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toughest holes

• oppy 286 Posts

  Fri, Nov 6 2009 5:00 AM

  danohi50:

  oppy:

  TarheelsRule:

  Having played both courses, my opinion is that BethPage on this site plays much more difficult than it really is.  Kiawah does have firm fairways and allows you to have the ball roll more but the tees that I am on at Kiawah (at the pro level) are not even the tees that I play there in real life, I play one or two sets back from there.  Kiawah can stretch to 7900 yards, you have to get permission to play those.  BethPage on the pro level is back pretty far and unfair in many places.  I would like to see them get courses that are more playable and true to real play.

   

  I would have to disagree, i think bethpage is as hard as it plays in the game. with the only exception being that they dont keep the greens rolling as fast as they are in the game as they are for normal public play. bethpage black is not unfair at all, in fact the winner for the open was lucas glover at 3 or 4 under par. if they were scoring like they do at winged foot then it would be a different story. bethpage is a great and fair test of golf, anyone who says otherwise is making excuses for poor play

   

   

  Tarheels is spot on here..

  You have to remember that historically  BP is one of the most difficult courses in the world..check the ratings sometime..I thought even though there are better courses out there WGT did a nice service bringing this course to us..most of us will never be able to play it..and the challenge of this course is fun...good # can be shot here when my thinking and timing are perfect  dont happen often for me  but thats the real challenge..

  shinnecock hills, winged foot west, pga west la quinta, medinah, and oakmont are all more difficult us open/ tournament venues

• TarheelsRule 5,477 Posts

  Fri, Nov 6 2009 1:15 PM

  If you mean more difficult than Kiawah as it is set up on WGT then I agree.  Having played several of those courses I can tell you that Kiawah is not set up as difficult as it plays.  As far as tournament courses, Kaiwah does not lend itself well to a PGA tourney because of the limited viewing areas and the fact that much of the course is on the dunes and would be damaged by too many fans.  It was a great site for the 1991 Ryder Cup matches which at that time didn't have a great following in terms of people.

• SweetiePie 4,925 Posts

  Fri, Nov 6 2009 4:25 PM

  Someone else will have to validate this, but I am next to certain that Kiawah was ranked the hardest golf course in America recently.

• oppy 286 Posts

  Fri, Nov 6 2009 4:30 PM

  SweetiePie:

  Someone else will have to validate this, but I am next to certain that Kiawah was ranked the hardest golf course in America recently.

  yes, you are right, by golf digest it was ranked the most difficult, however i was not referring to kiawah island i was talking about those courses i listed being harder than bethpage. now, whether or not i think this is an accurate ranking is a whole different argument

• daishi2325 8 Posts

  Thu, Nov 26 2009 1:33 AM

  I take my remark back, I think 17 on BPB is the hardest hole now, but by a hair.

  15 is IMPOSSIBLE if you miss into the rough on your drive and your approach must be neigh perfect to have birdie or par chance there. 17 is ultra tough because with the greens rolling like an ice rink you cant hold anything on there, period.

   

  Kiawah is not as hard as it would play in real life because they dont keep the winds howling and theres no sand in you face on the game.

• seanobrien 296 Posts

  Thu, Nov 26 2009 6:06 AM

  How to play BPB 15 2nd shot (assuming you are on the fairway). Aim for left side of green (taking into account wind direction). Add 25 to 30 yds to shot distance. Ball pitches in rough but goes past hole and arcs back down to hole. Doesn't work everytime, but has definitely improved my averages on this hole. Also if pitching from short of this green, aim a little left and hit ball past hole. The slope will bring it back.

• YankeeJim 25,827 Posts

  Thu, Nov 26 2009 8:58 AM

  IMO your ave at BPB15 will go down if you play for par. Just take the par and be happy. Drive, layup, hit 3-5 yds over flag and watch it trickle back down to the hole for a tap in.

  sean's approach was laid out a long time ago by AvatarLee and included, I believe, a replay on his page. It's a fun way to play the hole but you need to be absolutely perfect or you're on the top shelf or on the left side of the green with a bad lie. GL getting the ball close from that angle. I posted a way to get down in 2 from the top shelf a while ago and I'm sure if you search BPB15 you'll find all sorts of ways play the hole.

  Take the par.

   

  YJ

   

• TheLegendary 21 Posts

  Mon, Nov 30 2009 1:34 PM

  The USGA deemed Kiawah Ocean Course is the hardest golf course in the world.  However, they are refering to the back tees and by slope rating ( back tees at 7,900 yards and a slope of 155).  If they were talking about the courses that the pro's play under the tournament conditions (3 inch rough, 7,500+ yards) then i think it would change that. So what i think is winged foot, bethpage, oakmont, they are all harder then kiawah at "pga" level.

   

• oppy 286 Posts

  Mon, Nov 30 2009 1:36 PM

  Lol, what is the point of the back tees then, there is nothing better than PGA level

• iconian 599 Posts

  Thu, Dec 3 2009 11:39 PM

  you guys need to define 1 thing: toughest hole to birdie or par? that makes huge difference, IMO here is the breakdown: hardesto to birdie on bp in order of difficulty, IMO #15 #5, #9, #7, #12, #10, #17 - last 4 holes easily play stroke difference in right wind to par# #15, #5, #7 rest aren't too touch kiw: birdie: #9, #4, #18, #10, #17 with last 3 can be changed due to conditions