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Re: How Tough Are the Holes for a Course?

• pinkgirl34 59 Posts

  Sat, Aug 8 2009 6:12 PM

  Here are my opinion for the difficulty rank for each hole at Bethpage Black:

  1: 9

  2: 13

  3: 16

  4: 14

  5: 3

  6: 11

  7: 2

  8: 18 (easiest)

  9: 6

  10: 4

  11: 8

  12: 7

  13: 17

  14: 15

  15: 1 (toughest)

  16: 5

  17: 12

  18: 10

  What are your opinions about the difficulty rankings for each hole? You can post them here.

• Faterson 2,902 Posts

  Sun, Aug 9 2009 2:47 AM

  It also depends on the clubs in your bag. If you have a powerful 3W club, you can usually reach green in regulation on hole 7, making it less difficult than your ranking suggests. (And in the August All Ladies tournament, I've birdied hole 7 repeatedly, while hole 15 is still very difficult to play.)

• hbthree 478 Posts

  Sun, Aug 9 2009 10:25 AM

  I assume you are speaking of reaching the green on 7 from the white tees...not nearly as likely from the blue tees!!...Hbthree

• Faterson 2,902 Posts

  Sun, Aug 9 2009 10:42 AM

  Yeah, I was talking to PinkGirl (who looks like a guy) because (s)he's in the Pro tier like I am.  

• dingers 55 Posts

  Sun, Aug 9 2009 11:47 PM

  about hole 4 , has anyone got on in two ?

  also has anyone got tips for getting some backspin with a high club .eg wedge or a 9 iron .

  Cheers

   

   

• Faterson 2,902 Posts

  Mon, Aug 10 2009 1:15 AM

  dingers:

  about hole 4 , has anyone got on in two ?

  Yes. (Overshooting the green with the better clubs is no problem, either. From Pro tees, probably also applies to Master tees.) Too bad pin locations never change in this game, because we now frequently end up in the bunker only because the pin is so close to the front edge of the green.

  dingers:

  also has anyone got tips for getting some backspin with a high club .eg wedge or a 9 iron.

  Well, it works, doesn't it? With the clubs whose spin capabilities are high, pulling that dot on the ball all the way downwards can result in a shot capable of stopping the ball on the dot when hitting the green.

• pinkgirl34 59 Posts

  Mon, Aug 10 2009 7:58 AM

  Hole 7 is difficult because it's impossible to reach the green in 2, so you're playing it like a par 5. From the white tees, pro rank, it's 502 yards.

  I think it's impossible to reach the green in 2 on Hole 4 on any tee unless you pay money and have special equipment.

  And I agree, that probbly the only way to get spin is to make the dot lower on the ball so the ball will go higher.

• Faterson 2,902 Posts

  Mon, Aug 10 2009 9:24 AM

  pinkgirl34:

  Hole 7 is difficult because it's impossible to reach the green in 2 [...]. From the white tees, pro rank, it's 502 yards.

  It's routinely possible with upgraded clubs & balls. In fact I've overshot the green on hole 7 with my 2nd shot quite a few times. You don't even necessarily need tailwind. If I use full backspin, I regularly get 240 yards out of my 2nd shot with the Rapture 3W (a club that is nominally only rated 220 yards). Not to mention the TaylorMade 3W (danger of overshooting the green every time, unless there's headwind).

  pinkgirl34:

  I think it's impossible to reach the green in 2 on Hole 4 on any tee unless you pay money and have special equipment.

  You're correct. Once you use upgraded clubs & balls, reaching the green in 2 on hole 4 is no problem; in fact, the main problem becomes how to avoid overshooting the green. And in trying to avoid that, you often land in the bunker.  

  Perhaps you could have specified in your ranking of holes that this was meant to reflect the view of players who use basic clubs. With upgraded clubs, hole 7 is no longer scary, although it's still very challenging. In contrast, hole 15 is a terrifying hole under any circumstances, even in the August All Ladies tournament played from red tees by everyone.

• Faterson 2,902 Posts

  Tue, Aug 11 2009 5:10 AM

  Faterson:

  pinkgirl34:

  Hole 7 is difficult because it's impossible to reach the green in 2 [...]. From the white tees, pro rank, it's 502 yards.

  It's routinely possible with upgraded clubs & balls. In fact I've overshot the green on hole 7 with my 2nd shot quite a few times. You don't even necessarily need tailwind. If I use full backspin, I regularly get 240 yards out of my 2nd shot with the Rapture 3W (a club that is nominally only rated 220 yards). Not to mention the TaylorMade 3W (danger of overshooting the green every time, unless there's headwind).

  I've just saved an approach shot on hole 7 earlier today (08.11.09) that illustrates this. The replay is at my profile page, titled 2nd shot Approach on Bethpage 7 - no wind, no full swing. This 3W Rapture club is rated at 220 yards, but the ball went 230 yards, without any wind support and without a full swing (full back-spin & upgraded balls, however), setting up a birdie putt.