[vipluka]

I've been a member of my home course for three years. During that time I've played at least 500 rounds on it - probably more. One of the easiest holes on our course is the par 4 10th. It's only 380 yards long, with a generous fairway, bunker on the right, and a moderate uphill approach shot to a large green. I hadn't noticed this before, but apparently there also is a large pond right in front of the tee. Assuming my 500 round estimate is accurate, I would say that in the first 495 times I've played this hole I've only driven it into the water once or twice. In fact, prior to my last five rounds I couldn't even tell you the last time I had hit it into the water.

Well, I could now easily tell you the last time I hit it into the water; it was my last round. And the round before that. And the round before that. Of my last five rounds, I've snap hooked it into the pond four times. The only drive that didn't end up at the bottom of the lake, went straight into the bunker.

The carry over the water is only 191 yards, so it's not like you really need to catch one clean to get it over. Still, out of nowhere, I've developed a mental block the size of Buick for this hole. I actually start thinking about the tee shot about midway through the front. In fact, I'm thinking about the tee shot right now, and I don't tee off for another five hours.

I'm curious if any fellow THP'ers have had similar mental blocks, and more importantly, how you overcame them.

Thanks.

[MIBgirlsXXL]

2 holes on my course periodically give me such fits. One is a straight 421 yard par 4 with a nice wide fairway. However, there's a corn field down the entire left side of the fairway. I will often spend a week in a row plowing the corn. The other is a dogleg left par 4 where if you hit longer than 200 yards your landing zone is like 15 yards wide (my first 2 years here I went into the trees on the dogleg 75% of the time, so call the hole my nemesis). Usually I just try to fight through it with driver on Corn, and 3w on Nemesis. However, if a tourney is coming up and I'm still having trouble, I'll club down. My 4hybrid goes about 200, which leaves a long approach on Corn but only about 150 on Nemesis. And the hybrid is much more consistent for me. Good luck!

P.S. Once I regain confidence on the hole I go back to my regular club.

[HQTheodore]

I do, but still haven't got past them. Our longest par 4 is about 420 yards with a huge fairway and no trouble unless you miss WAY right. I can hook 20 balls in a row, but I'll slice one into those trees every time. It's in my head badly.

[gennickhif]

Mine is the 6th hole at the course I grew up on. In all honesty its a ridiculously easy hole that should be the easiest birdie opportunity on the course. I however have found a way to lose tournaments based on just that hole. 236 yard Par 4 with a tight fairway, tree protecting the left third of the green, two bunkers, out of bounds on the right of the hole and behind it. It should simply be a 7-iron lay up with about a 40 yard pitch into the green. And there my friends is my dilemma... I'm a great short game player but that pitch to a downward sloped green with bunkers surrounding it gets me every time. I think I'm going to start treating it like a par 3 and hit 2 or 3 iron from the tee from now on.

[Nubtoubrem]

You're a 2 HDCP, so you know the shot isn't a stretch for you. I can't imagine you snap hook too many balls in the course of a round. Look at it as of maybe 500 balls, you've shot 6 in there. 1%.

I had this happen on a much shorter scale, and what I did was just focus on a point then hit the ball there. If the water doesn't exist, can't go in it. A friend summed it up once when we got on him during a round...the usual "Now be careful, you don't want to put this in the water" messing about. His reply - "Water? There isn't any water on the green".

Easier said than done, but try and focus on the result, not the process. Not avoiding the drink, but playing to the desired spot. That's my thought, but I have been known to take the toughness out of "mental toughness" on occasion and leave myself just...mental.

[Ekrbcbvh]

I have the same issue on a par 3 at my home course. For me it is a visual thing. The tee box is not cut to aim straight at the green and it just messes with my head every time. You would think on a 165 yard shot it wouldn't matter, but everyone that plays out there seems to have the same difficulty. I still don't think I have gotten past it although I have hit the green the last 2 times. If you find an answer there are probably thousands of people that will want to know, me included.

[SQiTmhuY]

The Par 4 7th is where it all goes downhill for me at my local course, nothing hard about it just a long par 4 but I can be 1 or 2 over through 6 and 7 eats me alive and starts me on a downhill slide that lasts until the 9 is over.

[IRYzouNv]

I have recently conquered a hole. I think of my last drive hopefully it was long and straight and narrow my focus only to the landing are take my time to get comfortable then pull the trigger. Never glance at where the trouble is.

[SantaGanstag]

I have 2 holes on Legacy Golf Links near Pinehurst that are my "nemesis" holes every summer when my group goes down for our trip.

The first is the par 4 8th. The fairway is narrow and runs out at about 225 to a steep drop into a waste bunker. I've come to it around par several times only to tense up and try to guide my tee ball out there and hook it into the woods instead. I got that hole this year though with a par (lipped out my birdie putt).

The second is the par 3 17th which from the white tees where the group plays is only around 130. Should be a straightforward wedge or 9 iron, but I chunk it in the pond short of the green every time. I did it again this year and it cost me another round in the 70s. I badly want to take a bag of balls to that tee just to try to get beyond it.

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[weightpillsnow]

I have one for sure.
150 yard par 3 but a huge drop off and really no place to miss it. If you're off the green above it you have pretty much an impossible chip, anywhere else you're pretty much OB

[SM9WI8oI]

I have one for sure.
150 yard par 3 but a huge drop off and really no place to miss it. If you're off the green above it you have pretty much an impossible chip, anywhere else you're pretty much OB

Wow - thats a beautiful hole...

[euylvaygdq]

My home course has a par 5 that has a swampy area that runs across the fairway about 30 yards from the green and it's about 70 yards wide. You hit your drive up a hill and then from there it's down hill towards the swamp and then slightly back up to the green.

its a true 3 shot hole 95% of the time....if the wind is behind you and you really catch a good drive you can go for it in 2, but most of the time...it's a driver and a punch 7 iron to the 100 yard marker and should be an easy wedge to the green....right??

I can tell you right now, if I am going to chunk a wedge at all it's going to be on this hole and it's going to go right into the swamp! For a while I made triple or worse everytime it seemed....but I think I found the cure....I started laying back a bit further...so instead of hitting wedge, I was hitting 8 iron from 135....so far that's working....I have made bogey or better the last 10 rounds.

[jesyflowers]

There's a 197yard par 3 on the smaller transitional 9 hole course my club made while working on the 18 hole course.

It's has a pretty wide open area in front of the green to hit into. Trees and bushes to the right on an upslope, rough to the left followed by more trees.
Right in front of the green, there's a little ditch, maybe a yard across, with steep flanks. The green is maybe 9y long and 15.5y wide, surrounded by downward slopes quickly followed by rough on the remaining 3 sides.

I have no idea how you're supposed to hit that.
I MIGHT be able to hit my 5i that distance, but not carry. it would probably land in front or in the ditch anyway. if i was to hit the 4h instead, i'd probably just bounce off to the back and never find the ball again.

But all that thought is for naught, because since the 2nd round i've ever played on that hole... i've pushed my tee shot hard right into the trees. It's ridiculous, not even remotely close to target line.
One time when i was playing alone, i stood there and hit 6 balls with many rehearsals in between and checking of alignments. 5 found the trees (though 2 bounced out a bit), the last was still right but only half as much. And i wasn't even hitting the 5i, just a 7.
I don't have the problem anywhere else. Right at the next hole, 310 downhill par 4, i hit my 5i straight over a different ditch+path+bushline about 180y out I've yet to NOT make that shot.

The par 3 4th... IT'S IN MY HEAD, MAKE IT STOP

[casinobonusese]

Hole 5 460 par 4 index 2. Trees down both sides of the fairway kinda tight fairway. Bunker on the left. I seem to end up in the trees on the right every time. Tomorrow i'm playing and I intend to go 3 wood off the tee so i'll be short of the trees on the right but it will leave me with a wood into the green. Well thats the plan anyway.

[weightpillsnow]

Wow - thats a beautiful hole...

It is a very nice hole but it's also really tough to judge what club to hit especially depending on where the pin is. If it's on the back and you end up at the front you're bringing up 3 putt territory or even putting it off the back edge of the green.

I've hit anywhere from a 5 iron to a 9 iron depending on wind and position

[plogypeskelry]

We have a group block against the 5th hole at our standard course. It is a par 3 that plays about 160, has a lake on the left, a bayou down the entire right and a trap across the left front half of the green. The green itself is pretty darn big, but 3 out of 4 will plunk it in the water on the left and the last guy typically hits the bayou.

[NarunapyCalry]

My rule is never look at trouble, only look where I want the ball to go not where I don't want it to go. Doesn't mean I won't hit one there once in a while but at least I am not subconsciously aiming at it by looking there.

[duawLauff]

For me it's the fourth and sixth on my local course.

The fourth is a long dog leg left through trees that line both sides of the fairway. The dog leg kicks in at about 190-200 yards, so you only need a 5 iron off the tee to reach the corner. A further 170-180 yards down the fairway the trees narrow down and there is a large tree towards the right hand side of the fairway and a pond next to it on the left - effectivley it means you need to go over the top of the tree or play across the pond but it's from a distance of 170-180 yards and you need to hit about 210-215 to clear the pond. Often found myself laying up to the left of the tree and playing down from there.

The sixth isn't particuarly difficult but it's a dog leg right and you have to be able to hit your driver HIGH to get over the trees on the corner of the dog leg. I don't hit the ball particuarly high but it's not exactly low either, but I have never cleared the trees - not once, infact very few people do. Means you end up playing a 3 or 4 iron to the left of the trees which just makes the 2nd shot 250+ yards rather than being 200-220 which is achievable with a well struck 3 hyrbid.

Love my home course - as you can probably tell

[Friend_Joe]

i finally over came my nemesis hole... its the only hole on my home course that i have not birdied and hardly ever par
birdied it a few days ago... now that i know i can do it the hole becomes less intimidating

i also had a mental block for the longest time on what used to be my fave hole... i tin cupped it duck hooking 5 balls on my way to the green then for weeks i would hook at least one ball into the drink... i got over it by hitting a big fat push into the woods opposite of the water and parring the hole
it hasnt given me any trouble lately but its no longer my fave hole hahha

[Effopsytupt]

For the past two months, it's the first tee on any course I play. Always pull the shot, sometimes with a bit of a draw as well. It's absolutely mental, because the drive on second hole usually goes nice and straight. haven't figured out the solution yet. Tried 3W instead of driver, but pulled that as well. I think it's because I just cannot get relaxed on that first shot, so I do an armsy swing, out to in, but get the face square to the target line (I never slice the shot).