I've Still Got Par From There....

[GregB135 937]

Here's something that has come up in several other mental game and 'how'd you play?' type threads. One of my current mental game techniques has been trying to focus on the positives after a missed shot, and saying to myself "I've got par from there" to help move on to the next shot rather than focus on the negative of the one I just missed.

So, in this thread, tell your war stories about how you MADE par (or better) from there.

[GregB135 937]

I'll even go first

Last season playing in the league 2-day at Mission Inn. The fourth (I think) hole on El Campeon is a par 4, uphill that tees off over a small lake/pond and parallels another par 4 from the back 9. My tee shot goes WAY left, over the tree separating the two fairways, and winds up in the edge of adjacent fairway's right rough.

My second shot options are punch back to my fairway leaving about 180 out, or go for the cut hybrid over the trees from 190 to land near the green. You guessed it, I chose option 2, it was competition after all.

Good swing, good strike, ball flies high, clears the trees and starts to turn a little right just like I wanted. Of course, I can't see the green so I look over to the rest of my group in (our) fairway and get a whole bunch of shrugs and 'didn't see it land' responses.

We get to the green, and there in the back corner is my ball. The pin of course is in the front right portion of the green. My putt is about 50 feet with an across/down slope look at the hole that my read says breaks about 12 feet. One smooth putter stroke later, the ball rolls to the top of the break, starts down the hill and IN!!! 

Birdie from there....

[MDGolfHacker 7,019]

Not par but a great bogey, but it was on one of the holes that seems to have my number and which I blow up on way too often.  It's a Par 5 with  water left of the landing zone, and a hill that slopes right of the landing zone.  Pushed a drive that leaked far enough left to end up bouncing into the water.  Took a lateral drop. Hit a great 3 wood up the fairway and a 5 wood just a few feet in front of the green (pin was in the front and if I went long would of been a longer putt).  Almost chipped in for par but took a tap in bogey.  Easily could of been a minimum of a double or worse.

 

MDGolfHacker

[TR1PTIK 2,783]

This will take some thinking.... I've got one! 

So a year or two ago, I was playing a casual round with buddies. We get to the par 3 third at my home course and I tug my tee shot into the left bunker. The sand was extremely soft and the ball just plugged right up against the lip. I always play the ball down so after taking some times to assess the situation, I took a big swing and hoped for the best. The ball did not go anywhere close to where I was hoping it would. However, it did squirt out dead right to the far edge of the green about 40 feet from the hole. Pleased that no one was injured and that I was actually putting, I took a long look at the putt which would need to travel up and back down a hill while also breaking mildly in both directions. Pulled the putter back, nailed my line, and by some miracle I found the bottom of the cup!!!

I've had several miraculous par saves, but that one had to be the best, because if you had seen my lie in the bunker you would have been thinking bogie or worse every time.

[sixcat 3,600]

The last tournament I ever played in about 10 years ago.  Typical dogleg left where all of the trouble is on the left with a huge bailout area right.  But the further right you go, the further you get from the green.  My tee shot centered the fairway....on the adjacent hole.  It was right of right leaving about 235 yards to the green on a reasonable length par 4 just slightly over 400 yards.  Like I said, right of right!!!!!

I could punch something under the trees toward the fairway I was supposed to be in but that would also bring a small creek into play if I didn't manage to keep the ball below the trees.  I was far more comfortable hitting something hard and chose to hit a cut 3-wood as far up to the green as possible.  It would still have to come off very low to get under the trees but I felt hitting the 3-wood hard would give me a better chance of avoiding the creek if I were to catch a tree limb.  I would also like to point out, the trees nor the creek should ever be in play on this particular hole!

The shot came off perfectly.  It was head-high with 20 yards of cut, landed 40 yards short of the green, ran between the two front greenside bunkers and stopped on the back fringe about 20 feet past the pin.  I two-putted for par to maintain a 2 shot lead with 10 holes to play.  It was the only really good shot I hit all day.  Walking off that green, I vividly remember thinking I was holding my round together with smoke and mirrors.  I was hitting it all over the reservation!

I'll stop there!  We don't need to discuss all the pars I turned into bogey's and "others" on the back to lose by 6!

[golfertrb 1,530]

Last year I was playing in Scottsdale at TPC Champions. I was playing a match against my two oldest boys - them against me. The 5th hole is a 442 dog leg left par 4 from the blue tees. I completely duffed my tee shot into the desert in front of the tee box while the boys hit perfect tee shots into the middle of the fairway. I had 245 yards from a marginal lie in the desert - I hit 6 iron thin to 50ish yards short of the pin. The boys had put their second shots on the green with lengthy bids at birdie. I hit my 58* to about 8 ft left of the hole and made the putt for par. One of my sweetest pars and the boys could only tie me when they were sure they had the hole won after the tee shot.


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[cksurfdude 8,006]

On 9/5/2019 at 11:38 AM, sixcat said:

My tee shot centered the fairway....on the adjacent hole.  It was right of right leaving about 235 yards to the green on a reasonable length par 4 just slightly over 400 yards.  Like I said, right of right!!!!!

Awesome recovery! FYI, that story also belongs in the "PATTS = Par After Terrible Tee Shot" thread! 

[cksurfdude 8,006]

I can actually relate a story from yesterday - short, flat, fairly open course but pushed my tee shot right on the first hole; got there to find it behind both a tree and a portable light generator (for nighttime golf at this muni park) with its mast up - both of which were blocking a direct line to the pin and the green. Yeah, cudda punched out sideways but .. where's the fun in that? Was inside the 100 yd marker, took out the 50 and set up carefully and let 'er rip ... watched the ball clear everything and sail on towards the green in-line to the pin. Get up there to see the ball about 12 or so feet short of the pin, and proceeded to .. yep.... miss the birdie putt... (hit it a little firm and it rolled past the left edge; made the comeback putt for the only par of the day - so we won't be talking about the rest of that round!). 

[perseveringgolfer 4,794]

short-ish par 4, usually take a 4 iron for position as its a narrow fairway, and that usually leaves me about a 5 or 6 iron to the green.

Tried to hammer the 4 iron and hit the big ball before the wee ball, and it went about 100yds

It was sitting ok at the beginning of the fairway, and seething with anger I pulled out the 4 wood and smashed it as hard as I could,  it came out the sweetspot, had a beautiful small draw and bounced twice onto the front edge. A huge 25 yard putt to about 3 feet saw an easy par 4

easy game this

[GregB135 937]

I did it again yesterday. 

Pull hooked the 3-wood off the tee on a narrow, medium length par 5 (lots of water cutting off the driver landing area and down the whole right side of the hole). Looked at the group and said 'I've got par from there' which was about 260 out, up/side-hill lie on a mound looking right down the narrow neck of the fairway with the left side bailout blocked by trees.

6 iron from there to the right edge of the fairway at 110, gap wedge to 8 feet and had the first putt roll through the right half of the hole like there was a lid on it.

[Kenny B 24,168]

At my course hole #1 and #4 share a green complex.  Hole #4 is a par3 ranging from 110y to 155y depending on tee and pin locations, and has two sections.  The tee is at the right side of this pic.  The pin location of the yellow dot is about 150y.  The green slopes away behind the pin down to the #1 green, and Yes I've gone down there! The green also slopes toward the bunker short of the green.

The shot usually plays directly into the prevailing SW wind.  My shot ballooned up and came up short left, still on the green shown by the red dot... a perfect spot when the pin is 125y!! lol.  The problem is a putt to get close to the yellow dot location is impossible as the putt breaks hard right.  The rough between the two dots is actually a mound of grass.

I hit a flop shot with my 60º without taking a divot in the green to 4 feet and made par.  Think Gary Woodland on #17 at Pebble at the US Open this year!!

[dalejbrass 111]

Played in a Wednesday night scramble all summer (points system) and made the top 10 play off. Highest score is eliminated until 1 man left standing....much more pressure than I anticipated!!

Hole:

1 - Short Par 4 - Iron off the Tee, GIR, 2 putt par - on to the next tee

2 - Shortish Par 4 - Driving iron off the tee and pull hook it left OB (my big miss, but haven't hit it in MONTHS).. Re-tee with same club hitting 3, stripe it down the middle, green from there, 1 putt for bodey - on to the next tee

3 - Par 3 (176ish) - stripe a 7 iron right at pin, lip out birdie putt, take par and move on to the next tee

4 - Par 4 - dogleg right - Hit 3W (normally my weapon and very reliable). Guess I stood up on it slightly....hit it about 3 feet off the ground, over water hazard and embedded in the bank (lost ball). Drop hitting 3 again. Hit a PW within 18", make putt and move onto next tee

5-7 - played well and remained in the race

8 - Par 5. I'm in the final 2. Played a lot with my opponent and beat him very regularly....I hit a huge slice OB to the right and am eliminated in 2nd place.

Moral of the story.....I was playing like crap, but somehow managed to grind it out and make the final pair! This game is HARD!!