WOW!!! Pine Valley...

[ed_getka]

Cool story Patrick. It is one of the joys of golf to pull off shots like that. Out of curiosity, what did you think your odds were of pulling off the shot? Is there a percentage at which you won't try the shot (assuming a non-competitive round)?

I am also curious how you would rank the par 3's at PV?

[Mark Chaplin]

My mate lost his ball in the back bunker on 11 as it was completely full of water and the pin only abou 3 paces from the back edge.

Is 18 such a hard hole from the regular tees? The fairway is pretty wide with plenty of room down the left and the mid iron second shot whilst all carry is to a large putting surface, it's a tough putting green but no tougher than most and certainly easier than 2, 8 & 13. From the back tee it's a good bunt to make the fairway but even with zero roll I "only" had 200 yards in.

PV is a course where you do not come to play safe however the law of averages says it will kill you eventually and bogey can be tough once you get in a tangle.

[ed_getka]

My mate lost his ball in the back bunker on 11 as it was completely full of water and the pin only abou 3 paces from the back edge.

Is 18 such a hard hole from the regular tees? The fairway is pretty wide with plenty of room down the left and the mid iron second shot whilst all carry is to a large putting surface, it's a tough putting green but no tougher than most and certainly easier than 2, 8 & 13. From the back tee it's a good bunt to make the fairway but even with zero roll I "only" had 200 yards in.

PV is a course where you do not come to play safe however the law of averages says it will kill you eventually and bogey can be tough once you get in a tangle.

Mark,
    Re: the yardages I listed are the regular tees. I presume anyone playing those tees would be happy with a 250yd drive, which would leave a 175 approach to an elevated green of a downhill, sidehill lie. I don't know too many regular golfers who can pull that off consistently. Re: your approach shot from "only" 200yds, did you get it on the green? I agree that the green itself isn't too tough, but one must get there first.

[Mark McKeever]

Good story Pat! 

When I was out there, I blocked my drive right on 2 into the bunkers/fescue.  My ball actually ended up in the high grass between two of the bunkers in a marginal lie and being early in the round, my caddie attempted to give me a wedge and told me to put it at the end of the fairway.  I kept looking at my ball, then up at the green, and back.  He realized what I was thinking and said "if you really want to try, you are going to need almost a 200 yard shot".  I asked for my four iron without thinking and put a perfect pass on it which landed it on the green.  I told him the same thing that I wasn't going to be pitching out much that day and he laughed.   

That philosophy held up well until hole 13...

Mark

[Ted Kramer]

Ed,

I had an interesting experience the last time I played # 11.

I hit my drive very solid, but pulled it a bit, ending up at the end of the fairway on the left with an uphill lie.

The caddy wanted me to chip down to the center of the faiway so that I could hit an approach to the green and maybe make 4, 5 at worst.

I told him that I was going to knock it on the green.

He said how.

I said, do you see that 4 foot by 6 foot opening in the trees, up about 25 feet off the ground ?
He said yeah, I said that I was going to choke down on a 5-iron and hit it through that opening with a little cut, onto the green.
He said, "No way".
I hit the shot and the moment I hit it, I knew it was a good shot, up and right  through that opening.
I didn't see it hit the green, but my partner let out a yell as did the other caddy.

I missed the 20 foot birdie putt, but, my caddy said it was the greatest shot he ever saw.

He later asked me why I didn't chip down to the middle of the fairway.

I said, hell, anybody can do that, but, I'm at Pine Valley, I didn't come here to hit little safe chip shots.

I asked him if I had hit the chip he wanted me to hit, if he'd remember it tomorrow, next week or next year.

Then I asked him if he'd remember my choked 5-iron through the opening in all those trees.

He said, for the rest of my life, and I said, and so will I, that's why I attempted it.
And, I attempted it with a good degree of confidence.

I think you have to believe in yourself when you attempt heroic shots.

I will never forget that shot, and neither will my opponents and partner that day, and neither will the caddies.

It deserves a plaque 

Best thing I've read in a while!
Thanks for posting!
Ted

[JESII]

Pat,

Do you think those trees should be removed?

What would you have hadinto the green if you were unobstructed? A normal 7 or 8 iron from an upslope?

[ed_getka]

Ed,

Add me to the list of people really enjoying your posts.

I especially loved your comment on the 3rd hole..."Having said all that there really isn't much reason to get worse than bogey unless you don't have a sand game."...as I made a pair of 5's last week...believe it or not, I also had a pair of 12 footers for birdie on #5!!! Golf???

   Jim,
     That is very interesting about the pair of 5's on #3. Where did you play your second shot from to make double bogey? I presume you were trying to save par. Do you think if you were willing to settle for bogey that you would have made 4 instead, or was your second shot so difficult that 5 was the most likely outcome? I know you are an excellent golfer from posts here over the years, so it is hard for me to imagine you making a 5 on #3 unless you were being too aggressive.

Jim,
    Just pulling this back from page 1 so you could see it.

[Patrick_Mucci]

Cool story Patrick. It is one of the joys of golf to pull off shots like that.

Out of curiosity, what did you think your odds were of pulling off the shot?

I thought they were very high if I committed to the shot.
And, I thought, that unless I got unlucky, even a shot that hit some branches would still be deflected into the fairway or rough, leaving me with a shorter shot into the green versus chipping out.

Is there a percentage at which you won't try the shot (assuming a non-competitive round)?

It's sort of a spur of the moment, or circumstance oriented decision.
It's how good I feel about how I'm striking the ball, and that day I was striking it well.
So, I felt comfortable trying to make the shot.

I had a similar situation in an alternate shot playoff[ two years ago, where I hit the most incredible shot of my life in terms of planning, execution and results.

The pros who witnessed it said it was amongst the five greatest shots they had ever seen.
For me, it was the greatest shot I had ever seen.

Again, it's visualizing the shot and being comfortable with it/b]

I am also curious how you would rank the par 3's at PV?

I think they're spectacular except for one criticism.

I' think they've made # 14 too long.
From the front tee it's a great hole.
When you go back to the middle tee and back tee I think it's an excessively difficult hole, that's no longer fun to play.

Not that # 3 and # 5 bring the giggles out in you, but, when you add # 14 in from the back sets of tees, it's too much.

[Patrick_Mucci]

Pat,

Do you think those trees should be removed?

Jim, I"ve given that some thought prior to your question.
The downhill nature of the nob in the fairway tends to propel balls into that area.
Most golfers try to avoid the heavy gunk in the center and right side of the fairway, so that area tends to get more play.

A steep uphill lie presents its own problems and the green is well protected and sloped.

I'd prefer to reassess the "practical DZ", but, I might lean toward topping them off or removing them.

What would you have had into the green if you were unobstructed? A normal 7 or 8 iron from an upslope?

Probably 7, 8 or 9 depending upon how I wanted to hit the ball.
I considered hitting a huge slice to the left of the trees with a 7-iron, but felt it couldn't slice enough and that I'd be left with a dowhill recovery if the ball ended up left of the green in the rough or worse.  And, I couldn't get a wedge over the trees and too the green.
8-9 would probably be the club without the trees.

Hope that helps

[Mark Chaplin]

Ed we didn't play the second shots from the back tee as we'd run back to play having already driven from regular tees. There are lots of things to make 18 tough if you cannot hit the large fairway or large green. It's a stonking good hole but then they all are.