Key Factors in YOUR Enjoyment of a Course

[Bill_McBride]

I'm curious.

What kind of shot doesn't make you think ?

I never played a shot in my life that didn't make me think, so I''d like to know the holes/courses where you find shots that don't require thinking.

I think the idea is that some architecture requires you to hit a specific shot, say a lofted shot over a fronting bunker, where other designs might offer more options such as a running approach using slopes or an aerial option.   Having to weigh options and make a decision is more fun to me than executing the only available option.

[Patrick_Mucci]

I'm curious.

What kind of shot doesn't make you think ?

I never played a shot in my life that didn't make me think, so I''d like to know the holes/courses where you find shots that don't require thinking.

I think the idea is that some architecture requires you to hit a specific shot, say a lofted shot over a fronting bunker, where other designs might offer more options such as a running approach using slopes or an aerial option.  

Having to weigh options and make a decision is more fun to me than executing the only available option.

Bill,

Then I can conclude, based on your response, that you hate Tom Doak's 7th hole at Streamsong.
That it represents limited and unimaginative architecture due to the lack of options.

I guess the same can be said of all of Macdonald's, Raynor's and Banks's "Short" holes and their "Redans"

Ditto for MacKenzie's 15th at CPC, his 4th, 6th, 12th, 13th, 15th and 16th at Augusta.

What I find interesting is that on shots like # 7 at Streamsong, I still have to think.
Do I want to err long or short, left or right.
Do I want to hit a high or low shot
Do I want to fade or draw my ball.

So, I'm still puzzled.

Where are these shots that don't make you think ?

[Dave Doxey]

I'm curious.

What kind of shot doesn't make you think ?

I never played a shot in my life that didn't make me think, so I''d like to know the holes/courses where you find shots that don't require thinking.

I'd like shots that make me think before I hit, instead of after.  Maybe it's not the course.... 

[Bill_McBride]

I'm curious.

What kind of shot doesn't make you think ?

I never played a shot in my life that didn't make me think, so I''d like to know the holes/courses where you find shots that don't require thinking.

I think the idea is that some architecture requires you to hit a specific shot, say a lofted shot over a fronting bunker, where other designs might offer more options such as a running approach using slopes or an aerial option.  

Having to weigh options and make a decision is more fun to me than executing the only available option.

Bill,

Then I can conclude, based on your response, that you hate Tom Doak's 7th hole at Streamsong.
That it represents limited and unimaginative architecture due to the lack of options.

I guess the same can be said of all of Macdonald's, Raynor's and Banks's "Short" holes and their "Redans"

Ditto for MacKenzie's 15th at CPC, his 4th, 6th, 12th, 13th, 15th and 16th at Augusta.

What I find interesting is that on shots like # 7 at Streamsong, I still have to think.
Do I want to err long or short, left or right.
Do I want to hit a high or low shot
Do I want to fade or draw my ball.

So, I'm still puzzled.

Where are these shots that don't make you think ?

Not sure why I bothered to respond.  I'm thinking more of a hole like say one of many at Jacaranda, a '60's
RTJ course in west Fort Lauderdale.   You have successfully hit your tee shot between the flanking mounded fairway bunkers.  Now you face a shot between greenside bunkers set at 7 o'clock and 5 o'clock to the pin.  You pull a club appropriate to the distance and hit an aerial shot to the target.

I don't think of that as a hole design that requires a decision.  The target and hazards are in front of you.

Contrast that with pretty much any of the hole designs you mention, it's a world apart.   There are options based on strategy and conditions, it's not unilateral.   That's why I prefer playing courses like NGLA or Pacific Dunes to courses like Jacaranda or even Spyglass.

[Mac Plumart]

Nobody else mentions the environment? To me golf is about getting some fresh air and being amongst nature. It's a substitute for an evening stroll where you can watch the birds, the sun going down etc.  

Compare an experience on the links as the sun is going down with say, a midday round at a bustling manufactured metropolis course.

Michael...this is a big one for me.  I LOVE the peaceful setting and will travel long distances to get it. 

[Brent Hutto]

When I see these sorts of the discussions, the hole that often pops into mind is the 4th at Ganton (I think it's the 4th, I'm terrible recalling hole numbers). When I played the first of my several rounds there last year I had a pretty good idea of what I'd be trying to do, based on having played it one time years earlier. It took me several tries to find the exact landing spot that would kick the ball forward onto the green from the little low area 15 paces short of the green.

When I finally pulled it off I was elated...until the ball rolled all the way to the back of the green and into the fringe. Turns out that wasn't the magic landing spot I thought it was.

By then I only had one more round, that afternoon, and I think I now know that playing well over to the left of the fairway right up against the edge of some wicked-long rough is the better play. I'd been hitting my tee shot in the middle or right side of the fairway thinking that gave the most head-on approach angle to the green (the hole is a very slight dogleg). But as I say, that didn't work out like I pictured.

IMO, that is about as much as one could ever ask from a golf hole.

[Michael Goldstein]

Enjoyment derived from golf runs far deeper than the analysis of strategic options of an individual hole... Mac - don't think you're on twitter but I was fortunate to have a 48 hour solo mission to Askernish this week - there's a book in that (for me) about what is enjoyment. However, like anything, to each their own!

[Mac Plumart]

Enjoyment derived from golf runs far deeper than the analysis of strategic options of an individual hole... Mac - don't think you're on twitter but I was fortunate to have a 48 hour solo mission to Askernish this week - there's a book in that (for me) about what is enjoyment. However, like anything, to each their own!

Just fantastic, Michael.

Enjoyment derived from golf runs FAR deeper than analyzing the holes in isolation.

And, like you said Michael, to each their own.  I had one of my all-time joyous moments at Askernish, but maybe some think its silly to travel so far to play golf.  That is what opens the door for such a variety of golf courses and holes and that is what makes playing golf at different courses so interesting.

[Matt MacIver]

What kind of shot doesn't make you think ?

I never played a shot in my life that didn't make me think, so I''d like to know the holes/courses where you find shots that don't require thinking.

For me, a high handicapper, it's usually most advantageous for me to get my next shot as close to the hole as possible, so laying up to x distance to hit y preferred club, or to spin the ball, etc., don't mean anything to me.  Most courses play like a triangle: widest at the tee and funneling down at the hole to 4.25".  

So par 5s with mostly boring 3w second shots don't make me think. And since I should always be aiming at the center of the green, where's the thinking there?