Your Favorite Shot of the Day #1 St. Andrews (Old)

[Jeff Fortson]

I am curious to hear what others find to be the most exciting SHOT is to play at different courses.  For instance, what SHOT (notice it is not plural) makes the goosebumps come out in you at the Old Course at St. Andrews?  I know there are many, but which one excites you the most?  Is it the tee shot on #1, trying to drive #9, tee shot on #11, second shot to #14, drive to the right of the Principle's Nose on #16, tee shot on the Road Hole, playing off the Road or out of the bunker on #17, running it through the Valley of Sin, or some other shot the course offers?  

I know I gave a lot of examples but there are so many different types of shots on this course that I think it would be interesting to see which ones get the most votes or to see ones I had never thought of myself.

I'll start with mine.......

I love the approach to #18 through or over the Valley of Sin.  The choice to be made and the theatre it is made in leaves me speechless.


Jeff F.

P.S.: Let's keep this topic related to the Old Course please.  We'll do other shots at other courses later.  Thanks.

[Tim_Weiman]

Jeff:

I agree with Shivas. I could stand out there for hours playing that shot.

[Robert "Cliff" Stanfield]

Let's see.

#2 second shot.  The pin placement is crucial to how fun and if you get lucky.  I like the back right pin on the edge of the shelf falling to the right.  Awesome green.

#12 second shot is great too!  When the pin is on the front edge of the green ontop of the shelf.  Hitting a wedge into the slpe and letting the ball roll up the slope and stop is a fun shot to try.  The green has a ab ack shelf that falls off too.

#14 Shot to green with the large elephant buried in the front of the green...love it when the pin is on the right bottom after the slope.

#10 second shot can be fun and the pin can be sneaky deceptive on distacne is back left.  As well as #8 pin being difficult to club. since the green is blind partially.

Of course the #18 second shot and #1 tee shot are fun.  

I think it is my favorite course for different shots that can be played and with different clubs producing similar shots.  I miss the place just about everytime I tee up in the US.

[Robert "Cliff" Stanfield]

Almost forgot...depending on the weather...a rusty nail shot on the old course is very fun and can lead to a whole lot of different shots!

[MikeMcCartin]

While the second shot to the 17th may be the most difficult (and rewarding if you get it right) on the course, maybe the most fun approach on the Old Course is the second to the 12th.  Getting the approach to stop on the narrow plateau where the pin is usually set requires imagination and skill, not to mention a well placed tee shot.

[A.G._Crockett]

I would tend to quickly agree that it is the 2nd to the Road Hole, but how about a well-struck tee shot off the first tee with lots of critical eyes watching and the neurons and synapses flaring and the butterflies doing aerial stunts?  Given the nature of the fairway, you'll be able to find it and play it anyway (I know, I know; unless you are Ian Baker-Finch, poor guy), but nobody will see most of your other shots that day!

[Mike_Cirba]

The second shot on #2 to a back right pin, trying to use the elephantine hump in front to direct it back there.

The second shot at #13, where you have no idea what to do and it probably wouldn't matter even if you did.

The approach to the shelves of green at 12 and 14, not to mention 16, where the penalty for not finding the correct tier is almost a certain 3 putt on otherwise birdieable holes.

The nervous approach to the first, where less than a crisply struck, accurately clubbed iron will suffer and  early indignity.

The approach to the road hole green, where one is torn between the safe play and the brave, yet foolhardy one.

[Dan Kelly]

The nervous approach to the first, where less than a crisply struck, accurately clubbed iron will suffer an early indignity.

I told Mike, privately, that if I ever get a second go at the Old Course, this "nervous approach" to No. 1 will get my heart a-pumpin' -- because of how I played it the first time: perfectly adequate drive down the left-center, followed by a fat short-iron that ... bounced over the burn.

Mike's reply: "Of course, I KNOW you were simply playing a 'running approach', consistent with the heritage of the game."

Yes, that's it! It wasn't fat, after all!  

[THuckaby2]

I tend to prefer the tee shot on the road hole to the 2nd... I just have NEVER been able to get myself to go far enough right, and it's fun to keep trying.

WHOOPS!  Tim's now gonna get on me for denigrating the 2nd shot... with my incredible power, they're probably going to change the entire golf hole... sorry Tim, I'll be more sensitive to the situation at The Old Course.  Strike the above.  Just have me echo what you say, as you wish.

My apologies to one and all, but that needed to be said in light of all the "discussion" in that Yale thread.  

Now back to discussion of TOC...

Besides the others mentioned, all of which are great, I also enjoyed whatever 2nd shot was left on #11.  If you hit the green, you likely have a terrifying or very lengthy putt.  If you don't, the possibilities are endless.  The tee shot there is darn fun also... not many par 3 holes where likely the best place to be is short, right and off the green....

TH

[ForkaB]

I hate to do it, but I just must be contrary.....

I love the 2nd shot to the 7th.  After a steady diet of blind drive, blind 2nd, dead elephant green over the previous 5 holes, I love the sense of freedom of actually being able to visualise my second shot.  And the view, across the 11th and over the Eden and the North Sea with golf holes all around you ain't chopped liver either!

[THuckaby2]

Can't see that that was very contrary, Rich.  You didn't disagree with anybody!  

And I'll ruin it for you by saying I too love the approach to 7, for exactly that reason... it is the first one where you can see the ball react, and given the wild slope of that green, it's fun to watch... and damn right, the view is pretty cool also.

It's also a tough shot to judge... with many options as to how best to get it over, through, around the false front and left to right slope.

TH

[CHrisB]

For me it used to be the shot out of the Road Bunker (was 2 for 2 getting up and down out of it , although these up and downs occurred after putting/chipping the ball into the Road Bunker first ). But after the recent renovation it is so deep and flat that it looks like blast outs sideways and backwards will be more common, so that isn't as thrilling as the do-or-die shot toward the pin when you could get one. Last month when I was in there I had to blast out backwards and then get up and down over the bunker--that was nerve-wracking.

So for me the most thrilling shot is the tee shot on the Road Hole. The 2nd shot is also thrilling, but there's something about not knowing exactly where the OB line is, yet trying to stay close to it to get the angle, that adds something for me on the tee shot.

The tee shot on #14 is a fun one too, although every shot on that hole is fun.

[James Edwards]

Tee shot at 14 or 16 with the out of bounds hard up the right hand side, in your view.  You can play as wide to the left as you wish, bringing the bunkers into play, making the strategy of the next shot more pronounced indeed!

[john_stiles]

My favorite is the first at #1.  You have arrived.  No practice swing please.......play away.

Next favorite is any shot at #17. Hard to pick a favorite there. Love them all.

My least favorite is the last putt at #18 !

[THuckaby2]

John:

Great call re the tee shot on #1.  Isn't the the hardest easy shot you've ever played?  

TH

[Darren_Kilfara]

Just one shot? I'll take the tee shot on #11 - doesn't matter what pin placement, I love 'em all!

(I wonder if my answer is conditioned by the fact that I've played the course 30+ times, i.e. the historical angle of the more cliched picks - #1, #17, #18 - rubs off a bit to leave the architectural angle of approaches like those at #2, #3, #5, #7, #11, #13, #14 and #16. I could have chosen ANY of those, but I think in a pinch I'll take one of the best par 3s in the world. Maybe THE best...)

Cheers,
Darren

[Darren_Kilfara]

By the way, Jeff, the "favorite shot" concept is a GREAT idea for future threads. I look forward to the next installment of it...

[THuckaby2]

Darren:

The tee shot on 11 is fantastic, no doubt.

But did you read my post choosing the 2nd shot on that hole?  No matter how the tee shot comes out, the 2nd there is gonna be fun.

Depending on what one's idea of fun is, that is.  

TH

[Jeff Fortson]

Darren,

Thanks.  I just thought, you know what let's get to the meat of what we really like in a golf course and I feel this is a great way to identify common and some not so common shots that thrill us.  I hope to identify exactly what it is that thrills us about a particular shot.  Is it history, design features, aesthetics or a combination.  I will continue this with other courses.  Hopefully, when I run out of courses to poll, others like yourself will pick up the ball where I can't take it.

Jeff F.

[Patrick_Mucci]

Jeff,

There are many, but I think the tee shot on # 1 is very special as are the tee shots on # 17 and # 18.

One would be hard pressed to dispute any shots there.

[Tim_Weiman]

Jeff:

Though I selected the approach shot on #17, the first hole is the scene of one of my favorite golf stories -told to me by an occasional GCA poster and frequent lurker.

This fellow happened to be in St Andrews during an Open when some guy named Jack came to him needing a replacement caddy.

When they arrived where the opening tee shot came to rest, Jack asked about yardage and our man didn't have a clue.

No worries.  

"I've played here before" Jack said, "let me just take over."

[Don_Mahaffey]

So many memorable shots makes it difficult to pick just one. But...the tee shot on #1 was the most nerve racking shot I've ever hit. Lots of folks around...finally made it to the holy grail...played just weeks prior to the 2000 open with the grandstands up and the course in perfect condition...starter says play away...tee it up and try to stop the hands from shaking...look down the fwy only to see a young mother pushing a baby stroller accross the fwy on the walk to the beach...back away...starter in a very firm voice says...play away, please!...hit a great drive and didn't kill anyone!

[Tiger_Bernhardt]

The tee shot on 11 is the equal to the 2nd shot on 8 at Pebble for me. Others that I yearn to play again. The Valley shot on 6, the 2nd shot on 7, the 2nd shot to the front pin on 1, playing the bunker and hotting the green on 9, pitch shots on 12, the drive on 13, all of 14, all of 16, 2nd shot on 17 and the drive on 18 and any pitch involving the valley in sin on 18.

[Darren_Kilfara]

The tee shot on 11 is fantastic, no doubt.

But did you read my post choosing the 2nd shot on that hole?  No matter how the tee shot comes out, the 2nd there is gonna be fun.

Depending on what one's idea of fun is, that is.  

Yes, Tom, I saw your post there. And believe me, one of the favorite shots I've ever hit was an explosion shot with a 9-iron out of Shell Bunker to within four feet of a pin tucked just behind Strath Bunker - which involved bouncing the ball into the face of the false front on the green and spinning it from there to the right. But I don't think I could call any recovery shot a favorite, insofar as "recovery" implies that you hit a poor shot immediately before it. I'd just as soon never hit a recovery shot at TOC #11 again, if I could help it!

Cheers,
Darren

[Steve Lang]

Seeing a high draw go over the shed/hotel and then seeing Ms. Sheila nail one into the Lion's head on the wall at 17