Your Favourite Form of Punishment

[billchao]

I voted sand. It's the only thing on the list I can reasonably play out of on a consistent basis.

Water - drop

Trees - ball could be lost or unplayable and they have this weird way of growing in bunches so it's hard to hit through. Can also be hard to hit over if you have to. Presence of poison ivy possible.

Heavy rough/fescue - ball could be lost and unpredictable to hit out of. Plus the possibility of ticks.

[HJJ003]

I went with sand. Some of the courses I find most visually appealing have a lot of sand, but still allow for playable options around it. As has been said sand gives the chance to advance the ball so I’ll take that over water. The exception is: The ocean! I’ll take courses with the ocean as a water hazard any day just because I think it’s awesome!

[Piz]

I prefer sand.  A well designed bunker offers an element of risk without undue penalty.  Trees can outgrow their strategic qualities.  One can't help wonder, in these parts, how some of the holes must have played when the air space had less wood in it.

[Warren Zevon]

Voted trees.  Taking my five iron and hitting a low hard chip back onto the fairway has become second nature since I hit so many wild shots.   Of course, I’ve nearly caught a few rebounds in the nuts and/or head a few times, but it keeps everyone entertained.  

[Jack Watson]

I voted water.  It’s what I am used to and forces my attention.  One quirk I do that’s helped me a lot is not looking up after address.  Sounds crazy but after I address don’t look up on full shots anymore,  just swing and try to hit it over my spot.

 

 

[Vinsk]

I voted rough. It’s what I have the best chance of still hitting a good shot from.

[Marty2019]

I voted for sand.  

The worst one is heavy rough, because you can spend an inordinate amount of time looking for your ball.   I hate holding people up.   I'd rather my ball just goes into a lake than into heavy rough. 

[DaveP043]

I'm another vote for sand.  There is an incredible variety in the ways sand can be used, and the surrounding areas sculptured, so that it can be anything from a minor annoyance to a fully lost shot as you pitch out sideways.  The color contract can also provide definition and/or aiming points on otherwise featureless courses.  

17 hours ago, GolfLug said:

I don't mind gorse. Any course I have played with gorse is usually a windswept links type course (have never played real links), which I love the look of.       

You may not dislike long rough, but if you're OK with gorse, you've never played real gorse.  Gorse is extremely solid, with extremely sharp thorns at least an inch long.  If your ball is in gorse, it might as well be in water, you're not playing it, and there's a good chance you're not getting it out.  Its actually worse than water, you take an unplayable lie and go back and play another ball.  

[b101]

Voted other for heather. Not much of a fan of any of them, but at least heather is pretty!

[GolfLug]

1 hour ago, DaveP043 said:

I'm another vote for sand.  There is an incredible variety in the ways sand can be used, and the surrounding areas sculptured, so that it can be anything from a minor annoyance to a fully lost shot as you pitch out sideways.  The color contract can also provide definition and/or aiming points on otherwise featureless courses.  

You may not dislike long rough, but if you're OK with gorse, you've never played real gorse.  Gorse is extremely solid, with extremely sharp thorns at least an inch long.  If your ball is in gorse, it might as well be in water, you're not playing it, and there's a good chance you're not getting it out.  Its actually worse than water, you take an unplayable lie and go back and play another ball.  

I don't disagree. I don't consider gorse  playable either. But it looks cool since usually found on cool looking linksy courses. The contrast to fairways or greens is striking. Just a visual thing like par 3 greens surrounded by water. 

But yes if you read my post, the only hazard that is OK for me from playability POV is sand. 

Poll isn't specific to playability or visual like/dislike so posted from both POVs.

 

Edited February 10, 2018 by GolfLug

[klineka]

On 2/9/2018 at 4:53 PM, Fourputt said:

To me, this is no different from saying that you don't like stepping up to the tee on a shortish par 4 and finding that you can't go for it full out because of a design feature that prevents it.   I feel that they call it a par 5 for a reason.  I'm not a fan of using a water hazard like that excessively, but I also don't see why every par 5 should be "reachable". 

I dont mind holes that make me think twice about driver and turn it into a strategy decision due to narrow fairway, O.B. both sides, etc. but I dont like the ones where driver is eliminated entirely simply because I dont carry it 280. At least give me the option to hit driver if I want to risk it.

At least with really narrow holes or holes protected with a ton of bunkers, you still have the option to hit driver, you just have to be more accurate with it.  A hole that has a creek or water hazard that starts at 250 out from the tee and is 30 or 40 yards wide requiring a 280-290 yd carry, not a fan of those holes. 

I enjoy hitting my driver off the tee. IMO there arent many better feelings in golf than catching one right out of the middle of the driver and watching it soar down the center of the fairway knowing you've set yourself up perfect for the next shot. I dont like par 4s and 5s that take that option away from me. Purely my opinion.

 

I dont necessarily think every single par 5 should be reachable, however when I play a set of tees that is appropriate for my skill level and length off the tee, I dont enjoy having 260-270+ left into a par 5 just because I cant carry the ball 290 and I'm not even playing from the tips. Now if its a 550yd par 5 and I mishit a driver 230 and still have 300+, thats a result of a bad shot from myself, not a fault of the course. 

[Groucho Valentine]

Umm...absolutely none of that stuff excites me...

But if i had to pick one i liked the least, i guess id go with sand. You don't have to hit the ball... And as a part of course design, i feel like no other feature quite frames a course and gives it character like clever bunkering does. I like courses that have playable waste areas, but i guess you can throw that in there with sand, too. 

[Fairway_CY]

I am a sucker for good, old fashioned course layout.  My home course, although not long, is very tough.  You have to be able to work the ball left-to-right, right-to-left, high, low, spinning or dead.  

We have a pair of par 5's that are reachable... and a pair that are only reachable for the longer hitters.  We have short par 4's that dogleg severely and require either a perfect driver to get up over some trees or a shorter club that you can work around the corner without going too deep.  Our closing hole is only 312 yards but it's straight uphill... with bunkers in the landing area... a two-tiered green... and a 19th hole with a floor-to-ceiling plexi-glass window only 7 yards from the back of the green. 

You can look at our course on a scorecard or even on Google Maps and think it looks easy... but once you get out there, it's anything but a simple walk around the park.  

I've played courses surrounded by sand.  I've played courses where every par 3 is a force carry over water.  I've played courses that are 'proud' of their US Open style rough.  They've all got unique features.  They're all fun in their own rights.  Give me a course that uses the topography of the land it's built on to penalize the players for poorly struck shots, though. 

CY

[dbuck]

I voted other; what I guess I really meant was all.

I like any of the above features if they add interest, beauty, or challenge, but don't unnecessarily impede pace of play. I guess my least favorite might be heavy rough; as others have mentioned you know the ball is there but you can't see it.

One course I frequent has a several holes with ravines full of gunch.. they did have it so high you could not see your shot land across it and I did not like that. They have cleaned these out some so that the danger is still there but you can see if the ball goes in or clears it.

Another course has some bunkers that can definitely be in play off the tee on par fives, these fit my eye. This same hole has large oaks in the bend of a dogleg about 75-100 yards off the tee; the challenge is to hit over them which is doable, but penalizing for a miss.