[Dean Stokes]

The phenomenon is much more pervasive than my thread originally suggested, which only goes to show that I haven't played enough classic courses.  Since forced carries may be the most daunting obstacle to the high handicap player because they penalize mishits so severely, does this suggest that the clubs that had lots of forced carry tee shots were trying to discourage high handicappers from joining?  Or am I reading too much into this?

By the way, I tried to change the title of this thread and it seems to have been picked up on some posts but not on others.  This new software is interesting.

I definitely think you may be reading  too much into this Phil. Doesn't almost every hole  in the world have a forced carry. Most courses do not have fairway between the back tees and the ladies tees. Whether it is rough, heather, gorse or just scrubland there is always a forced carry.
I think this is why we have handicaps in this game. If you keep hitting it in the trouble that is a 'forced carry' you need a higher handicap than those who can reach the fairway. Either that or you need to move up a set of tees!

[David Druzisky]

There are many instances where the addition of the irrigation system took out what would today be considered a forced carry. At some point the following simple statement was muttered and from that point the dynamics of numerous holes were altered - "with irrigation through that area we could grow grass and make it playable"

Now, maybe many of those were good changes.  Some were likely not in manys minds well after the fact.

[mark chalfant]

Pine  Valleys 391 yd.  sixth ,one of my favorite par fours anywhere, has a beautifully conceived  tee shot to an angled fairway, that lets  golfers of diverse abilities choose how much of the sandy  hazard that they want  to  cut off.

[J_ Crisham]

The 7th at Beverly is a forced carry of sorts. If the ridgeline isn't carried you are assured of not reaching the green in three strokes. One of the best par fives you will find anywhere.

[wsmorrison]

"Pine  Valleys 391 yd.  sixth ,one of my favorite par fours anywhere, has a beautifully conceived  tee shot to an angled fairway, that lets  golfers of diverse abilities choose how much of the sandy  hazard that they want  to  cut off."

It can be anywhere from 125 to 225 yards of carry depending upon the angle taken.

[JohnV]

Cypress definitely has a bunch.

1 over 17 mile drive
2 over the canyon
3 over the bunkers
7 over the valley and bunker
8 over the hillside although you can play around it
9 over sand
13 over some thick stuff
15, 16 and 17 over the ocean
18 over the big cypress.

Even the ones I didn't mention have carries over a fair bit of rough and over some sand for the optimum line.

[Gerry B]

agree about 6 at PV - numerous options - a classic cape in my opinion - and I will always have a soft spot for this  hole as I made a 2 there a couple of years ago. I took the safe route off the tee as I am not a long hitter.

the 5th at Mid Ocean might be one of the best forced carries on the planet. and they have a few others varying in length - 4, 9, 16 to name a few.

[Mark Arata]

Prairie Dunes on the 3rd, 10th and 14th holes.........

[John Chilver-Stainer]

Sunningdale Old enjoys it’s fair share of forced carries - unless you are good at playing out of heather.

The 11th is a daunting blind shot from the back tee, aim over the left edge of the bunker (which is a “safe haven” rather than a hazard) and get to the fairway which, according to the strokesaver, is 203 yards from the back tee, the next set of bunkers are at 245 yards.

[ANTHONYPIOPPI]

Donnie Beck makes a great point. The angles off the tees shots at Fishers Island reward bold plays, but the shortest carries from the original tees are ones that most golfers can negotiate, which I think is pure brilliance. Yale is much the same. The third hole there is a forced carry but from the original forward tee the tee ball probably has to travel no more than 100 yards in the air to find land. The same is true of the tee shot on the fourth hole.

Anthony

[Dan_Callahan]

Anyone watch the Tour stop in Arizona last week? JB Holmes showed that with today's equipment the forced carries are irrelevant for the long hitters. He couldn't have had an easier tee shot on 18 because for him, the water and bunker weren't in play. I forget the yardage Faldo quoted, but Holmes carried the ball something like 340 yards. It's a totally different game for guys like that.

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