Last edited by mrbluu; 25th December 2018 at 09:58 PM.
Driver: Titleist 913D3 9.5*
Hybrid: : Ping G20 17*
Irons: Mizuno MP54 3-PW
Wedges: Titleist 56* Standard Bounce
Putter: Scotty Cameron California Monterey 35"
Bag: Titleist s83 Staff
GOLFLINK
The TPC Sawgrass finish of 16-17-18 is one of the rare but brilliant examples of penal golf design providing exciting golf. It’s like a wild ride where only the brave survive.
Pete Dye is the master.
My take on strategic design is less informed than many here, but I feel that it is inherently to do with courses/holes that reward the bold play (bold, not necessarily the most powerful) with birdie chances, while still allowing conservative options to go for par. At the same time, the bold play must contain a penal element, or otherwise it is not bold.
Our fifth hole totally does my head in, and therefore is probably a good example of this type of approach. It is a par 5 of around 480 metres, and is definitely reachable in two with a good drive. It has a fairly generously wide fairway, but the green is fairly small with a bunker on the right hand side.
Hole features:
- it has a small dam at around the 210-230 metre mark that covers the left third of the fairway.
- there are trees up the right hand side, so you can't really bail out that way.
- there is out-of-bounds all the way up the left hand side. This does not really come into play on the tee-shot though.
- there is a second water hazard, a small creek, that is about 50 metres short of the green, and is also at the bottom of a hill.
The tee shot determines how you play the hole. It is usually into the wind, so you need to be confident you can either carry your drive over 230 metres (which is a big hit for most people, and particularly into the wind), hit a fairly small fairway target to the right of the dam, or you choose to lay up at around 200 metres.
The bold play is definitely driver off the tee and take the dam on. You can then have a crack at the green knowing that you will (should) carry the creek and birdie is a distinct possibility even if you miss the green.
However, if you lay up short of the dam, it is a really big hit with a fairway wood into the wind to carry the creek. Adding to the problem is that you need to judge your second short to finish short of the creek. As the creek is at the bottom of a hill, balls will run into the creek if not judged perfectly. Alternatively, you can leave yourself a really tricky downhill lie if the ball doesn't go to the bottom. Laying up short of the hill then leaves a nasty shot of about 150 metres into a well protected small-ish green.
If you bail out to the right off the tee to avoid the dam, if you want to hit anything longer than a mid-iron you have to shape your next shot with a fade, and generally it involves aiming towards the out of bounds. While I normally don't like out of bounds, in this situation, it actually serves a nice purpose and is not really in play unless you are well out of place from the tee.
I have played this hole a lot over the years, and still don't really know what the best strategy is. If I needed birdie, I would take driver off the tee. If I needed bogey, I would lay up twice. For par - no idea. I tend to take driver if there is no wind, or if the tee blocks are forward, and lay up when windy or if the tees are back.
Im with Bushy, I like Sawgrass...
I grew up playing the course on the home PC (PGA Tour Golf I think it was called) and it was my favorite track out of all the sims.
Its quirky but in a good way. I would love to see it return to its original design but the yanks love their manicured grounds and blue water so no chance of that.
My first hole in one. Nephew tripped over the power cord and it never got recognized. Talk about penal 😔
I see there has been some strategy sessions going on at TOC, the old boys must have been well into a decent session to contemplate this abomination,
like the majority, I agree. It's hideous
I guess the only consideration is that the course gets a lot of foot traffic on, around and/or near the bridge and so potentially the grass wears out significantly
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