Most Thrilling Shot You've Had On A Golf Course

[Bob_Huntley]

There have been quite a few, but I think the ones that come easily to mind are those that resulted in something generally not readily attainable.

The first was a 230 yard three wood for a double-eagle two on the 2nd hole at Riviera. The second was an ace, again with a three wood, at the 238yd par three fourth hole Dunes Course at MPCC. It was in 1982, I used an orange ball (ugh), but promptly lost it on the ninth hole in the stream on the left.

[History Police]

Mr. Shivas,

Every golfer worth a damn, save one, has faced the second shot at 17 TOC.

[Scott_Burroughs]

Just a moment ago, I found out my existence means nothing.  I've never played TOC.  Anyone got a gun or a noose?

Mr. Police,

Give me the money, the extra vacation time I don't have, and the hallpass away from my family that would send me to divorce court, and then my life can have meaning.

Not everyone has this.  At least not everyone worth a damn.

[ChipOat]

Three shots come to mind:

1) My first hole in one.

2) An approach to 6 inches on Pebble Beach #8 (yes, I made the putt).  This shot is the one of which I am most proud.  My caddy even acted impressed.

3) Holing a 9 iron for a deuce at TOC #18 in front of 100+ people.  I confess it was more the reaction of the 100+ people that was the thrill.

[Todd_Eckenrode]

I know you originally meant favorite shots in general, Tommy, and not in particular, but there's one in particular I'll never forget.  Was playing Crystal Downs for the first, and only, time a few years ago.  It was a perfect crisp day with about a 2-3 club wind.  The course was everything I'd hoped it would be and more.  The total experience was unbelieveable, really.  

I'm standing on #18 a bit sad it had to end so soon, but still fully engaged in the challenge and the round.  There's a big wind left to right, and I hit a big drive that rode the wind and left me only a sand wedge to the green from the middle of the fairway.  I stepped up and launched this sand wedge straight up into the wind, and watched it come down on the front of the green, and roll right in the cup.  

I jumped around in full glee, went over and picked up my divot, and put it in my bag to save (that turned out to be a bad idea weeks later when I found it there, but it just seemed like the right thing to do).

There's something truly memorable about pulling off great shots at truly world class courses like the Downs that always put a smile on your face.

[History Police]

Mr. Burroughs,

I'm sure you're a gentleman of greath worth, and wish you luck in all endeavours.

In my first post, I was referring to someone's earlier post on this thread that every golfer worth a damn has faced the second shot at 17 TOC.

Ben Hogan never did.

[NAF]

1) CP #16, well covered everywhere
2) A 60 yard lob wedge on the 10th at Royal Cinque Ports..I was playing a match against my friend Jim Reilly and we had just finished a siesta and a sausage roll at the halfway house when I teed off and hit a monster 310 yard drive.  I can't can remember feeling that the club and the ball were one during that swing and it carried forward on the approach.  To that date, I had never holed a shot nor eagled a hole (I was something like 0-20 on eagle putts).  My friend Russell Talley decided to stand near the flag, almost tending it and I remember thinking this ball was going to be close.  I opened the blade and thought about Tiger Woods hitting this particular shot.  The ball sailed high and true and again the ball and club felt as one.One bounce later and nothing but jar.  Jim reckons I jumped as high as Michael Jordan after that but I think it was only a foot or so.  Still a thrill.

[Tom MacWood (Guest)]

Two shots come to mind.
Playing with my parents and brother at Pebble Beach, I stood +1 on the 8th tee. With the adrenaline flowing, I laced a drive right down the middle...and into the ocean. Dropped the ball on edge of the abyss (150 foot cliff?), in those days I played all my golf in a pair of Wallabies or Desert boots, not really the right equipment on a foggy drizzling day. This is the only golf shot where I've actually feared for my life, any loss of balance or slip might result in MacWood on the rocks. Keeping my weight well back I pushed another one into the sea. From +1 to +4, I immediately made a b-line for the drink cart, much to my dear Mom's dismay. (I believe that was the first drink I had ever taken on a golf course...but not the last.) It didn't help, my game began to unravel. I also had also twisted my own 'cigarette' in anticipation of a possible need for sedation. On the 14th I deliberately hit my tee shot into the trees so I might privately improve my state of mind (I was a freshman in college). The effects were not immediately positive--I carded an 8--but I do have an unusual appreciation for the contours of that green.

I finally got things back on track, paring #15, 16 and 17. I struck an excellent tee shot on 18, out by the twin pines. For some odd reason, possibly the medication, I tried to kill a 3-wood, hit it off the heel, and saw my ball dribbling at nearly 90 degrees toward the ocean...if I had been a little quicker I could have run after it. Luckily it stopped on the edge, and once my breathing resumed, I struck the most thrilling shot of my young life. A crushing fairway wood from 230-240 yards, taken well out over the ocean and cutting perfectly back toward the green. I'll never forget the vision of that ball flying over ocean and rocks....and I'll never forget seeing a maintenance truck parked right smack in front of the green. Exhilaration turned to panic, the greatest shot of my life was going strike an EZ-Go and ricochet into the Pacific. Miraculously it avoided the truck and ended within 8 feet of the hole. My brother drained a 40 footer for birdie, my Dad followed with a 30 foot bird....I two putted for my 5.

[Scott_Burroughs]

History,

Point taken.  Context is everything.  And I would dearly love to play TOC.  Unfortunately, I don't think it'll happen until the little ones are older.  

[Matt Kardash]

Even though i have made a hole in one and have dunked 3 shots from 100 yards in the fairway, my most thrilling shot is not any one of these. I was playing my home course and hooked a tee shot on the par 5 2nd into the left rough. From this location i had 210 yards to a blind green that opened from right to left. To make matters worse i had tree trouble, so i needed to hook the ball a good 50 yards if i had any hope of hiting the green. And oh yeah, the greens on our course are tiny.
So i took out my 4 iron and curved the ball around the trees and somehow got the ball to land soft on the green. My ball ended up 25 feet from the green where i ended up 2 putting for birdie. Somehow that shot has always stayed with me. I guess becuase it had all the elements of an almost impossible shot and i managed to pull it off.

[Stan Dodd]

Tom
Sounds like you would fit in well in the NorCal/Oregon groups.

[billb]

A couple of good ones come to mind:

Cruden Bay on a beautiful September day, playing alone with the course all to myself. For those who have not had the pleasure of seeing it, the tee box on #10 has one of the most scenic views in golfdom. To the south is the bay, below you is golf course, as you turn to the north is more golf course including some of the outstanding holes in the dunes, then the village past the golf course, and finally the ruins of Slain's Castle perched on a seaside bluff north of the village. The hole is one of the more routine at CB, a shortish par 4 with about an 80 foot drop to the fairway. I hit a solid 3 wood, the ball climbed nicely, hung in the air, then I watched in astonishment as a small flock of seagulls flew UNDERNEATH the golf ball.

Tee shot on the first hole at The Old Course. My one time there was about a week after Cruden Bay. I was a single grouped with three Scots from Dundee, pretty good golfers, all had played the course many times. It was the middle of a Saturday afternoon, so we had a bit of a gallery. My new friends hit first, all looking a bit nervous, and produced a trio of skanky looking shots. The tee box that day was smack in the middle of the large first tee, making one feel lonely and exposed. I pulled my trusty 3 wood, teed it up, and soaked up the energy. I took a deep breath, settled my nerves just enough, made a nice smooth swing and launched it straight down the middle. What a feeling.

Same day, 2nd shot on the 18th hole. Another good 3 wood put me left center just past Granny Clark's Wynd. After leaving my par putt hanging on the lip on 17 (front pin so I did not get the full Road Hole effect), I needed a birdie on 18 to break 80. After watching so many short approaches to this green throughout the years, I was a bit suprised at the distance I had left. This was the last hole of my first links golf adventure, after two weeks I had developed a pretty darn good "boomp and roon", and was hoping to use that shot through The Valley of Sin to finish in style.

Not this time. I pulled a 9 iron, feeling that it might be too much club, but I wanted that birdie, and I knew that I had to fly the Valley. The shot came off solid, nice and high, I looked up and was absolutely sure that it was going to totally airmail the green!

Not wanting to be the stupid American and yell "Fore" at the top of my lungs in the sacred cradle of the game, I just stood there and watched with a racing heart. Time seemed frozen as the ball floated in the air, still appearing to be destined for the head of an innocent observer. My next thought was "go baby go, fly the crowd!". This was followed by the image of the ball flying the crowd and then taking an enormous, loud, and very emabarassing bouce off the concrete and then rattling away down the streets of St. Andrews.

I am sure this is an optical illusion caused by all the buildings around 18, accentuated by the lack of depth perception on the rest of the golf course. Has anyone else had this experience?

Finally the ball dropped from the sky and landed on the green and finished 15 hole high to a back left pin. With the adrenalin still pumping from the approach shot, and all the people watching, and needing the putt for 79, I was barely able to stop the putter from trembling long enough to hit the putt. Of course I did not make it, I was elated to have a tap in for par, a round of 80, and for not having hurt anyone!!!

[SteveC]

Rolled in a 35 footer from back left of the green on 18 at TOC last July to save par and win the hole, beating my brother and his partner in a four ball match, 1 up. We were 2 down on 16 tee. I birdied 16. My partner won the Road Hole with a par. About 75 spectators on 18 gave me a rousing cheer and
applause after I sank the winner - as sweet a shot as I could ever hope for, made only sweeter by the surroundings.

To add to the fun, we played the New Course that afternoon. I had the same partner, playing my brother in a foursomes match. All square on 18 tee. My partner and I win 18 for a 1 up victory. The beer never tasted better thanon the balcony after that match. No gloating...just great fun.

[Doug Siebert]

Hitting my second to #17 at TOC a couple years ago.  I'd played it once before, but pussied out and aimed right, and ended up duck hooking it way left.  This time I had a 7 iron in my hand, ball sitting in the wispy left rough, and boldly ignored my caddie's line and aimed it just right of the back left pin, directly over the Road Bunker.  And even though I hit it wonderfully but couldn't quite hold the green, the little 15 foot chip from the blacktop to 1' from the hole for an easy par was actually more satisfying than a two putt par would have been, and was well complimented by the audience of about a half dozen or so.

Had a couple holes in one, including one on Carnoustie's 16th, but there's something about a shot that has been played for hundreds of years that can still make even Tiger play it safe.

[Mike_Golden]

Five favorites (in no particular order):

1.  1st tee on TOC (circa 1983) on a windy and cold January day with rented clubs and not having played in 6 months-first 3 tees shots into the Swillican Burn but finally hit one down the middle-played pretty well after that actually.

2.  My first hole in one, on the 12th hole at the Johnny Miller Entrada at Snow Canyon course-it was in February during the last El Nino and every course in Nor Cal was closed and went with a friend to Nevada to play a few days of golf-we drove up to St. George to look at Entrada on a recommendation, found no one on the course (it had rained and was cold and we had already played 18 in the morning)-so we got a marshall's cart wrapped in plastic and decided to play the back 9-so of course I hole out of the fly on the 3rd hole we play (6 iron downhill from 190 and we could hear it hit the pin and go in)-so now I had to play the entire 18 so it would count.

3.  My only (I believe) birdie on Bethpage Black #5, my favorite hole in golf-huge drive down the right side and had about 160 to a front right pin-hit a 6 iron 12 inches and even made the putt.

4.  2nd hole at Talking Stick North with a certain Italian fellow of some reknown-I aimed right off the tee, hit a hard, dead pull that wound up 3 yards from the OB left, and then heard my Italian friend brag about how I challenged the left side of the fairway with this great drive for the next two years even though I told him it was a lucky pull-right, Tommy?

5.  A couple of years ago I was having my career round (1 under after 15 holes) at Lake Merced (my home course).  I started thinking much too hard about my score and had to make about an 8 foot putt on 16 (a short par 4) for bogie so was even par after 16.  I then hit my drive on 17 into a grove of trees on the right and could sense my career round going the way of a bunch of others over the years (although this was the first time I'd actually reached 17 even).  To my amazement I got to the ball and saw a reasonable opening to the green through the trees.  So, from about 155 yards, I hit a cut 6 iron through the trees, watched it cut about 5 yards, and roll to within a foot for a birdie putt even I couldn't miss.  I have to say I've never played a hole with as much confidence as I did 18 that day and made a routine par for my lone sub par round in my life.

A couple of honorable mentions:

1.  Holing out a 25 yard flop shot on the 17th hole at the La Quinta-Mountain for a par in the company of Messrs. Naccarato, Vostinak and VanderBogt.

2.  Two eagles in the same year, on the same hole (8th hole, San Jose CC, 425 yard par 4), with virtually identical shots-5 iron from 175 that bounced just short of the green and rolled into the hole.

and finally, the tee shot one #1 at Pasatiempo the first time I met my DG buddies-Tommy, Bill, andTommy's friend Blair-I hope I haven't forgotten who else was there that day-and that great meal we shared at the Lark Creek Cafe in San Mateo the next evening with Dan King and Renee Vostinak as well.  And here we are, 6(?) years later with 40 guys at Pasatiempo in March.

[Tommy_Naccarato]

Mike, My has time flown by!

For what it is worth, I think that may be one of my favorite tee-shots I never hit! Yours at Talking Stick-North #2. Just a phenominal shot!

You did forget to mention that the hole-out on La Quinta Mountain was in fact something that helped for a final tally of 79 or 78, right? A really good round on what I still consider a great course in the Coachella Valley.

Hope to see you soon, but unfortunately I'm out of the King Putter Cup. (A golf related back injury! )

[Slag Bandoon]

Tommy, Don't be a 21st Century Schizoid Man. What will the Court be like without the Crimson Emperor?

[A_Clay_Man]

The feature I keep thinking about reading all these responses are the right bunkers on the third at Pebble Beach. Deep steep with a greenside kickplate that I hit in our match agin the lads and las from TOC caddie corp.

For those that don't know the hole, most bailouts are to the right and usually thru the fairway. The exact spot you don't want to be, mostly because of the right greenside bunkers. Well, I was in the cabbage and had 185 ish. I decided to take my own advice and play a shot short & left so I pulled a 4 iron and thought I'd just hit a smoothie maybe 165-170. Allowing for the rough. Well, I put the smooth one on it and it just disappeared. (must've kept my head down)

In the nano-seconds that followed the ball didn't show up short left it didnt show up at all untill all of a sudden I see this white thing descending downward with a slight fade directly at the flag. I wondered if I had hit simultaneous with someone else and that wasn't me, but it was. The ball came down just carrying the bunker took the kickplate even more directly at the flag and and and rolled over the green but stopped within a few feet of the putting surface.

Another one is on #9 (PB) and the runway that will feed your ball into the steep front left bunker. On my virgin trek around I had hit a great drive (for me) and had 195 remaing with a slight downhill lie. I hit another great shot (again for me) watching the ball go just as I drew it up with a slight fade at the right edge of the bunker. When I find my ball in the bunker I was mystified. It had been cutting and by all rights should've a least ended up on the apron if not the front of the green. But alas I have this huge wall of sand in front of me, but no worries, I have the explosion shot, HA. Weakest sister of a bunker shot ever seen and the ball dribbled out sideways, to the right, got caught up in the collar where I chipped in for my ho hum 4.

[JohnV]

Mike, a long time has passed since we heard from you and your memory is fading.  I wasn't at La Quinta since I had to head back home after we played the lovely   Norman Course at PGA West.

Another one I remember is playing #11 at Ballybunion with about a 30 MPH tail wind and after hitting 3-wood, sand wedge 15 yards over the green, holing a pitch and runs shot for 3.  Then having my wife hole a 25 footer for par (net birdie) to tie me.  The two members we were playing with were impressed with both shots.

[Mike_Golden]

Tommy, thanks for the mention of the score at La Quinta-I didn't post it because I thought it was bragging a little  You'll never believe me about that drive at Talking Stick, will you?  By the way, I have a new technology driver am hitting bunches and bunches of fairways now...

John, I wasn't sure whether or not you played La Quinta with us (divorce does weird things to your memory sometimes) but figured it was better to make an error on the high side

[redanman]

Mike Golden

Long Time!

I'll never forget the look on your face that day holing out!  Nonplussed but satisfied.  

[JohnV]

Mike, sorry to hear that we are both members of that club.  Fortunately the only thing fading from my memory of that trip is the Norman course.

[Pete_Pittock]

Waiting on the 17th tee at TPC watching a player in the group in front take a 23, or was it 25? (Our fourball took a 12).

Watching the preceding group hash it out in heather or OB on #1 at Prestwick, then for the first time using an iron for a tee shot on a 4 par.

Putting on rain gear in August, then backing into a holly tree and hooking a midiron 40 yards from 175 for a tap in birdie. Priceless look on my face the next time around when I'm about to gloat to someone and discover the holly was removed in the interim.  

[Mike_Golden]

Bill, I just heard about your scare and hope you're doing well.  That's a great description about how I felt although given how infrequently I hit a shot like that I probably should have fainted.

John, I don't know about how you feel about divorce but it was the best thing that has happened to me in many years.  Actually helped my golf game enormously  By the way, what Norman course are you talking about

[Bob_Huntley]

Bump.

Bob