you can cut the corner across the creek on the right the woods on the left are in play at 270ish yards. If you can carry a driver 285 you might be able to clear the stream. I feel good if I can get across in 2 strokes.  

[dagolfer18]

I actually have three nemesis holes at my home club: Holes 13-15

 

No. 13: Par 4, 420 from whites. This hole starts our version of Amen Corner. A tricky driving hole, fairway about 30 yards wide. Downhill till the 200 yd marker, then uphill the rest of the way. Two bunkers short right of the green. No. 1 handicap hole.

 

No. 14: Par 4, 355 from whites. Dogleg right, you can cut off as much of the hole as you dare, but if you fail, there’s OB to catch your ball. The green is sort of like 17 at St Andrews. When I play the blues, it plays like 395 is is a very different hole. Can’t cut the corner from back there.

 

No. 15, Par 4, 370 from whites. This is the most difficult hole on the course, in my opinion. Downhill tee shot, then you will most likely have a downhill lie for your second. To add a bit of pressure, there is a small pond about 100 yds from the green that has caught quite a few of my balls. Only parred this hole once.

 

If I can get through these three holes in +3 or +4, I feel like I’ve done good.

[downbylaw11]

can't find a picture but it's the 1st hole on my local muni track. Not that the whole is tough, but the circumstances make it tough for me.   

yardage 357

200 to a creek with about about 240-245 to carry with another 15 yards to the fairway

Being that there is no driving range at the course to warm up, and highway on the side of my miss, making bogey on this hole is an very acceptable score for me as I have to tee off with an iron, leaving myself a 5iron or longer into a green protected by bunkers on the left and water on the right. 

 

I hope that one day I will be confident enough in my driver that I can pull it out on holes where I HAVE to carry it close to my typical carry.  It sure is a bitch trying to shoot new low rounds though when you are almost guaranteed to make at least bogey on the first hole lol

[billchao]

On 7/30/2017 at 1:23 PM, billchao said:

I learned something today. After finally hitting this stupid landing area with my driver, I learned that you can actually be too long on this hole, because this tree is now directly between you and the green:

I had to take a higher lofted club than I wanted and hit it super high and I just barely cleared the top of the tree. If I hit the drive any longer, I would have been completely blocked out from the green and looking to pitch it onto the second fairway area.

So now I hate this hole more than I did before. Hit a good golf shot and you don't even get rewarded 

I learned something new today. Apparently driver is a viable play from the blue tees:

Just ignore everything that happened after the tee shot