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My nemesis.....the 17th at St Andrews

• Crafty3 2 Posts

  Tue, Jul 13 2010 7:17 PM

  I despise the 17th at St Andrews....it keeps destroying good cards for the tourney and i'm sick of it....no sob sobs...just want some tips on how to play it safely. I usually try to keep safe on the drive but even when i hit it perfect it still rolls right to left into the rough. any tips

   

• wizbang360 411 Posts

  Tue, Jul 13 2010 9:35 PM

             just  to be  funny,    hit it more right.  lol     No   to be serious  I have  been getting pars there most of the time,  and  I just  try to get it within 190 and  hit it just on the green to the right of the bunker and even if it rolls off to the right, can flop or pitch close enough for par,   have  never birdied it though. With your clubs it is tough to get there though,  I have the G10s and  have a 210 and 200 iron  so it is easier for me.    best of luck

• dorkfeatures 712 Posts

  Tue, Jul 13 2010 9:51 PM

  Hi Crafty,

  Yeh its a great hole alright.

  I am generally 50/50 par/bogey. I did actually birdie it once, a few weeks ago. Heres how I did it.

  I played my second shot, short and right and allowed it to run up between the trap and the right hand fringe. To near the trap and you'll get slung off to the right, to near the fringe and you'll get slung off right. BUT -  there is a place somewhere in between where, with the right pace on the ball it will actually feed into the hole late -  once past that bunker. But the pace has to be perfect.

  I hit my second shot to within 10ft and made the birdie - never done it since mind you lol. Generally end up right in the rough - its a typical links shot. Keep the shot low and run it up.

  Whatever you do - DONT go left - you'll never get up and down easily from there. If you do over cook your second shot, you will generally be left with 10 / 12 yd flop / pitch for third and a putt for par.

  It is all about the pace on that second shot. Not enough and you wont get over that hump at the front - to much and you'll roll off right into the rough.

  Thats my experience. Hope it helps. Good luck.

  Cheers

  Doug

  PS -  Where are you from?  I'm from Adelaide :-)

• dorkfeatures 712 Posts

  Tue, Jul 13 2010 10:00 PM

  Hi Crafty - again.

  Sorry didnt read your post correctly.

  The drive ?? Sorry, not sure what clubs you are using. I tend to keep the drive as far right as possible. If the wind is coming from the right then make sure you compensate accordingly. Use BS also. You can afford to land your drive just over that winding path in front of the Hotel, the ball will generally bounce out and onto the fairway - the trick is to land your drive as close to the right hand side of the fairway as possible.

  Take Notes !! It pays. My second shots are generally between 180 and 240 yds depending on the wind.

  The drive use to freak me out initially, however I am a lot more confident now and with notes to refer to (drive distances wind direction power etc) I have got the hang of it.

  Not sure if that helps too much.

  Good luck.

  Cheers

  Doug

• b0geybuster 2,574 Posts

  Wed, Jul 14 2010 4:36 AM

  I think he is talking about the Open Qualifier where this hole plays 515 yards and if you don't have a wind you are SOL.

  Can't even make the right fairway sometimes and and got to lay up to left then sometimes you don't have enough club to reach fairway near green and end up in fescue. 

  As for how to play it, I use the click a pray method.

  Cheers

   

• dorkfeatures 712 Posts

  Wed, Jul 14 2010 5:04 AM

  b0geybuster:

  I think he is talking about the Open Qualifier where this hole plays 515 yards

  yep - thats the hole I'm talking about. :-)

  As I said my second shot is between 180 and 240yds depending on the wind.

  Cheers

  Doug

   

• griffygriff 597 Posts

  Wed, Jul 14 2010 5:21 AM

  I'd like to know how some of our very best players play this hole. I try to keep it right with bs off the tee. The second shot is always so long its hard to get it to stop even with bs, but i just started playing it right of the bunker. my stats are about  65%  boggy. 35% par ,1 bird. I think  where to put the 2nd shot holds the key to the hole.

• AvatarLee 1,644 Posts

  Wed, Jul 14 2010 6:25 AM

  Well, the drive is not too bad (considering my equipment)... even if I'm in the first cut on the left of the fairway and not too far out I can usually play it up to the right of the trap with lots of roll, trying to get it to bend around the back.  More times than not it will trickle into the 30/40 fescue about 10 or 11 yards from the hole off the back.  Surprisingly its a perfect 6yd chip shot, usually straight, but runs a lot.  I think I have 3 or 4 hole outs from back there.  You have to play with the spin a bit, for me the 10yrd chip is full back spin.  Oh yeah, and pull the pin!!

  See here for an example... *edit* this one was actually a 10 yard chip choked to about 70% and it was a tough line to read.

  Hope this helps (but not too much LOL)....

• Golfspieler 1,614 Posts

  Wed, Jul 14 2010 9:34 AM

  I've had that chip a few times and it is strange how a 12 yard shot from 30/40 % fescue only needs to be hit about 6 or 7 yrds. But after blowing it 10 feet past the hole a few times you kinda get the message not to hit it too hard LOL

• AvatarLee 1,644 Posts

  Wed, Jul 14 2010 9:51 AM

  not really strange IMO... the ball is actually landing on the green at or near the top of the arch because the first little bit is uphill, then the green slopes away drastically, so you have momentum and gravity contributing to the speed of the tourney greens!