Are There Any Golf Holes That Have You Snake Bit?

[Carr Harris]

For me it's #16 @ Canterbury... I"ve played the hole twice, pounded driver down the middle twice, blown a long iron layup straight into the right trees twice(Dead)... and made one bogey & one double bogey.

The silly thing is that there is so much room to keep your 2nd shot left there but my idiot self can't seem to grasp that 

[JR Potts]

#17 at Medinah.

Playing from the Members tees, the hole never plays more than 170 yards downhill (8 or 9 iron)....that said, I seem to block it right into the water 8 out of 10 times...and 10 out of 10 times when I have an all-time best round going. 

That hole hates me.

[PCCraig]

Any hole that requires a fade off the tee

When I was younger and played more I had that left to right shot, now with less practice my comfort shot (the patented Slinger) has become my only shot. I can still hold the face open long enough to sort of block it into the dogleg, but it's not pretty!!! 

[PCCraig]

The fourth hole at Ravisloe.  The third hole is a 490 yard par five, and the fourth hole is a 180 yard par 3.  I've played there about six times, and I've birdied the third hole five of those six times.  I think I've parred the fourth hole once, and probably doubled it once.  The holes have a 300 yard difference in length, and my scoring average on the two is almost exactly the same.

I agree with you Bill Re: the 4th at Rav. The 3rd hole is pretty easy, but the 4th is one hard birdie. The last few times I've played there it's been really firm so I've just tried to bump a long iron in front and run it up (is the pin always in the back of the green?) but even then it usually runs through into the rough, at least leaving a short chip.

High handicaps have zero chance on that hole from over 170 yards.

[Mike Hogan]

For me it's the 16th at Pac Dunes.
No matter what I try off the tee Driver, 3wood can end up down and to right  portion of the fairway. If I lay up off the tee my second shot always, and I mean always end up down and to the right of the green leaving a really tough up and down. Last time I played it I hit 3 wood and had about 40 yards in from the far left side of fairway. I took out the putter and attempted to put to the front left portion of the green.. well it looked good until it it got to the green and then it took a hard right all the way acrooss the front of the green and caught another slope and eventually ended up down and to the right again.  At least I can say I'm geting better at playing from down there. There are a lot of divots down there so I'm not the only one..
Mike

[Bill_McBride]

The 12th at The Old Course.  Unless you're relatively long off the tee, it's like trying to roll a marble through a piece of swiss cheese.

Bogey

Bogey, my caddy, Bruce Sorley, taught me that the best tee shot (if you can't carry 260 yards) is to aim at the road way right toward the Eden course.  No bunkers over there, just light rough, and a nice angle into the green.

That would be over by the 217 yards marker near the road:

[Matthew Petersen]

Having just experience it again this weekend, #17 at Raven Verrado in Buckeye, AZ always gets me. It's a tiny little downhill par 3, maybe 150 yards and I don't know that I've ever made par on it. I've been in the water to the right, bunker left, Saturday I it one right at the pin and it turned out I'd overclubbed by about two clubs. And, as I was telling my playing partners, the hole is now entirely in my head. I just expect bad things to happen there. Self-fulfilling prophecy.

[Harris Nepon]

#13 par 3 at Sand Hills was my nemisis. I played it 6 times and never once got on the green off the back tee. Tried every club. The one time I thought I was on the green, it rolled off the back and into one Yucca looking plant just behind the green. Only time I made a par on it was when i almost chipped in from off the left side. 

[Brad Tufts]

The 9th at Prairie Dunes. Just cannot seem to get my drives in play and when I do, I mess it up.

I have played it probably 50 times and have never birdied it, and parred it 2 or 3 times. I am a 3-4 handicap.

I think I only made one par out of 5 tries on #13.....and I was 0-5 in hitting the green on #16 from the fairway each time, but I did make 4 pars.

[Richard Choi]

#16 at Pac Dunes has gotten the best of me every time as well. Even when I hit my drive in the middle of the fairway 30 yards short of the green, I managed to put the ball down in the valley.

But where is Tim Bert with his 20 page thesis on #18 at Pac Dune?

[Thomas Patterson]

I was very nearly snake bit at the ass on the 18th hole at Sand Hills.  My playing partner Dana Fry insisted I clamber up the large fw bunker/blowout on the left to get his picture in that bunker.  I took his camera, climbed, and sat on the top ridge.  I thought what were a lot of crickets, but soon realized it was a rattler. I looked just to my left and I missed sitting on it by no more than a foot or so, yet it was content to warn me, not bite me.

If this would have been me, I would have had a heart attack and died on spot!  HATE snakes.... 

[Anthony Gray]

The 12th at The Old Course.  Unless you're relatively long off the tee, it's like trying to roll a marble through a piece of swiss cheese.

Bogey

Bogey, my caddy, Bruce Sorley, taught me that the best tee shot (if you can't carry 260 yards) is to aim at the road way right toward the Eden course.  No bunkers over there, just light rough, and a nice angle into the green.

That would be over by the 217 yards marker near the road:

  Love this hole. Could you build it today?

  ARG

[Patrick_Mucci]

Bradley,

I don't think that one can make a valid assessment on a few plays, too much is simply randomness.

But, with repeat play of 20 times or more, I think you can start to establish playing patterns.

There are certain holes that present an awkwardness to my eye which translates into disturbing my comfort zone.

I try to figure out, what the architect has done to create this uneasiness, and how can I go about combating it.

There are a few holes that come to mind that can be bothersome, resulting in higher scores.

# 8 at GCGC and # 4 at Shackamaxon come to mind.

In both cases, the angle of the tee is at odds with the general alignment of the hole, which in turn creates an internal conflict for me.

Other holes which present an uncomfortable feeling are holes that present playing corridors which conflict with your general ball flight.

# 11 at ANGC might be a good example.
One gets the feeling, on the tee, that a draw will produce horrific results, yet, the ability to fade at will, often leads to an overexageration, a slice, that leads to more trouble.

I'd like to know what it is about the architect's presentation that causes golfers to have trouble with certain holes.

[Mike Hendren]

The 12th at The Old Course.  Unless you're relatively long off the tee, it's like trying to roll a marble through a piece of swiss cheese.

Bogey

Bogey, my caddy, Bruce Sorley, taught me that the best tee shot (if you can't carry 260 yards) is to aim at the road way right toward the Eden course.  No bunkers over there, just light rough, and a nice angle into the green.

That would be over by the 217 yards marker near the road:

  Love this hole. Could you build it today?

  ARG

I love this hole too, but I'm told the caddies have a standing bet as to whether they can direct American tourists to intentionally drive their ball in the right hand rough.  Not only do they win money, but they also avoid having to take the small deep pot bunkers. 

Sucker.

Bogey

[Mike Hendren]

I should add that the 12th is the site of one of my most memorable golf shots.  I thinned a driver into the extreme left side of the small pot bunker at the 108 yards marker on the graphic.  Had only one option - play sideways directly toward Stroke bunker hoping to leave the ball between the two bunkers.  I executed this shot brilliantly, played over the green from there and three jacked from behind the green for my usual 6.

Double Bogey

[Bradley Anderson]

Patrick,

You make a good point. It isn't fair to say that a hole has us snake bit after only four or five times playing it. Especially on member courses that are played over an entire lifetime.

The beauty of the game of golf is everyone has their own truly unique game, and for each person there are secrets to golf holes that they have to discover for themselves.

Hey that's actually kind of profound isn't it?

[Jay Flemma]

I've been bitten twice by 16 at Pasa.  Rolled down to the front of the green twice!

[Doug Siebert]

Patrick makes a good point....how many plays does it take before you can conclude you snake bit?

I've had periods of several seasons where a particular hole on a course I play frequently gives me fits, but eventually I'll somehow recover from it.  Likewise, I have periods where I just totally own a particular hole, but but eventually reversion to the mean bites me in the ass.

As for the 12th at TOC, even those of us who can safely carry it over the two centerline bunkers have to rely on a bit of luck to miss the little pot bunker right in the front of the green.  And even that isn't the end of your troubles.  Last time I played there I landed just short of that pot bunker, bounced it over it, rolled onto the green directly towards the pin (which was slightly to the right of the 'h' in the map posted earlier in this thread) just on the top tier.  Unfortunately the ball didn't quite make it all the way up to the top tier, and rolled back down.  A three putt followed.

I know some of you just won't understand what I'm about to say, but I'd rather lose my drive in the gorse, re-tee my third into that front pot bunker, hit an explosion onto the green, and sink the putt for a hard fought bogey, than drive the green and make a three putt par...

[Patrick_Mucci]

Doug,

At a course that I played frequently for over 55 years, there were a few holes that caused me trouble and a few holes that I seemed to thrive on.

In almost every case, alignment and/or ball flight, not a particular feature, were a critical factor in my play.

[Bill_McBride]

The 12th at The Old Course.  Unless you're relatively long off the tee, it's like trying to roll a marble through a piece of swiss cheese.

Bogey

Bogey, my caddy, Bruce Sorley, taught me that the best tee shot (if you can't carry 260 yards) is to aim at the road way right toward the Eden course.  No bunkers over there, just light rough, and a nice angle into the green.

That would be over by the 217 yards marker near the road:

  Love this hole. Could you build it today?

  ARG

I love this hole too, but I'm told the caddies have a standing bet as to whether they can direct American tourists to intentionally drive their ball in the right hand rough.  Not only do they win money, but they also avoid having to take the small deep pot bunkers. 

Sucker.

Bogey

You are such a cynic.  Since Bruce gave me that line I have made a par and two 3-jack bogies.  Bogey.