Speed Slots - How are they designed?

[Chris Cupit]

Tim,

Here is an attempt at a speed slot on a par 5.  It is the second hole, Par 5 525 or so from the tips.  The idea was to create multiple choices for the second shot (often a throwaway shot) and allow a "ramp" or slot that would allow a shorter hitter the chance to go for the green in two.

From the tee (I like this pic as it shows the back tee formed right off the back of a green high bunker on our first hole:


After a drive of 270 or so this is the view from 255. 


You can (1) lay up down the right near a hazard all along the right side and this gives you this view:


or (2) lay up safe and left away from the hazard but be left with a mostly blind third:


or you can go for the green.  From the fairway you aim between the single pine and the clump of three pines (see earlier pic above) and have to go right over the bunker whose lip is 37 yards short of the green.  So, instead of having to bomb a second shot 255 to the middle (which is fine) a shorter scratch golfer faces a carry of 218 to just carry the bunker and find this 15-18 yard wide "chute" that will propel the ball right on the green:


Left is dead.  A ball missed left is almost impossible to keep on the green with the chip.  With the hole back right as in this pic, a great shot could keep the third shot close to that location:


Final view from behind the green showing speed slot and severity of green.  The slope ties nicely into the green.  Carry the bunker and it will funnel on the putting surface.  A neat hole and a non-tee shot slot.

[Jake Straub]

Three questions on this topic:
Would you consider these two holes at Cherry Hills CC speed slots or kick slopes #14 on the approach shot and #16 off the tee?  Same thing on #17 at Philadelphia CC off the tee?

How often do you think these areas are lost with today's golf club/golf ball technology?

Tom: How many speed slots do you think there are at Stonewall (Old)?

The reason for the first questions is so that I am using the correct terminology for areas on golf course that I find to be great decision spots when playing.

[Bryan Icenhower]

I am a member of Chris's club here in Georgia and love the variety of angles of play, including several speed slots.  My favorite wasn't even mentioned by him - tee shot on 16. 




If you can get the shot in the exact right spot on the right side of the fairway on a low trajectory, your ball ends up in the speed slot and will run for a country mile, ending up behind the fairway bunker on the right, in one of the few level lies on this hole.  Literally hitting a hybrid in this one spot will put you in a much better spot than hammering your driver in most other spots in this fairway.

[Tom Birkert]

I like speed slots, and I like them even more if they incorporate an element of risk and reward - in order to benefit from the speed slot I think the player should have to aim closer to trouble or carry a hazard.

At Sunningdale New we have a couple, on the 9th hole, which is a blind drive but in order to catch the best of the speed slot one has to carry a tree.

On the 18th, there is another just by a copse of trees.

In order to benefit, one has to take a risk. It's a neat concept.

[Scott Warren]

There is a great one on the 5th at Deal.

No real risk involved, but it does reward the observant golfer and takes some skill to locate from the tee even when you know it's there. The difference can be a 250 yard approach if you drive down the left and 170 or so if you find the slot down the right (adjacent to a massive gouge out of a dune that will stop your ball in a hurry if you leak it too far right).

Those sorts of features are what I love about being a member of a place and discovering things long after you consider yourself "familiar" with the course.

[Tim Nugent]

Chris,  to me that looks more like a kick slope but I'll take your word on it.  To get a 218 carry, one must be at 270?  Doesn't sound much like any benefit for the short hitter.  I'm thinking more like 180 carry from 230 and not having an all-or-nothing carry.  This hole does present present some nice options but,  I would guess, a majority of play is from the right.

[Chris Cupit]

Chris,  to me that looks more like a kick slope but I'll take your word on it.  To get a 218 carry, one must be at 270?  Doesn't sound much like any benefit for the short hitter.  I'm thinking more like 180 carry from 230 and not having an all-or-nothing carry.  This hole does present present some nice options but,  I would guess, a majority of play is from the right.

I could be wrong on what people are thinking about as a turbo boost.  Of course the slope can assist any player from any distance whether it is their second or fourth shot to the hole.  The point of the slope is to allow the player who may not be able to carry the ball onto the green, the chance to run the ball up using the feature.  A ball coming up just short will kick off to the right so a short shot almost never makes it onto the green.  A player may have 175 to the middle of the green and that distance may be a bit beyond their abilities.  But as another option they can try and hit/carry a ball 138 and run it in.

The picture doesn't do a good job showing the extent of the slope.  The 270 shot was assuming a scratch golfer playing the back tees and 525 is a short par 5 for those guys that allows even a "short, scratch" player the chance of going for the green.  Or a longer hitter who missed their drive and has a long way to the middle of the green may risk going for the slot at almost forty yards less to carry.

I am not sure I would describe the choice of going for it over the bunker as "all or nothing".  Unlike a chasm or OB, a missed shot on this hole is going to stay in play almost every time unless the player pushes the shot way right into the hazard (from which a good deal is "dry" and can still be played from).  Again, a miss here can certainly leave a difficult next shot but the player will almost never be "out of the hole".

[Chris Cupit]

Welcome Bryan   Nice to have you on here.

[Tim Martin]

Yale has three good ones on its back side. A fade hit in the right spot on 14 will get you a big kick forward and back to the fairway. On 16 and 17 a draw off the right side will get you a similar result. I would say that my favorite is 17 as it is a blind tee shot although you know when it is started on the right line.

[Mike McGuire]

I love the speed slot on the ninth at West Bend (Langford)

You pick up 60 yards if you hit it.

Even though on paper it looks wide its really only 1/5 of the fairway. The ground slopes hard to the right and you end up with a severe downhill lie in the rough if you miss the slot.

Another cool part is picking up the 60 yards leaves you only 120 but it's blind. Stay short of the slot and you have a downhill shot where you can see the entire green.