9th green at Harbour Town

[Anthony Gray]

  What do you think?

[Willie_Dow]

I have always liked this  hole, even though I haven't played it for several years.  It always seemed to relax my game looking forward to the back nine.
The pros play it like a par three, and I hope the bunkers are more demanding then they were in the 70's and 80's.  Watching the Heritage seems to indicate they have been reworked to protect par.
I remember when we used to get great cherrystone clams along that river shoreline location in the 60's.

[Tom_Doak]

Anthony:

I always found that to be an interesting hole, though I am not a big fan of it.

I think that shape of green is difficult, because you can leave yourself having to chip or three-putt around the inside of the "L" shape ... but the Harbour Town hole is the only one I've played which has the same orientation of the green, so that an approach that doesn't stop quickly may go the wrong back corner.  The only place to be sure of having a putt at it is to play to the front edge of the green.  I like the 7th at Crystal Downs better, because you can hedge to the left and leave yourself a shot, and because the bowl of the green allows you to putt at least partway around the bend.

[jonathan_becker]

Even though the trees and overhangs are part of the mix at HT, the ninth green is definitely a spot that needs a little tree trim IMO.

This is one of the few holes that I've played where it's extremely important to know where the hole location is on the tee due to the odd shape of the green and those overhanging trees.  The green is difficult enough to hit, so why not open it up a little on the approach to test players on their wedge game rather than a perfect tee shot?  Even without the trees, a slight push or pull with a wedge will miss the green anyway.

[Tags:]

Tags: