[Patrick_Mucci]

Following up on the opening hole thread,

What's the toughest starting stretch of holes that you've actually PLAYED ?  The first 3-5 holes.

[DTaylor18]

The first 4 holes at Winged Foot West are as hard as it gets for me, especially #1.

I would add Spyglass as well, especially on a windy day.

[SPDB]

This one's easy. Pine Valley 1-5. I can't think of anything that even comes close. If you can get through that stretch with a respectable score, you are in good shape.

Don't forget about the guy who went 5 under after 4, and for fear of ruining the score, stopped in the clubhouse and never left.

[Joel_Stewart]

The first 6 at Olympic are pretty hard and that includes a fairly easy par 5 #1.  After #1 you have to play well or you are done.

[bg_in_rtp]

toughest #3-#5 would be Royal County Down.  but their #1-2 are modest, so that would take it out of the 1-5 mix.  

[Mike Benham]

The first 6 at Olympic are pretty hard and that includes a fairly easy par 5 #1.  After #1 you have to play well or you are done.

Joel - agreed ... #1 may be easy but (as I noted earlier) #2 will wake up you up faster than a double espresso ...

Mike

[Bob_Huntley]

It's hardly amusing, but these days I find the first four holes of ANY course hard. I have to agree that Spyglass, with the wind up can be a bear.

[CHrisB]

The first 6 holes at Waterwood National (Roy & Pete Dye, '74) near Huntsville, TX go 442, 225, 413 uphill, 450, 425, and 443 to small well-protected greens with no real option of running up an approach shot, except perhaps on the par-3 2nd. Every shot in the stretch is demanding, and big numbers are possible on each hole. Holes 3-5 are excellent holes.

Probably the toughest opening stretch I've played, not taking into consideration course setup, weather, etc.

Too bad most in this DG will never see it because it's so far off the beaten path.

Honorable mention:
Pete Dye GC
Prairie Dunes
Austin CC

[Patrick_Mucci]

Wanamoissett (sp?)

[A_Clay_Man]

Bob- And as we've chronicled before Spy can be a bear or a seal. Now, thats hard.

[Tyler Kearns]

First three holes at Pasatiempo are no treat, even though the first two are softened somewhat by being downhill. No real danger of huge numbers, just good stern holes that demand attention. They may not be visually intimidating, but I'm sure many stand bewildered while looking at their scorecard on the 4th tee wondering where the strokes went.

Tyler Kearns

[Bill_McBride]

Given that many courses start out relatively soft and get tougher as you go along, how about these?

#1-5 Pasatiempo.  Only #4 could be considered a soft touch; just try to get away with pushing the tee ball.

#1-4 Oakmont.  Jeez.  And #5-18 are no picnic.

[SPDB]

Pat - I just logged on in order to put in Wannamoisett, but as I scanned the thread I saw you beat me to it.

What about Yale? and what about Yale c.1935?

[Ben Cowan-Dewar]

For sheer difficulty without length, Oakmont is difficult. It is so hard to get into a rhythm early that the lack of distance has to be overlooked.

[Patrick_Mucci]

DTaylor18,

I would agree with WFW, especially since # 2 is considerably longer now.

[T_MacWood]

I would agree with Winged Foot and Oakmont. Scioto, Olympic and Chicago all have tough starts. Oakland Hills is very tough, although not particularly memorable.

[Steve Lapper]

I would agree with Oakmont, PVGC, WFW, Olympic, etc...

A few others to consider would be Quaker Ridge, Shinnecock,and Southern Hills...all have some very long and narrow par fours that require any player to tighten their focus ASAP...a tough stretch to get rhthym on.

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