[Jim Franklin]

Does the fairway have to be flat in the LZ of a blind tee shot to be fair? I am going to use the 3rd at Old Mac as my example as well as my beloved GW friend. He says it is an architectually flawed hole because you cannot see where you are going, many high handicappers cannot clear the hill, and you have no idea what kind of lie you will have when you reach your shot.

Personally I find that to be part of the charm of that hole in particular and blind shots in general.

Now the part about high handicappers not being able to clear the hill...I don't know. Is it REALLY that difficult??

[Anthony Gray]

  RCD 9 has the prefered blind tee shot because it does allow the short miss. Most blind tee shots are there because of immovable features that have to be driven over.

  Anthony

[Mark Saltzman]

Jim,

I may catch flak for saying this but I do believe the LZ for a blind shot should be reasonably flat.  There is a course near where I live, The Lake Joseph Club, that has a blind/uphill second shot on a par 5 to a wildly undulating fairway.  Too often shots are hit in the general direction of the fairway, take a funny bounce (I presume) and are lost.  

Call that what you want.  Some would say unfair.  Maybe others idiotic.  I say that's not fun.

[Michael Goldstein]

If all blind shots were to a flat landing area (or a flat green) then half the point is lost

[Tim Martin]

I would say no. Think Eastward Ho where I wouldn`t change a thing.

[Ally Mcintosh]

Not flat, not at all... But receptive, yes....

[Jim Franklin]

Jim,

I may catch flak for saying this but I do believe the LZ for a blind shot should be reasonably flat.  There is a course near where I live, The Lake Joseph Club, that has a blind/uphill second shot on a par 5 to a wildly undulating fairway.  Too often shots are hit in the general direction of the fairway, take a funny bounce (I presume) and are lost.  

Call that what you want.  Some would say unfair.  Maybe others idiotic.  I say that's not fun.

I like Ally description of being receptive. The uphill to an undulating fairway that is not receptive is no fun at all.

[Michael Goldstein]

Jim / Ally: What does receptive mean? Is anything firm and fast on a windy site not receptive? Or is it OK provided that the fairway is either flat or canted in one direction?   

[Jim Franklin]

I would say receptive means you are not losing your ball. Going to Old Mac #3 again, it is a wide LZ with lots of undulations, but you are not losing your ball. I don't want to play a blind shot come to realize that my ball is in the woods or lost because of a crazy kick. Receptive may not be the best word because firm & fast is preferred.

[Ally Mcintosh]

I am with Jim...

"Golf is not fair" so everyone takes that literally in all cases. In truth there is a happy medium. There is already an element of uncertainty with a blind shot so you want the guy who hits his ball where he means to finding it when he walks over the crest...

[Michael Goldstein]

I completely agree about not wanting to lose your ball.  But I'm struggling to think of many holes which fit this category?

One example I can think of is Tom Doak's 13th hole at St Andrews Beach south of Melbourne which gets plenty of criticism for this exact reason.  This hole has effectively a blind tee shot to a hogs back fairway.  Anything left of centre is lost.  But if you have a caddy or some local knowledge you know to hit it right of centre.

Other examples I can think of are at the Machrie.  One hole on the front nine is a short par four (350yd?) where if you hit an iron your landing zone is fine.  My mate hit driver to a wild section of the fairway and lost his ball. But what is the need to hit a 290 yard shot to a 350 yard hole?

Somebody told me once that if the tee shot is blind be wary to hit it where you can see it (and with a high shot that doesn't roll so far).    

[Michael Whitaker]

In general I have no problems with blind shots as they provide mystery to the game. But, blind shots on resort courses that will only be played one time by most visitors shouldn't have "tricky" outcomes designed into them... like bunkers or water hazards that "punish" a supposedly well struck shot. IMO there nothing worse for a golfer than to think he has played a perfect shot based on the information at hand and then learn that his ball is in a hidden hazzard or lost. What's the point? Just to be able to say "gotcha"?

[Will Lozier]

Not flat, not at all... But receptive, yes....

Ally is spot on!  This is the ONLY problem I have with Bandon Trails - a case I made on the "Bulldoze BT" thread - that the blind tee shot on #18 (into the wind it is not so blind as you could easily end up on top of the hill) is to a non-receptive, even repellent landing area where you could lose a ball with a well struck drive on the correct line.  I've done it and seen it as a caddie more than once.  And in the latter situation it is especially a drag!  This specific problem could be remedied, I believe, by simply extending the fairway to the left about 10-15 yards (a lot I know). Don't flatten out anything!  Further, bailing out left - away from the slight dogleg leaves a tougher approach to a green that falls away hard to teh right.  The fact that you could get an non-level lie after a blind shot is irrelevant.

[Michael Goldstein]

Michael, can you possibly give some examples?

I had this issue in a big way at Machrihanish Dunes - a pay and play course where the blindness did not relate at all to the landing areas.

[Tags:]

Tags:

[Tags:]

Tags:

Call to undefined function theme_linktree()