Cutting off as much as you can ... a good option for shot 2 on Par 5's

[Jordan Wall]

I was looking at some PV pictures today, courtesy of the other thread, and noticed there were a lot of cape like tee shot's, except going over sand rather than water.

What if that feature was employed for the second shot on Par-5's?

Would this be a good idea?
Has this already been done? Examples?

[Paul Payne]

Jordan,

I have come to detest the old 2nd shot bomb over water to hit the green. The reason is that for most of us it is a daunting shot which requires a little sanity and a layup to make a typically short shot in for birdie or par.

On the other hand a pro on TV with good distance will almost always go for it. The reason?.... there is not much risk.

If they miss off the far bank and drop in the water, they will get a drop on the other side for a chance to get up and down. If they completely tank in the water they will still get line of flight, which means they will usually have a reasonable iron shot to get up and down.

I much prefer a hole such as this over dry land of some kind so that for us, the play is much the same, but for a pro, they must deal more directly with the results of a mis-hit.

[Jordan Wall]

Paul,

Would it be a better idea if one were going over sand instead of water?

Like this type of shot, but second to a par-5..

[Paul Payne]

I would much prefer what you have there rather than water. To me it represents a more true risk for the ameteur or the pro. If you muff your attempt you must walk in a take your next shot.

[rjsimper]

How can you create this shot for all levels of golfers?

[Matthew Mollica]

What if that feature was employed for the second shot on Par-5's?

Would this be a good idea?
Has this already been done? Examples?

Not exactly the same Jordan, but the 10th and 17th on Royal Melbourne East are par 5s which have a diagonal ray of bunkers in the second shot landing zone. They force you to assess how far you can hit it, and then ask you to bite off as much as you think you can chew. They are a great feature.

MM

[Jamey Bryan]

Strantz employed this strategy on all of his "question mark" par 5's, some over water and others over waste areas and scrub.  Caledonia, True Blue, and Bulls Bay all have such holes, Bulls Bay has 2.

Fun holes, especially so when over waste and scrub instead of water.

Jamey

[Jordan Wall]

Jamey,

I would tend to think that a carry over a sandy scrub would look a lot better, and play a lot better too.

Plus, a higher handicap is more likely to try and carry sand than water, so therefore it would present challenge to all players.

I hope one day to get to Bulls Bay, True Blue, and Caledonia, they look great!

Jordan

[Forrest Richardson]

This green is 180 ft. deep. The ideal second is to the area short of the green (beyond bunkers), or to the green.

[TEPaul]

Jordan:

That big carry bunker in that photo is on the 16th at PV. For most golfers it can be a bit tricky getting straight over that bunker particularly into a wind. It's good to do though because if you take it right over the right side you get a real turbo boost. Go left which is a progressively shorter carry you really do have some second shot to decide on.

But the thing about that hole is it's not that hard to hit a shot out of that bunker unless you're right up near the end of it but the hole is long enough where there's no way even a really good player could get on the green from there, not to mention that they can't even see much. If that hole was a lot shorter, though, that wouldn't be the case and that big bunker would lose a lot of its strategic impact. If someone tried to take a wood out of that bunker and get on the green or near it they are really asking for trouble.