Shotgun starts - how do they affect your thinking and play?

OK - so shotgun starts are only really used for "fun" events and NQs, but those fun events are still there to be won - so how does your starting hole affect your thinking?

I have a Captain's Charity Day on Saturday which is an 8am Shotgun (there is also a 1pm start for the afternoon players)

Now my home course has a great finishing stretch...

14 is a short par3 with a huge green so easy to get onto the green, but the green is one of the toughest on the course with huge slopes and breaks
15 shouldn't a particulary hard par4 though it's one of those holes that just doesn't suit my game/eye/yardages etc. Straightforward enough but troublesome for me personally
16 is probably the best hole on the course. Not a long par5 but with 6 water hazards, 8 very well placed bunkers, another very tricky green, and rolling fairways that ensure you never get a flat lie on the fairway no matter how you play it
17 is a downhill par3 with a large pond in front/right and another off to the left. The hole is kinda "P" shaped with the green being the loop of the "P" and with water below the loop of the "P" and all down the left
18 is a pretty straightforward par5 to finish (though with some little tricks that can catch you out if not careful)

Anyway, I've seen the start times for Saturday and I start on the 18th! So possibly the easiest hole on the course is my first (though I'm less confident of being able to play it well as my first when I'm not fully "in the groove"). This means I have the potentially killer finish of 14,15,16,17!

At least when playing the course as normal I know that if I'm in any sort of contention, if I can get through 16-17 without too much damage and I've got 18 to finish which is a definite par hole even for me as a higher handicap player and often gives up good birdie chances. In this shotgun format I have this easier hole while I'm possibly not fully warmed up (yes I know all about practice beforehand but I hope you understand what I mean) and then the killer finish of 16-17

At least, with it being a charity event I get to "buy a tee shot off a junior" for that 17th hole!

Davie, think of it this way - at least if you're not doing well you can go for a beer after the 15th and not have to play 16 or 17 at all!

You sound as if you know the course MPB! 15 IS a good conventient place to walk off

Round my track, I always struggle on the middle third of the course, 7 through to 12. I'd be quite happy to start on the 7th because I know that if I've done any damage to my score by the 12th, I've then got a long run of what I consider to be 'easy' holes to recover my score

Ha ha,all jokes aside, i'm forever walking off my course after 15 so it's 2nd nature!!
It's designed in a way that after 15 you come down a hill onto the lower tier, walk past the clubhouse and play the last 3 in a loop back to the clubhouse. The last 3 holes are the 3 toughest on the course by some distance and the 17th is a downhill par 3 that requires a climb back up to the top tier to the tee.
In bounce games no-one ever makes it past 15!!

Well the twice I've played Pebble it's been a 4bbb comp with a shotgun start once on 15th once on 17th. First time my main thought was.. I wonder if they'll try and stop us playing 15,16,17& 18 again. The caddy with the other pairing strongly advised us not to...he was of course ignored. Last year the rain had relented for the last hole or 2 and there was no way we were driving down them of 17 & 18 without playing them.

I don't personally think it makes a great difference, all the holes have to be played anyway.

Played The Belfry on a shotgun start and it really messed me up.
Started at the tough par 3 [7th?] and even though I enjoyed the course it seemed the wrong way round.
Must be a bit like a shotgun at TOC and starting at the 7th.

great question. i've only played in a couple and done ok. i think it helps if you start near the middle, something between the 7th-11th, as it is so completely different it helps you focus. starting on the 2nd or 17th, feels a bit odd as its just slightly different ... something in the back of your mind says its almost normal ... but its really not! the subconcious at work can be a dangerous thing.
at my away course i'd choose to start at the 6th. have won one from there and it just felt perfect, short 480yard par 5 to start, short 135 yard par 3 to finish. i'd probably choose the 8th at my home club. again nice par 5 to start, trickyish par 4 to finish, but straightforward enough if your drive is straight and if i can't hit a straight hybrid by the end of the round i wouldn't be expecting to challenge anyway.

The other aspect to this could be where the half-way house comes into the round!

Starting on something like the 14th could mean you don't get the best of the mid-round refreshments as you aren't ready after 4 or 5 holes, but by the end of your round you could be gagging for a drink or ready to eat a scabby horse

drive4show wrote:Round my track, I always struggle on the middle third of the course, 7 through to 12. I'd be quite happy to start on the 7th because I know that if I've done any damage to my score by the 12th, I've then got a long run of what I consider to be 'easy' holes to recover my score

D4S - yes I seem to recall that's when the wheels started coming off during our recent bounce game.

Oh hell I've just re-checked the start sheet and I've been moved from the easy 18th to the 17th!

Just hope the money I pay to the junior to hit a tee shot for me is properly warmed up

played 4 shotgun starts , first three by luck were off the first.

Played one a month ago, 3 man team, 8 am start with two blokes I have never played with. Met the first bloke in the pro shop and was introduced by the pro and said I would go to the car to get my clubs. Seen the bloke wandering up at ten to 8 so followed him 300yards up the fairway before I realised I was wearing a pair of slip ons instead of golf shoes (cue the embarassment the amount of lads I had to pass on the way back, all good fun).

Once I had suitable golf shoes it was about 3min to 8 so I said to myself I better get my skates on (should have stuck to the golf shoes) and get to the 18th tee. When I got there there was a different bloke at the tee (the third man) so we shook hands and wondered where the other bloke was (7:59am now) . Anyway the horn goes off and we took our tee shots cursing the other bloke until we saw a solitary figure on the 17th tee. The other guy says "at least we have two, that poor buggar on the 17th is on his own!" Needless to say the nob thought he was on the 17th.