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How to play Kiawah #9 ??

• gobbog 150 Posts

  Fri, Feb 12 2010 9:29 AM

  Approach shot to Kiawah #9

  Has anyone had any success getting the ball within 20 feet on this hole?

  Playing from the Master tees, the approach shot for me is usually between 190 - 170 yds.

  I've tried running the ball up, landing short and bouncing up to the hole, landing on the green pin high and landing on the green past the hole . I'm always either way short of the green or 50-60 feet past the hole. The best I can hope for is short of the green about 2 feet off the fringe 25-30 ft from the pin.

  Anybody have any ideas?

• YankeeJim 25,827 Posts

  Fri, Feb 12 2010 10:29 AM

  Tibbets had a replay on his profile that showed him 137 out and running the ball up to the cup. The best luck I've had was teeing off to about 200 yds out (right side of fwy) and then punching a 3 or 4i, letting it roll up. Basically, running up is your best chance because that uphill grade in front of the green tends to grab high shots with little roll out. G10 players might see it differently because of that club's trajectory.

• birdwell 561 Posts

  Fri, Feb 12 2010 10:42 AM

  gobbog:

  Anybody have any ideas?

  yep....

  Play the G10s and the tour SD balls instead of the raptures. Holes really not a problem then. :)

   

  ok here's some real advise. You can't take the pin head on from the middle of the fairway and stop the ball.

  Option #1

  Try to put your drive on the right / right - center of the fairway. (often you get a nice bounce on that side) Try to land your approach just below and a little to the right of the flag. If you are short, or worse, short - right, it's a really hard up and down, but if you carry the ball to the front of the green, the ball should have a little less roll and move a little more towards the flag as it  rolls over the hill there. Expect a 10-15 footer for birdie if you do make the green, or sometimes much closer if you get the right bounce. Hardest thing with this option it the up and down if you miss short or right.

   Option #2

  The Tibbets play. If you have a nice wind, try to cut the corner a touch, and put your drive on the very left part of the fairway. (Risky! Be careful of those fairway bunkers!) You can try and attack the pin directly from here, but  you have to basically land exactly on the fringe to get it close. If you do, you've hit gold!!! expect a 5-10 footer for birdie. If you are a few yards long, you'll have a 40 footer or so. But if you are short, it's a relatively easy up and down. Hardest thing about this option is the drive, sometimes you'll hit that incline and you don't get the distance you need - a miss hit puts you in the bunkers.

   

   

• gobbog 150 Posts

  Sun, Feb 14 2010 7:26 PM

  Thanks for the replies and suggestions... been using the run-up shot usually with a 3 iron with topspin, been getting better results... got one to about 8.5 feet, missed the putt of course. But this seems the way to go for now.

• TheLegendary 21 Posts

  Mon, Feb 15 2010 1:20 PM

  The problem with this hole like you said is where you land it, i normally have 190 in and i add one club with backspin, this should land the ball about 5 yards short and roll it to like 20 feet. Best of luck!

• woodrowwilson 22 Posts

  Mon, Feb 22 2010 9:53 PM

  I moved back to strait backspin. I try to land it perfect. When I do, great. When I don't, I usually come close to making that flop. (partially, because I've done it so so many times...)

  Second best option is the punch in, but the forward spin just leaves too many variables for me. I don't ding it enough for that sh**