Not really OT - What do you consider the best shot you've ever hit?

[tlavin]

I've had four holes-in-one, but my best shot was a 222 yard 3-wood out of the rough on the 16th at Beverly that went in the jug.  When I hit it, I said, that's the best shot I've ever hit.  You could just tell it was going to be close, but that long of an eagle out of the rough???  Hard to top...

[George Pazin]

I've had four holes-in-one, but my best shot was a 222 yard 3-wood out of the rough on the 16th at Beverly that went in the jug.  When I hit it, I said, that's the best shot I've ever hit.  You could just tell it was going to be close, but that long of an eagle out of the rough???  Hard to top...

Trust me, a 3 wood out of the rough is not hard to top...

Cue rimshot.

[Bill Brightly]

I was playing a muni in Pittsburgh 30 years ago, I think it is called South Park. We had a standing 7:00 AM tee time, but they alternated groups on 10 after you finished your front nine, so there was a line of about 20 guys behind the 9th green waiting to play 10.

They had nothing else to do except watch the golfers play nine and make fun of their shots. I had heard my share of laughs there before, and knew I'd hear more if I hit a poor shot, but this one time I hit a full 8-iron from the fairway, landed it 5 feet past the pin, and then it zipped back into the hole for a duece. I can still remember the roar and standing ovation from those 20 guys!

[Mike Boehm]

Mine was last summer at Eagle Creek in Norwalk, Ohio.  We had started on the back nine and I turned in +1 36, which is good for me.  On the front nine, I begin playing out of my mind and find myself on the final tee 3-under for the side and 2 under for the round, a chance to do two things I had never done before (-3 for a side, and more importantly, break 70).  Nerves getting the best of me, I push a drive into the trees right and am fortunate to knock a 2nd shot just through the green.  I was left with a tough chip from about 30 feet behind a back left pin, on a downslop in the rough. with about 15-18 feet of rough to carry to get to green. It was the type of chip that even if well executed, a 6-8 footer would be a nice result.  I hit a perfect little flop that just ran out like a putt, bounced off the flagstick and left myself incside six inches to pull off two personal firsts.  I have probably holed more difficult shots in my life, but I have never pulled off a shot that I wanted more and, frankly, may never get another comparable shot at again.  Thank God I didn't leave myself that 6-8 footer.

[Richard Choi]

I am not sure if this is the best shot I have hit, but nothing else pops in to my mind so here it goes.

Just three weeks ago, I was at Bethpage Black and two shots come into my mind.

First was on the 1st tee. There are about 3 or 4 groups of foursomes waiting for their tee time so you have a built in crowd, which can be pretty hostile as you know if you ever played there. We are playing from the blue tees (just like Tiger! )My heart is pumping pretty good and I step up, nail a 285 yard drive (wiht a slight draw) just inside the dogleg, just as I pictured it in my mind that left me with a wedge to the green.

The same day, par 5, 13th hole, with a stiff headwind, I have about 230 yards to the green. I hit the prettiest little low draw with my 3 wood that hits the middle of the green and rolls about 10 feet (pretty stiff headwind). I made the 30 ft putt to get my eagle.

Pretty memorable day...

[Sean Leary]

Richard,

Tough crowd to pull out the ol' Brush Tee in front of, no?

[Patrick Kiser]

This was on 7-28-05 on my SF to Miami golfing bonanza.

SpyGlass 5th into the wind from 169.  Stiff...




Same round but somehow forgetting the hole (9th or 10th).  About 180 out and slightly behind a tree towards the right half of the fairway and maybe even into the rough.  

Caddy says to take my medicine and just hit a wedge out.  Dumbarse here decides to take out a 7W and go for the biggest cut shot I could hit.  I just felt it could work...

I smacked an unbelievable shot and the wind caught it just enough for it to curl and make its way onto the green fringe left.  Two putt par.  

That was a pretty good day...

I've had a couple of memorable eagles (one at San Ramon and another at Cypress in South SF), but two in one round sticks in your mind.

[Richard Choi]

Richard,

Tough crowd to pull out the ol' Brush Tee in front of, no?

I might have gotten an odd look or two, but once they saw my drive, they piped down...

[G Jones]

Playing ANGC in 2006 for the first time, I stood on the 18th tee requiring a par for a 79. My brother was easily going to break 80, so I was putting myself under a bit of pressure not to be beaten by him. Drive pulled into the second fairway bunker, which is a lot bigger than you think. Was on a fairly flat bit, just before it rose to the face 8 yards away at about a 45 degree angle. I can't remember the distance, but I remember that it was into the wind slightly, which was coming from the left. I took a 5 iron, opened the face very slightly to help it get over the face (I didn't think a 6 would get there and I needed the longest shaft I could get out with). I made perfect contact, it cleared the face by about an inch - so close I thought to begin with that it might have hit it. Que me scrambling out of the left side of the bunker (since all I could see is a wall of sand in front of me), to see the ball fly perfectly straight into the heart of the green. Two putts later from 15ft and I had my par.

I still can't quite believe I got away with it... if I'd left it in the bunker my enjoyment of that round would have been totally different.

[Sean Eidson]

“I’ll tell you what,” said Doug, “since you are going to hit a great shot, how about if I just play from where your ball ends up?”

“Only if you want to play from a buried lie under the lip of the bunker,” I said with my usual confidence.

Doug laughed and gave me this far off, knowing look in his eyes.

“Show me a great shot,” he said firmly.

“You just jinxed me,” I said. “This will probably be a shank.”

“Hit it with confidence like you have done it a thousand times Gib. That is the key to golf.”

Cold stare.

“Now, show me you can do it,” he said.

I nervously addressed the ball, re-gripping it a half dozen times.

My spine shivers writing this because I can still feel the compression of that Lady Precept flush against the clubface. The ball took off like a shrieking rocket into the wind right at the flag with a tiny draw.

Oh my God. It went in.
Dead center. Bottom of the cup. Right before my eyes. First swing of the day, first shot I had ever hit in front of him.

“It sounded pretty good, where did it go?” Doug asked.

I later realized that Doug is nearly blind. The flagstick may as well have been cut on the Farallon Islands 25 miles offshore, yet he knew in some metaphysical way what was to come.

Shocked, I fished the ball out of the hole and staggered in a daze to the next tee. It was as if this little man willed my ball into the hole as a gift to me for paying attention to him all those years.

I hate Jim Rome, but if I’ve ever seen a post on this site that screamed for a “RACK HIM” more than this one.

What a wonderful story, Gib.  Thank you so much for sharing it.

Some of the shots I’ve been proudest of are those where someone I admire was there to witness my achievement.