Tougher With More Plays

[Jeff Tang]

On Bill's thread about great short Par 4's I wrote that the sixth at Pacific Dunes was one of my favorite short 4's.  I mentioned that in two visits to Bandon my first visit resulted in me thinking the sixth wasn't that difficult but after my second visit I found the sixth to be much more exacting and difficult.  I think the reason is after more plays I realized where you couldn't be on that hole and that made subsequent plays tougher for me. 

Have others had that same experience?  What holes have become more difficult for you the more you have played them and why?

[Jud_T]

Jeff,

Interesting question.  I'd say the 8th at Kingsley fits the bill.  The tee shot is tricky as you need to hit a controlled fade up the right side or you'll either end up in the bunker or on the left which is a much more difficult approach (not to mention carrying the hill off the tee).  Then the green is so exacting; it repels balls from 3 of the 4 sides and is 3-putt central.  For a short 4 I'm generally content to walk away with bogey.  To me the approach here has more pucker factor the more you play the hole.

[Matthew Petersen]

I think a lot of holes where the trouble isn't as obvious (severe hazards, etc) fit the bill, as do holes where some hole locations just make the day's play simpler. Also, sometimes you just go around once and hit the perfect shot and never realize until later how unlikely doing that was.

[Nate Oxman]

I've only played it once, but I remember reaching many of the greens at NGLA, looking around, and thinking thank god I'm not there or there or there or there. I could be mistaken but I remember hitting a decent number of blind or partially-blind approach shots and thanking my caddie for a good line. If I played it again, I imagine I'd be a little more tense standing over the ball on those approaches.

[Tom_Doak]

I think it's true of a lot of holes at The Old Course at St. Andrews.  You can't understand how to get the ball close to certain hole locations until you know the course well, so you aren't tempted to try to play those precise or unusual shots ... you just play for the fat of the green.

[Wade Whitehead]

On some of the best holes ignorance is bliss.

WW

[Jeff Tang]

I also had a similar experience on the 6th hole at Ballyneal. Must be something about about me and 6th holes. First time I played it the hole was all the way on the right side of the green. That is a very difficult pin because if you're too far right the ball will funnel off the side of that green to a lower area and it's a tough up and in from there. I had less than 10 feet for my birdie (which I missed) and haven't been close since. That's a very difficult hole and green and I've found it difficult in subsequent plays to even get the ball up on the green in two let alone close to the hole. I agree that ignorance is bliss.

[Doug Wright]

Jeff, it's interesting that you used the 6th @ Pacific Dunes as the example for this thread, because I thought "Pacific Dunes" before I opened the thread to take a look. The first couple of rounds I played Pacific Dunes pretty well; then I realized where the trouble is on several holes (e.g. don't miss the short par 3 14th right, or #16 right) and it's been tougher ever since.