Has blindness ever led you astray?

[Eric Smith]

Have you ever accidentally played to the wrong blind fairway or green?

My first links experience was due to be a solo adventure, but as I was taking a practice swing at the first tee a member stuck his head out of the clubhouse window and asked if I'd like some company. I was happy to oblige him and we enjoyed a most memorable day on his home course. One of the reasons I'm thankful he showed up when he did was his help in saving me from making a long and unnecessary walk during the round. There was a moment on one of the holes where I was aiming to play my second over a hill that was, unbeknownst to me, about 90 degrees in the wrong direction from where I was supposed to play! Thankfully, this gentleman stopped me before I played and corrected my target line. I recall thinking had he not been with me and I had played the shot I might not have realized my error until I reached the eighteenth green and clubhouse, wandering around aimlessly looking for the other four holes.

I'm reminded of this instance viewing Michael Goldstein's photos of The Machrie over on the quirk thread, which looks like a place where, if played sight unseen, a misdirected shot or two might be expected? Has this happened to any of you all either here or elsewhere? If so, please do tell!

[JNC Lyon]

There's a lot of, oh ho ho, badness in the world today, Danny.  I've sent boys younger than you to the gas chamber.  Didn't want to do it, thought I...owed it to them.



Wait, this thread is on blindness?  Sorry, my bad.

[Joe Bausch]

How bout a Fresca?

[Keith OHalloran]

I was lucky enough to play Sand Hills this year, and a great guy who is a fiend of Mike F'ing Benham got on the fifth tee and would have hit to the 8th green if someone isn't turn him.

[Michael Goldstein]

I had a conversation about this yesterday.  Even on a course with blind shots everywhere, like the Machrie, you get an innate idea of where to hit it. I get a feeling that if the hole is only 350-380 yards then it would be foolish to take driver and wiser to hit a high landing iron.

Also, many blind shots give you a hint of what is ahead.  Whether that is a stone on the dune, some grass that has been cut down or even a small cut into the dune, you have some clues of what may lie ahead.  Yesterday, my friend was criticising 13 at St Andrews Beach for not giving the golfer a hint of what direction to go (right) - and indeed the blind tee shot on this hole often leads people astray.

I played The Machrie sight unseen and, even with 17 entirely blind shots, had my best ever round.  If I had played a course like Machrihanish Dunes sight unseen without a guide I would have shot 100.

[Ben Jarvis]

Slightly off topic but thought you may have a laugh at this.

About 10 years ago, I caddied for one of our members, Peter, that is almost entirely blind - a wonderful guy that still managed to enjoy a day out on the golf course. I was 16 years of age and it provided some welcome pocket money.

Peter has since moved to the other side of Melbourne but I see him every now and then.

Anyway, on one particular afternoon, we went out for 18 holes at Thirteenth Beach (in Australia). On the 15th hole of the Beach Course, Peter hit his second shot near a cluster of fairway bunkers. Momentarily, I forgot he was blind and I was walking three of four paces ahead of him to see whether I could find his ball in one of the bunkers. Yes, you guessed right! All of a sudden, THUMP! I looked back and here is Peter at the base of a bunker spitting out a bit of sand and brushing it to the side.

Thankfully, he didn’t injure himself, we managed to laugh it off by the 16th tee and still laugh about it to this day.

[Sean_A]

Have you ever accidentally played to the wrong blind fairway or green?

My first links experience was due to be a solo adventure, but as I was taking a practice swing at the first tee a member stuck his head out of the clubhouse window and asked if I'd like some company. I was happy to oblige him and we enjoyed a most memorable day on his home course. One of the reasons I'm thankful he showed up when he did was his help in saving me from making a long and unnecessary walk during the round. There was a moment on one of the holes where I was aiming to play my second over a hill that was, unbeknownst to me, about 90 degrees in the wrong direction from where I was supposed to play! Thankfully, this gentleman stopped me before I played and corrected my target line. I recall thinking had he not been with me and I had played the shot I might not have realized my error until I reached the eighteenth green and clubhouse, wandering around aimlessly looking for the other four holes.

I'm reminded of this instance viewing Michael Goldstein's photos of The Machrie over on the quirk thread, which looks like a place where, if played sight unseen, a misdirected shot or two might be expected? Has this happened to any of you all either here or elsewhere? If so, please do tell!

Eric

I too got slightly lost somewhere around #4 at Tenby.  Things didn't look right on the tee so I headed back to the path. 

I did get lost on Pyle & Kenfig's winter course and never found my way to some of the holes on the back nine.  We felt lucky to make it back to the house before dark!  In every sense, that back nine was a real roller coaster as we played very few shots which were meant to be the holes.  I still don't have a clue about the dunes holes.

Ciao

[Mike Hamilton]

My first play at Bandon Dunes.  

It was August 99 and my wife and I stopped there to see what the fuss was about on a vacation to Oregon.  We played two rounds.  The first day rained pretty consistently and my wife called uncle at nine leaving me pretty much alone with the golf course.

After my first on the 5 Par 13th I was blind to the 13th flag, but could see the 17th.  Although it looked rather distant, under the conditions perspective was tough so who knew?  I took out (most probably) my 5 wood and fired away....only to realize my mistake as I walked 100 yards closer.  The ball is probably still in the gorse.

Honestly, the adventurous process of discovery that day was one of the events that really stoked my interest in golf courses...and thinking about it reminds me of a Tom Doak post a year or so ago where he argues against seeing pictures, yardage guides, etc before your first play at a new layout.

[Niall C]

I had a conversation about this yesterday.  Even on a course with blind shots everywhere, like the Machrie, you get an innate idea of where to hit it. I get a feeling that if the hole is only 350-380 yards then it would be foolish to take driver and wiser to hit a high landing iron.

Also, many blind shots give you a hint of what is ahead.  Whether that is a stone on the dune, some grass that has been cut down or even a small cut into the dune, you have some clues of what may lie ahead.  Yesterday, my friend was criticising 13 at St Andrews Beach for not giving the golfer a hint of what direction to go (right) - and indeed the blind tee shot on this hole often leads people astray.

I played The Machrie sight unseen and, even with 17 entirely blind shots, had my best ever round.  If I had played a course like Machrihanish Dunes sight unseen without a guide I would have shot 100.

Michael,

I think you make a very good point. I've played a lot of blind holes in the UK and can't recall any holes off hand that you didn't have a sense of where you were going. I don't think thats by accident either. I suspect that with a lot of these older courses experience of told them when to stick up a marker post or shape a fairway to make it more accommodating.

Also agree with you that playing blind golf focus's the mind. When you simply pick a spot in the horizon that you are going to hit over its amazing how much easier the game becomes.

Niall

[Bill Brightly]

My first time at Portstewart, played as a single after a morning round at Portrush. Hit a mediocre drive that the wind just laughed at and deposited just off the fairway on the right. A large dune obscured the sharp dogleg, and after waiting for a group to clear a green...I aimed at what I thought was the first green, which turned out to be a hole on the back nine...The wind knocked that shot down woefully short, which left me in position to see the real first green...

[ward peyronnin]

Mike Whitaker and I played each of  our second shots to the I believe fourth green at royal north Devon while playing the third hole with a group including the club Capt  chortling at us standing on the fifth tee above green . Needless to say our traveling credentials were tarnished that day

Ted Sturges and I couldn't wait until the next morning to play Pacific Dunes so we grabbed our bats and struck off. After playing three holes the next hole appeared to be of a different style altogether and guess what it was bandon dunes we had stumbled upon

[Matthew Mollica]

Where would people play this blind drive at 3 on New South Wales?










For those who have not played it - would you have guessed this line?


Which gives this result -



MM

[Michael Goldstein]

Reading Niall's post, I now think that guessing where to go on a blind hole is a skill that can be trained. 

When I'm golfing with my dad, who has played much of his golf down under, he is more unnerved when standing in front of a blind shot and likely miss the various subtle bits of information that have been presented to him.  And then, of course when our mind is uncertain about the task ahead we're far more likely to execute poorly.   

That said, he is a member at NSW and as MM points out the playing line off the tee on the third hole is completely bizarre.  They should definitely cut out some of the scrub on the hill on the left.   

[Sean_A]

Blindness will just as often as not be blind without clues.  More importantly, there is an inherent trust in the archie not to create stupid hazards in the landing zone on a blind hole.  Too often this trust is broken.  Perhaps this lack of trust in both the archie and one's sawing is why folks don't care blindness, but use health and safety as the excuse (very lame excuse) for eliminating blindness.  If you think about it, Prestwick's Alps should be a hated hole not because of the blindness, but because of the bunker between the Alps and the green.  Somehow (because its seriously fun?) it gets a major pass by most if only for the sake of history.

On another note, it doesn't take blindness to create confusion.  A hole can be fully in sight and yet be against our instincts to play for.  I recall at Seascale, we were playing the 15th, but aiming directly at the 16th green which was in a direction heading back to the house.  Remarkably, the yardage to either green was exactly the same.  One guy hit a stonker to the green only to have members tell us we had skipped the 15! 

#16 green from #15 tee.


Turn around 180 degrees and there is the 15th green to aim at which plays over the 14th green.


I also know Pennard's 4th, which is totally wide open, confuses the hell out of people.  Its so wide open they want a line of attack!

Ciao

[John Chilver-Stainer]

This is one I laugh at a lot to myself.

My cousin, who as a teenager was my greatest golfing rival in Scotland, invited me for a game at Westward Ho. We’d had many a grudge match in the past, and this was the first time we had played together in 25 years.

He had moved to Devon and knew the course well and this was my first time. It was blowing very strongly, a 3 club wind, and we were the only golfers taking on the gale except for a single player in front of us who we had to wait for frequently.

Playing Westward Ho in these conditions was incredible fun, and we were having a ding doing battle. As we came off the 15th Green I had just pulled a hole back to go all square with 3 to play.

I looked up and saw the single player walking down the fairway about 200 yards away and proceeded to tee up, and as soon as he was out of range I struck a good drive down the middle. My cousin then came on the Tee with an 8-iron, which I thought was a bit cautious, teed up and addressed the ball in the opposite direction 180 degrees from my drive.

The 16th green although not blind, had a  lot of long grass between the Tee and the Green, and I had made a stupid assumption and mistaken the 17th Fairway for the 16th  Hole.

Needless to say he made me play my second shot from the where it landed on the 17th Fairway to the 16th Green and consequently I lost the match.

The moral of the story is, it’s better to carry a “stroke saver” with you on a first visit than rely on your golfing partner.

 

[Niall C]

John

Your story reminds me of playing Crieff or Dunblane many years ago (can't recall which) and came to a blind drive over a summit with a marker pole at the top of the summit. I took out the driver and with the marker pole to aim at I smacked my best drive of the day right over it. My playing partners made no comment which I thought odd until I strode to the top of the rise to see the green just over with a jungle behind where no doubt my ball now lay.

A quick glance at the score card never mind a stroke saver would have saved the day.

Niall

[Mark_Rowlinson]

I once played Rowany on the Isle of Man in a fog. It made me concentrate very hard and I recall playing better than if the visibility had been perfect probably because I played conservatively. There was no course planner available.