The Old Course: Heathery (In)

[Mike Hendren]

The 12th at The Old Course owned me.  My caddies had me playing to the right-hand rough off the tee.  The result - two doubles.  

The drive is like trying to roll a marble through a slice of swiss cheese!  Made all the more frustrating by the wonderful green contours with an extremely shallow plateau between the front bowl and the "false" rear.

How do you real players approach this hole?

Mike

[Robert Thompson]

I play to a 3, and I'll let you know that I flubbed a 3-iron to the left and then hit a 9-iron to the green. Interesting hole, considering it looks benign. I know at least one in our group bombed a driver and chipped on....

Robert

[THuckaby2]

That's a hell of a question, Mike.  I watched parts of the recent Dunhill, as well as a tape of the most recent Open there, and well... sad to say for guys like us, but real players just blow it over all the trouble and absent any significant head-wind, they truly do just treat it as a par 3.

Interesting, the caddies aimed us into the right rough also!  Being the untrusting soul I am, I couldn't see that being correct... so I went straight ahead both times and well... one worked, one didn't.

For a player of normal distance, I too want to know what the best play is for the tee shot.  Maybe a driver to the left, trying to stay inside the gorse?

As you indicate, what's cool about that hole also is that even if you survive the tee shot, the 2nd shot pitch is just fantastic... so many ways to try and get the ball up onto the shelf and hold it... damn that's a hard shot....

TH

[Dan Kelly]

It's apparently a little-known fact that there's an annual competition -- the cause of abundant mirth throughout the year -- among the caddies at the Old Course.

The winner is the guy who can get the most players to aim their drives at the right rough on 12.

[Tommy_Naccarato]

Mike,
The greatest shot I have ever hit is on Heathery-In. On that paticular round, I hit a pretty good 3 wood left (I'm not that long) and then hit what I call the greatest bump and run of my life, only what I managed to accomplish was hitting the tier head on with a 8-iron punch, the ball popped-up, did one of those back-spin grabs and then climbed about four feet on to the top. It was an amazing shot for me, and I was of course blown away by it when thinking about how bad I missed the 5' birdie putt, and my subsequent and royal and ancient ass-kicking on #13-Hole O' the Cross. It is a hole that has my number!

I tend to have to disagree with Tom regarding the hole being nothing more then a par 3, but that's because the ball was only about 200% out of control back then!  

[THuckaby2]

Tommy:

Just to be clear, it sure as hell never as been, nor ever will be, driveable for me.

Watching the big boys play it though, I didn't see a single layup.  Every single one went right at the green.

Dan K.:

I'm happy to know that I cost my caddie a few quid.  He deserved it.  

TH

[Jeff Fortson]

Mike,

I try to drive the green.  If it is severely into the wind then I will consider other options.  I find that when I try to drive the green I make a lower score on average then when I lay up.  The reason?  If you lay up, the second shot is not that easy itself.  I might as well try to get it the furthest down there as possible.  This may sound reckless but I have tried a few different approaches to the hole with little success.  I guess if I played it a bunch more I might change my strategy on this hole but for now, LET IT RIP!


Jeff F.

[THuckaby2]

Jeff:

I can't see a strong player like you playing it any other way.  If anything your easiest shot is a driver right at it - any sort of layup brings all the bunkers into play, and yep, that pitch is damn tough - closer to the green the better for that one, hopefully getting it to where you can putt.

The question is what do us normal-length players do?  

Great hole - different thrills for all players... for you, the thrill is a chance at eagle... for me, it's a damn tough decision what to do, and two very interesting shots no matter how I decide to do it.

TH

[Doug Siebert]

If you can carry that cluster of bunkers 1/2 - 2/3 of the way there -- about a 215 carry IIRC, then that's the play whether you can get there or not, IMHO.  I played it into about a 10 mph wind last time, and since I knew I'd have to hit it pretty square to get it there I wasn't really planning to reach the green, just get near it.  The only hazard is the little bunker just short of the green, and it is small so you will probably miss it, and it is close enough that par is still well within reach if you do go there.  That's not the case for the other bunkers.

I could hit a 1 iron and carry the other bunkers and be short of the one by the green, but it doesn't take much miss on a 1 iron into some wind before I'm in those other bunkers with a much worse shot, so I felt confident driver was the play.  As luck would have it, I landed just short of that bunker, hopped over and ended up on the green.  Had I had about one more yard in it it would have ended up on top of the plateau where the pin was, as it was I rolled back down into 3 jack territory, but I guess you can't have everything...

[Darren_Kilfara]

I have played toward the right rough (and right edge of the fairway) on a number of occasions; I think that route works best to a pin position on the left side of the green. With the pin on the right, I think the best play is to trust your distance control off the tee and play for the left side of the fairway between the two largest cross bunkers, finishing something like 90-130 yards from the green. (That could be completely off - I'm just going from memory.) But yeah, it's a hole to be groped, not attacked, if you follow me.

Cheers,
Darren

[Mike Hendren]

... sad to say for guys like us, but real players just blow it over all the trouble and absent any significant head-wind, they truly do just treat it as a par 3.

Tom,

My strokesaver reports and average score of 3.89 during the 2000 Open Championship.  

Next time, it's driver or 5-iron down the left hand side, depending on windage.

Just a great hole that confirms the irrelevency of par.

Mike

[THuckaby2]

Right on, brother Michael.

And remember, I said they TREAT it as a par three (that is, just hit a shot intending to find the green).  Given that green, and all the trouble around, well... SUCCEEDING in making that "par" is another matter!

It is a great hole... and then 13 is likely better... and 14 better than that... and 11 is one of the great par 3's on the planet... hey, we've just come up with a great 4-hole stretch...

Yes, this is a pretty neat golf course.  

TH

[Mike Hendren]

To all,

Please accept my apology in advance.  Huckster is right - I am intoxicated from my trip and will likely continue to post about The Old Course.  I cannot help myself.  

The Old Course continues to grow on me every single day, something I have never experienced with any other great course.

Addicted,

Mike

[THuckaby2]

Mike:

I know EXACTLY how you feel.
And post away, my friend.  The cool thing is that there are many others with this addiction as well.

There is no course I know with so much potential for discussion... every single hole has something to wonder about...

TH

[ed_getka]

Mike,
  Keep posting, I love reading it all.

[Jeff Fortson]

Mike,

I could talk about TOC 24-7.

Keep it coming.


Jeff F.

[Marty Bonnar]

Mike,

I could talk about TOC 24-7.

Keep it coming.


Jeff F.

Yeah but, Jeff,
What kind of guy allows WORK to get in the way of the possiblility of playing it - with his Dad - NEXT WEEK.....?
BIG Row of Smilies....

Martin.

[Jeff Fortson]

Martin,

That's cold.    I couldn't go because I have a wife that is 6 1/2 months pregnant and we are moving across the country over the next couple weeks.  If I went my wife would have me shot.  Trust me, I want to be there.  Maybe next time.  


Jeff F.

[Marty Bonnar]

Jeff,
Sincere apologies to you, sir. You are clearly a man of great honour and chivalry. Your wife and your impending offspring are WAY more important than a daft wee game of 'gawlf'.
We shall have a Wee Nip in your honour!

Martin.

[CHrisB]

Last time I played it I finally drove the 12th green but then 3-putted. Before saying "to heck with it" and hitting driver every time, I used to try to tiptoe up the sides of the hole, and I found that for me the left side was more comfortable. But in a Mickelsonian sense, it is sometimes easier to accept lost shots when playing boldly than it is when playing "smartly", so now it's "bomb's away!"

But yeah, it's a hole to be groped, not attacked, if you follow me.

Nah, I'd better not respond....

[Doug Siebert]

Last time I played it I finally drove the 12th green but then 3-putted. Before saying "to heck with it" and hitting driver every time, I used to try to tiptoe up the sides of the hole, and I found that for me the left side was more comfortable. But in a Mickelsonian sense, it is sometimes easier to accept lost shots when playing boldly than it is when playing "smartly", so now it's "bomb's away!"

Yeah, but you have to expect a lot of three putts at TOC for stuff like that.  Last time I was there I drove 9, 10, and 12 and hit both par 5s in two.  I three putted 5, 10 and 12 and the only one I came close to making was my putt on 9 that just lipped out.

Those are damn big greens, you can push/pull/hook/slice quite a bit and still be putting, and they are of reasonable depth as well.  Couple that with the big features and subtleties I obviously haven't figured out that make even a seemingly straight in three footer nothing you can take lightly there and you can't have the same attitude about averaging birdie or better for driven par 4s or par 5s hit in two like we all feel we deserve elsewhere.

I keep walking off that course with 40+ putts (which includes a handful from off the green, of course) and always think how terribly I putted, and of course I did, but not nearly as bad as taking 42 putts on your average USA course.  I'd give up the game if I ever did that!

The real trick to taking fewer putts on TOC is to make sure that if you miss a shot you REALLY miss it