Your Favourite (golf) hole.

No, not Sandra Gal bent over a bunker but what is your favourite hole in golf and what makes it good.

5th hole at Fortrose & Rosemarkie. 130 yard par 3. Slightly elevated tee lets you see most of whats in front of you, dune grass, road, front of the green. dunes to the left close off the LHS and rear of the green. historic ice houses to the right behind the green. lighthouse to the left beside the tee. water behind the green and behind the tee (nearing the end of the peninsula). fort george in the distance accross the water behind you. the moray firth opening out behind the green. on a calm day (it usually happens once a year), its a flick with a 9iron. downwind it can be a flick with a lob wedge. into the wind it can be a cut down 3/4 swing punch with a 5iron. the green has a basin at the front, which gathers everything. the middle part of the green generally slopes right to left, and the rear 1/4 of the green also slopes backward toward a wee grassy bunker and the beach beyond. the green has the feeling of a modest amphitheatre. you regularly have walkers stop to spectate as you putt out. this hole is rarely a straightforward par, as it offers great challenge from the tee (despite its length), chipping around the green requires great skill due to all the wee humps and hollows, and once on the green the green complex offers a variety of breaks - you rarely have the same putt twice.

13th HCEG

Miss the green and you will probably take a five.
Very deep bunkers left and right set within an hour glass green with a steep slope in the middle.
Pin on the front you need to be up as the approach will run the ball 20 yards back.
Pin on the back and you have to ensure you pitch past the bunkers to a very small target.

I thought they had spoiled it by putting the tee back 20 yards a few years ago, but I was mistaken as the hole plays about a 6 iron for the pros in normal conditions.
Plays into the prevailing westerly and is nigh on impossible into a strong wind.

BanBam
Whit aboot thae pesky Dolphins.

best seen from the 5th tee doon. a nice finishing touch, but the hole is terriffic on its own merit!

Can I cheat and pick 3 please?

Fave par 3 8th at Royal Troon (Postage Stamp)

fave par 4 13th at Broadstone. 440yards with the green stuck out on a promontory with bunkers in the face. Makes for both a spectacular looking and challenging hole.

Fave par 5 6th at Carnoustie (Hogan's alley)

Good suggestion D4S.

Par 3. 17th@ Castle. Can be played two ways, feeding in from the left for short hitters, or a forced carry over a chasm with the sea beneath of about 170 yards.

Par 4. 16th @ Ladybank. Narrow Dog leg right-left between Scots Pine and Silver birch which just suits my eye and shot shape perfectly. Leaves a nice approach to a photogenic elevated green.

Par 5. 12th at Kingsbarns. Has to be seen to be believed.

16th North Berwick. I had to go for something to answer the question, but really there is no way to decide this. As a bit of fun, yes you can answer this question but it is better to think about why any hole you enjoyed was so much fun.

For those that are not familiar with this hole it is a par 4 of around 420-440, not really sure. The fun of this hole comes from deciding how to attack the extreme Biarritz green and then trying to execute the shot. If you end up on the wrong side of the hole or miss the green the recovery shot is of the most interesting type you will find anywhere.

Another key to this hole is its position within such a wonderful stretch of holes. Holes 2-17 at NB may be the finest stretch of holes anywhere in East Lothian or even Scotland. The stretch from 9-17 is certainly the best stretch of that particular number of consecutive holes. Again we come back to the question of routing but it shows how important it is. Would any hole be great in isolation by the time the golfer plays it unless the rest of the course has given us something special?

Par 4 eighth hole at Pebble Beach.

Too many to choose just one ... some of my favorites off the top of my head:

#15 Merion East
#10 Winged Foot West
#2, #16 Pine Vally
#16 Aronimink
#4 Swinley

But, there's more, to be sure ...

Ok favourite golf holesm excluding Mel Reid and Blair O'Neils........

My choices are eclectic and range from a municipal golf course to true stadium venue.

Par 3 - 17th @ Deangate Ridge on the Hoo Peninsular down in Kent.
221 Yards from the whites, relatively small target surrounded by 4 relatively deep greenside bunkers, winds it way through a lovely surrounding of old oak trees and silver birch from tee to green with a stream down the right side (does not come into play but is picturesque). The ideal shot is to fly it all the way to a small receptive target, but for the shorter hitter you can hit one short and run it into the green off the downslop about 30 yards short. The challenge is also on the green with some very subtle breaks. best municipal golf hole i've played.

Par 4 - 8th at Pebble Beach. Not a huge fan of the entire layout but that hole has something special, the views out over the ocean, the carry across everything to the green and the sloping putting surface, a damn fine golf hole.

Par 5 - 16th TPC Sawgrass, again not a huge fan of th ewhole course, but when you see this hole from the back tee and note how much of a subtle draw from the tee can help get in good position for a chance of going for it in 2 you realise it plasy like a good golf hole should. Pull on left and say bye to you score ats it's all trees and pine needles. Then if you take on the green in 2 you will need to carry a portion of the lake to a very nicely receptive surface, but likewise if you don't feel it's on in 2, there's an easy out for a layup, it's fairly tight but can easily be played as a 3 shotter

Oh how difficult to pin down, find it hard to disagree with the 8th at Pebble although BOTH 17ths at Carnoustie (championship & Burnside) are special.
Favourite 1 shotter would be a close call between the 7th at Pebble and the 12th at Manele Bay on Lanai. For Par 5s 18th at Kapalua (just so you can go wow!!... at the view and how far you've hit the ball) or the 10th at Princeville, great risk reward hole.

I need so many bites at the Cherry on this subject...another couple of serious par 4 contenders would be the 11th and 16th at Pasatiempo. In Dr MacKenzie's own opinion, his finest work!!

Not an easy one at all, I'm sure lots will come back to me after selecting these!

Par 3- 16th Cypress Point or 16th at Vale de Lobo (royal)
Par 4- 15th Bethpage Black or 18th Oitavos Dunes
Par 5- 13th Leopard Creek or 11th at Ardglass

Cypress Point, wow, how did you get on there? I drove up the driveway once, the bit of 17 mile drive, but that was it. Honestly I thought I might get shot.

Also tried to climb a fence to sneek a peek at the 16th green.

my favorite hole would be, any hole I could birdie.

McLaren wrote:Cypress Point, wow, how did you get on there? I drove up the driveway once, the bit of 17 mile drive, but that was it. Honestly I thought I might get shot.

Also tried to climb a fence to sneek a peek at the 16th green.

A friend of mine that lives in NY knows a member who introduced four of us as guests. We could only use the pro shop and locker room and had to be off the course before midday. Not that we were bothered!!

I actually got invited again this year but it clashed with another golf trip

Mac,
Did you see that Georgia's Finest shot a guy who was trying to enter (or not) the Tour Championship at East Lake on Sunday??!!
He's resting comfortably in an Atlanta hospital!

I tell you, give a guy a uniform over here and they think they're above the law. And the Law usually thinks that too.

I agree with the 16th at North Berwick West Links.

It's not as long as stated - probably 360 yards. There's a wall in front of the tee, which is easy to hit over. There's a burn running across the fairway at exactly the driving distance. The burn slants a bit, so there's more room on the left of the fairway, but that makes a much harder shot to the green. There's OB on the right - and a much easier shot to the green from that side.

The green is on a plateau, with a deep ridge running right through the middle of it. So the green is like two separate pieces, with this gulley right through the middle. Most balls end up in the gulley between the two plateaus, and you are left with a really tough putt to get it near the hole without overshooting and rolling off the other side.

It's close to the Marine Hotel, so you know people are sniggering at your putting from their bedroom windows.

The 17th is another great hole too - an uphill fairway that looks like an unmade bed, with a green just over a ridge on the horizon. Deep bunkers gobble anything that lands short of the ridge.