Okay fellow Valley golfers, welcome back to “Thoughts on the Green” as we cover our 15th Greatest Hole of the Valley – 2011 Edition. With only three “great holes” to talk about after this week, we’re rapidly approaching our 2011 Greatest Golfer of the Valley Tournament! This week though we’re heading south to The Links at Firestone Farms where we’re going to take a closer look at their “Great” fourth hole, a par five of about 530 yards.
First off, I just want to say that I love Firestone Farms. Brian Huntley, one of the better golf course architects in the region if not the nation did a great job at laying out a golf course that’s fair, challenging, picturesque, and still fun for golfers of all abilities. I get to play the Links a few times a year and I always have a great time out there.
Moving on to this week’s hole, let’s take a look at number four, the 530 yard par five at Firestone. In my opinion, this is one of the hardest par fives in the area, hands down. When I think of par fives, I think birdie opportunity. Even par fives that offer a risk reward opportunity aren’t usually that scary (with the exception of the last par 5, number 11 at Avalon Lakes) because if you don’t pull off the risky shot, you usually get a drop up around the green and have a chance to save par. Think number one at Yankee. And, even if it’s a par five that I can’t go for in two, I’m usually pretty confident in my ability to lay the ball up to a good yardage and give myself a good chance for birdie by hitting a good third shot. Throw all of that thinking out the window when it comes to this hole at The Links.
From my perspective (say scratch golfer who can carry the ball around 270 yards), I always like to play this hole as aggressively as possible. Why? Because playing the hole safely really doesn’t make it any easier. I don’t know if it’s just the way I visually see the hole, like it doesn’t ‘fit my eye’ or something, or if a lof of you out there agree with me, but I think the second shot from the bottom fairway to an uphill fairway that slopes left to right towards fairway bunkers is a difficult second shot to lay up to. From there, even if you do happen to find the fairway, you’re left with a potentially awkward yardage from an uphill lie into a green that’s severely sloped from back to front (increasing the spin from the uphill lie wedge shot) and surrounded by greenside bunkers. You can’t go long because it’s an impossible up and down. You can’t go left because you’ll be facing a bunker shot to a green that runs straight away from you. You can’t really go short because the spin from the uphill lie and sloped green could actually bring the ball back off the front of the green, and you can’t really go right because there’s a bunker there as well. Am I making this sound harder than it is? And let’s take it a step further... Even if you do happen to find the green, you’ll be left with a putt that probably has more break than you’ll see the rest of the entire day and probably end up lagging just to get down in two. Par 5 = Birdie Opportunity?? “Not so fast my friends...”
Obviously I think this is a hard hole. From a blog standpoint, I’d like to quickly explain the two different ways I would advise someone to play the hole based on their carry distance off the tee. First, let’s look at the longer hitters. Standing on the tee, it’s pretty obvious where architect Huntley and the Firestone Farms ownership want you to hit the ball – straight down the fairway. However, for the reasons that I explained earlier (difficult layup, difficult third shot, difficult green), when I play the hole, I actually try to aim down the creek line and hit a high draw to get the ball left of the creek off the tee.
***Let’s be clear here: I am not advising people to aim at the houses on the corner of this dogleg! If you don’t think you can realistically keep the ball between the house and the creek, please hit the ball straight off the tee. ***
My reasoning for going left of the creek is simple; if I pull the shot off, I believe the hole is at least 1 – 1 ½ shots easier, for me, from say 200 yards for my second shot compared to 300. Reason being, I can now challenge the green on my second shot and play the hole more aggressively. I actually eliminate the two hardest shots on the hole, the layup and the wedge shot off the upslope. From 200 yards out, the ball will be coming into the green with less spin obviously, so instead of hitting short and spinning back down the hill like my 60 degree wedge would, my four iron or hybrid shot might actually bounce forward and end up on the middle of the green. And from a “pressure” situation, even if I miss the green in a bad spot, I still feel fine because I know that even if I don’t get up and down, I’ll still make a par. Is it risky to take this line off the tee? Yes. But, do the potential rewards outweigh the initial risk on the tee? I believe so. So if I were caddying for a scratch golfer who could carry the ball 270+ yards from the tee, my advice for this week’s “Great” hole from Firestone Farms would be to play it as aggressively as possible because playing it safe isn’t much easier.
On the flip side of this thinking, I just want to briefly point out that I think higher handicappers and average – shorter hitters should play the hole the exact opposite way that I described above. Think about it this way... If you can’t take it over the creek from the tee and get there in two, then there’s no advantage to playing the hole aggressively. Take a driver or three wood off the tee and get the ball somewhere in the fairway. For your second shot, decide before you hit the ball where you’re actually trying to hit it. The key to this shot isn’t necessarily how far up the hill you can get it. The key here is to leave your second shot in a spot that actually gives you a chance to knock it on in three. Check your yardages and pick a club that eliminates the bunkers on the right. Laying up in those bunkers is a big no-no. From here, the mindset remains the same for the third shot; don’t be overly aggressive. If you find yourself in a situation where the pin is in a good spot and you have a perfect yardage, of course you’re going to “take dead aim.” But, if everything does NOT line up perfectly for you, realize that missing the ball by two yards in the wrong spot here can quickly change your score from a 5 to a 6 or even a 7. Pick a club that gets you to the green but eliminates long and make a nice aggressive swing. Get the ball somewhere on the green, two putt for a par, and run to the exciting short par four fifth.
To conclude, I guess I just think this hole is flat out hard. If you do have the ability to give it a go from the tee, I think this is one of those situations where I say go for it. But, if you are going to play the hole as a three shot hole, please make sure you eliminate the bunkers on your second shot and then be happy enough with any kind of two putt par. Yes, birdies are always nice. And yes, we sometimes think we should birdie par fives. But in this case, par is plenty good enough.
So what do you think Valley golfers? Do you agree with me that this is one of the hardest par fives in the area? If this hole isn’t, I’d like to know which ones you think are.
Do you agree with me that the potential reward outweighs the initial risk for longer hitters on the tee shot here?
I thank you for taking the time to read my blog this week. As always, I look forward to reading your thoughts on these or any other golf related topics during the week. It looks like the temperature is going to cool off slightly this week, so enjoy the weather and go out and play some golf! Until next week fellow golfers, “Hit ‘em Straight!”
Jonah Karzmer
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