I'm still not sure about the recently in vogue driving strategy of long iron/longer iron to the upper left corner. 10 days ago, I thought I had hit a perfect 4-iron to the corner, only to see it trickle over the hill. I ended up hitting 6-iron from the bottom, rather than 4-5 iron from the top, and came as close to getting birdie on that hole as I have in 3-4 years. A controlled rescue club/3-wood will get you into short iron range if you aim at the marker pole rather than the corner. Sure the shot is blind, but it's a punchbowl green and anything hit anywhere near on line will end up close if you have the proper length. The only thing you lose is that you have to heuch your clubs down the hill and back up again, rather than depositing them by the 18th tee as you walk to the green, putter in hand....
I very much prefer hitting my approach shots from down below on 17 for two reasons. The one that you mentioned is having a shorter distance and, therefore, getting to hit a much shorter iron in. This is just easier because you're hitting a shorter club, but also essentially takes the trouble short out of play (since you can land it on the green rather than short). A second reason is that your shot is protected from the wind longer from down below (as it rises out of the valley) rather than being in the wind the entire time. You are also more protected from the wind while you play your shot, which I find actually does a lot to enable you to believe it's even possible to hit a good shot while you're swinging. Feeling the gusts of wind while playing the shot definitely brings additional doubt into one's mind and forces you to think about things like keeping your balance instead of your target. All that said, I had pretty good luck from up above last week when the soft conditions fooled me into leaving it on top twice.
A hole where I
really prefer to be down below is eight. However, out of my four competition rounds, I was only able to reach down below once despite hitting driver each time (even though I hit a few of them really well). The wind and soft ground really made this hole play much longer for me.
Keep up the good work. I want to hear about the hole locations.
I thought I had kept the hole locations sheets from each round, but I only found the sheets for round two and the one for three and four (which were the same being played on the same day). I'll try to recall the locations from the first day by memory with descriptions rather than the actual numbers (first number is from front, the second number is the distance from a specific side of the green).
1: Back middle, just right of hollow on left; 12 7R; 16 7L
- Aside from the first day, these hole locations were quite tame.
2: Back right; 13 7R; 28 6L
- They used two hole locations well to the back (on the higher, flatter area) and one that was just on the front. I'm actually used to seeing most of the hole locations in the middle portion between the areas they used so all of these felt closer to the edge of the green than usual.
3: Just past middle and just to the left of the ridge that runs through the middle; 31 11L (on line with the previous day's hole, but further back); 21 7R
- I think they made good use of the ridge running through the green on the first and last day. The ridge confuses you about the line and speed more than it should. The two left hole locations made coming in from the right side of the fairway better, which brings the bunkers right into play off the tee, but they put the hole locations too far back in such soft conditions for it to actually matter. The last day hole location is a tough one, speed wise, since everything right of it falls off the green, but the very soft conditions made it a non-issue (you still had to hammer your putt).
4: The great middle left location on the plateau; 36 C; 16 8R
- The first day's location is a great one since it's very difficult to get the ball onto the plateau from the fairway (it's tiny and sloped) and the slopes up to the plateau are quite severe; I hit it long and ran my first putt 20 feet past because I was trying to make sure I got it up to the plateau (the quick change to downhill once I got it there is what got me). The second day's hole was just past the ridge running mid-way through the green, but in the center rather than to the right so the effects of the ridge (that make the putt slow up, fast down, and break hard right) were minimized. The last day was in the collection area front right; maybe they were encouraging birdies for well struck shots and anticipating difficult up and downs from just short for missed plays?
5: Middle depth, right half; 9 7L; 36 C
- The first two were pretty standard: the first asking you to challenge the right side for a short putt or forcing you to have a tricky downhill putt if you bail left, and the second right on the front bringing the front bunkers into play if the wind is misjudged. The last day I think they missed out by not using my favorite hole location on this green: the area between the two slopes on the back left sitting about even with the second right greenside bunker. This hole location is great. If you want to get it close you either have to carry it precisely within a three yard window and hit it well enough to stop right there, or bounce it back there but challenge the left of the green since the first ridge will take the ball sharply to the right. Even the bail out area (directly right and a bit short) is tough to get to, so you end up with lots of really interesting putts. This hole location is a good example of a way to cause the player to have to think even on a very short approach shot (assuming that player knows where the hole is).
6: Front center; 17 5R; 21 5L
- This green is so narrow that the only thing that matters from the tee is the depth. Once you get up there, though, the most interesting hole to putt to was the last day, with a sharp left to right slope from the front back to the hole that looks like it breaks a third of the amount that it actually does; good thing I've had that one a few times.
7: Just past center on the left side; 18 9L; 19 8R
- Into the wind, from the new medal tee, and with relatively little roll, this hole was always playing as a par five with a 30 to 50 yard approach shot for me. I thought they would have made use of the low area in the back and the front left hole location, but they didn't. The latter is particularly interesting since it really requires you to stay right for your shot into the green, and any miss to the left of the green has a much more difficult up and down than it appears.
8: Wow, I just don't remember; 13 5R; 21 8L
- The two I can remember were good and commonly seen (by me) hole locations. I'd guess the first day's hole was cut at the back, which is the other one I see a lot.
9: Again I'm drawing a blank; 24 8R; 28 6L
- The second day's hole was quite close to the right side and both myself and a fellow competitor had putts from off the green right. This putt is slower than it looks because of a slope away from the green. That location also brings the front right bunkers into play if a player is drawn to hit his shot at the hole rather than the middle of the green. The last day's location was situated nicely behind a subtle but clearly visible roll in the green (that from the middle of the green turned out to slow the putt down and move the ball a bit left). This green is mostly flat with a few of these "rolls" that make putts difficult to read (I find these much harder than large, obvious slopes on holes like four), and I thought they made good use of this roll here.
I'm going to quit for now and do the back nine later. I'm a bit gun-shy now that I'm forgetting some of the holes from the first day.
PS--are you coming back in August?
Yes, I'll be there for the week of the Shield, Saturday to Sunday. I'm rushing back so soon to make the NCGA Match Play at your favorite course (Spyglass Hill).