How do you play #'s 15, 16 and 17

[Patrick_Mucci]

at CPC when your ball goes off the fairway/rough, when the local rule is that the Cliff and the Beach are played as an integral part of the golf course, and not as a water hazard ?
 
Are there any other courses with this unique configuration ?
 
Maidstone ?

[BHoover]

It seems that the proper approach is to play those holes carefully. But that's merely a guess as I've not played them.

Perhaps you will tell us how you play them?

[Patrick_Mucci]

Brian,
 
It's almost impossible to play # 15 and # 16 carefully.
 
# 17 is not so easy either.
 
Take a look on Google Earth and let us know what you think

[James Brown]

Same as Scotland.  North Berwick and Dornoch both have lots in common.  Suck it up.

[Pat Burke]

I was fortunate to play CPC a few times in Cal Amateurs as a kid,
and then with a very good friend a few times after my playing days were over.


For me, it always felt like it could be my last visit, so I don't believe I ever (intentionally)
 layed up on 16.
15 was pretty straight forward, even the couple times in heavy winds I played (into on 150.


17 was a matter of picking a club off the tee that left me a clear approach to the green from left of the trees.
anything from 2 iron to driver.

[Greg Taylor]

If you lay up on 16 at CPC you have too much access!

[David Jones]

It seems like I play a shot from the beach pretty much every time I play at North Berwick however it isn't an integral part of the course so don't ground your club.

[Tommy Williamsen]

Fifteen is pretty straight away and a relatively big green for the distance. I hit my tee ball a little long and left on 16 once and had to play it off the ice plant while a playing partner hit it off the beach. We both made fours.  Seventeen is a problem. I like to keep it right of the trees but usually chicken out and hit it dead behind the trees. I had a friend hit five weak ass slices I to the ocean on 16 and then hit it behind the trees on 17. Undeterred by his failure on 16 he hit a majestic hook out over the ocean and on to the green. 


I've played off beaches at Westward Ho!

[Patrick_Mucci]

The question is:


If you hit your ball on the beach, the shot back up to the fairway, off a sandy lie, is almost impossible, and if you fail on your first attempt, you're doomed to keep trying from the beach as you have no alternatives.

[Bill_McBride]

The question is:


If you hit your ball on the beach, the shot back up to the fairway, off a sandy lie, is almost impossible, and if you fail on your first attempt, you're doomed to keep trying from the beach as you have no alternatives.

Do you remember Porky Oliver making a 19 on #16 in the Clambake many years ago?   I also recall a photo of Bing hanging over the cliff with somebody hanging onto his trousers.   


Couldn't you claim an unplayable and exercise the option to replay from the previous spot?   No guarantee of success but probably no injury!

[Patrick_Mucci]

Bill,

Once you hit the recovery shot from the beach and it fails, the unplayable option still leaves you on the beach.

[Bill_McBride]

Bill,

Once you hit the recovery shot from the beach and it fails, the unplayable option still leaves you on the beach.

I'm saying, if the shot from the beach is impossible, take the unplayable option.  At least you can maybe finish the hole!

[Patrick_Mucci]

Bill,

Once you hit the recovery shot from the beach and it fails, the unplayable option still leaves you on the beach.

I'm saying, if the shot from the beach is impossible, take the unplayable option.  At least you can maybe finish the hole!

Agreed, but once you don't you may not finish the hole/round

[Tim Martin]

Kittansett 3

[Patrick_Mucci]

Tim,
 
Recovery at Kitansett is duck soup compared to recovering from the beach on 15, 16 and 17 at CPC.

[Mark Chaplin]

The beach at Deal is pebbles and that makes it much harder to hit off, on the sea wall I hit a chip with a rescue club. Fortunately it's a while since I was on the beach although it's not uncommon on the 6th.

In foursomes it's polite to offer your partner your wedge to play with!

[Michael Miller]

Last year my tee shot on #16 bounced back into the water short right. Had it remained on the beach I intended to play it. But Pat you are right that choosing to play from the beach could be a point of no return. The same can be said for long and left. Taking an unplayable and re-teeing is no bargain either. I chose the latter and was elated to make double. I doubt I would have done as well off the beach. Stroke and distance seems at least comparable--and possibly preferable--to playing out of what is essentially a 25ft deep unmaintained rock-face bunker.

[Steve Burrows]

The question is:


If you hit your ball on the beach, the shot back up to the fairway, off a sandy lie, is almost impossible, and if you fail on your first attempt, you're doomed to keep trying from the beach as you have no alternatives.

1) If you're playing with friends, you take a couple of futile swings (because there is still an outside chance it will work), walk up to the green to have a few laughs with your buddies, and then enjoy the rest of your day.
2)  If you're playing a match, you concede the hole, walk to the next tee, and then enjoy the rest of your day.
3) If you're playing in a sanctioned competition, then you are probably better off reloading from the tee, and then enjoy the rest of your day.

[Patrick_Mucci]

Steve,


What would you do if you had a great score thru # 15 ?


Just laugh off a DNF ?

[Steve Burrows]

Pat,

Absolutely I would laugh off a DNF, but mainly because the notion of a DNF is pretty foreign to me.  I don't play competitively anymore and I don't even post scores for handicap purposes.  As such, every time I tee it up is a pretty casual affair with friends. There may be small wagers on the line (e.g. loser buys dinner, drinks, etc.), but no friend of mine would make me stay down on a beach swatting away at the ball like some modern-day Sisyphus just so I could fill out a scorecard.

[Mark Chaplin]

How many visitors to CPC are playing a competitive round? The American obsession with scoring during friendly play ruins the fun of golf and especially the pace of play.

[Patrick_Mucci]

How many visitors to CPC are playing a competitive round?

Mark,

So you arrive at the 16th tee at CPC with your career round within your grasp.
All you need to do is finish bogey, bogey, bogey and you'll better your best round by 5 shots.

Would you say that your round just took on an enormous competitive persona ?

The American obsession with scoring during friendly play ruins the fun of golf and especially the pace of play.
In 60+ years of playing, it's never ruined it for me, and, I'm a reasonably fast player.

[Patrick_Mucci]

Pat,

Absolutely I would laugh off a DNF, but mainly because the notion of a DNF is pretty foreign to me.  I don't play competitively anymore and I don't even post scores for handicap purposes.  As such, every time I tee it up is a pretty casual affair with friends. There may be small wagers on the line (e.g. loser buys dinner, drinks, etc.), but no friend of mine would make me stay down on a beach swatting away at the ball like some modern-day Sisyphus just so I could fill out a scorecard.

Steve,

My group would make you stay down there until dark, just to say that we witnessed a 37 on a hole

No one likes to have a good score ruined by an X.

There's a certain satisfaction in playing well, especially at an iconic course like CPC.

Casual round or serious round, we all like to play well.

And, errant shots and/or bad decisions have consequences.

I haven't reached the level where I just throw the ball onto the green to expedite the round.

[Michael Moore]

you're doomed to keep trying from the beach as you have no alternatives.

Wrong again. You can keep taking unplayable lies, two club lengths at a time, until you reach a point from where you can play.

[Bill_McBride]

you're doomed to keep trying from the beach as you have no alternatives.

Wrong again. You can keep taking unplayable lies, two club lengths at a time, until you reach a point from where you can play.

Michael, down there it's either sand, water, rocks or ice plant.  What's your preference?