Golf Question

[Gus Mango Fish]

Here's the map for the 5th and 6th holes of the Signature Course at Woodlands, Bristol.



Notice the big lake between the 5th and 6th fairways.

My questions (imagine you are on the 5th tee):
a) If you are aiming to hit down the 5th fairway, but accidentally slice it onto the 6th fairway, is there a penalty?
b) If the 6th fairway is clear, and you elect to shoot onto that fairway (i.e. purposely aiming to the right of the lake) then is there a penalty then?

[cayton]

no, out of bounds is a specified area. I.E. the lake


edit
Answer is a load of tush. or half tush. The answer is still no, if there are no out of bounds between the two fairways.
the lake is just a hazard. sht sht sht cant get my mind into explaining mode... ok EASY WAY
Q,a = no
Q,b = no

[lucky_scrote]

What Cay said. At some courses they will put out of bounds posts up the other fairway to stop you from taking another/easier route.

[Gus Mango Fish]

What Cay said. At some courses they will put out of bounds posts up the other fairway to stop you from taking another/easier route.

Aye, I was pretty sure this was the case. There was no out of bounds stakes, just red stakes around the lateral water hazzard.

Scenario: I aimed for the middle of the lake, knowing my natural fade shot would mean it would end up on the 6th fairway. Drago and Paddy then moaned incessantly for the next 13 holes that I'd cheated by taking an alternative route, and insisted upon a 10 shot penalty...

[lucky_scrote]

Did I play that course? I seem to remember diving that green

[Gus Mango Fish]

Did I play that course? I seem to remember diving that green

I think you may have. I did this time (well same distance, just over to the right on the 6th fairway).

I drove over the green on a long par 4 dogleg too (by choosing to attack the green directly and shooting over the trees). Quite windy conditions though, so when you had the wind with you it was adding a fair distance to the shot.

On the 17th which is 135 yards surrounded by water, I elected to hit an 6-iron and went right over the green into the water (an absolute peach of a shot). So, 3 off the tee I choose an 8-iron and the exact same thing happens! I then choose a pitching wedge (for my 5th shot off the tee!) and land it pin-high. (obviously I could have dropped it by the water hazzard, but it's a lot more fun to shoot it from the tee). All 3 shots perfectly hit though, which was nice.

Despite a shitty score (103), and it being my first round since last Aug/Sept, I played some of the best tee shots of my life. Can't wait to play again!

[Gus Mango Fish]

Just remembered. Yes, you did play that course. Also, you did an awesome Dambusters style skim-shot, by using a 3-iron directly into a water hazzard lolz.

[Gus Mango Fish]

Today's golf question:

When working out a handicap, is it worth including Par 3 courses as well (ones that have a proper SSS)? If I go to golfshake.com and input all my rounds @ Par 3 Thornbury (on top of all the full-size rounds I've played) it gives me a 17.8 handicap! (my handicap excluding this course is 27.6). Here's the link to theThornbury Par 3 card: http://www.thornburygc.co.uk/cms/ass...4pp%20grid.pdf - far too easy a course imo, for it to be included in a handicap rating?

Another Par 3 course I play frequently is Clevedon Golf Centre. The holes are much longer (several 200+ yard par 3 holes) and the greens are incredibly small and tricky (they are all shaped like upturned bowls). Here's a link to that card: The Course

imo, I should include that course in handicap calculations due to it's much harder difficulty.

Dan, what do you think? Should I include just Par 3 courses that I think are hard? Include all courses? Or just include full-size courses? Or should I even have a seperate handicap for Par 3 and Full-size?

Also, what website do you use for online tracking of your handicap? I was using golfshake.com, but it seems a little flakey, and they've made a lot of the options 'subscriber-only'. At £15 for that, I'm sure there's a better free alternative?.

[FirePhil]

I don't include the par 3 courses, doesn't seem right to have full handicap on a course half the length.

Just had a quick google and apparently if it's over 3,000 yards you can include it, so Clevedon would be ok but not Thornbury.

Still think I'll exclude it though, using golfshake as well but I guess there's loads of similar things out there. Let me know if you find a better one

[lucky_scrote]

Hi Matt.

Don't include par 3 courses, they will not reflect your true handicap whatsoever. If the par 3 course is long and tough then it will increase the handicap of low handicappers and decrease for high handicappers.

I use golfshot and it's awesome! It works with the iphone and I think it can adjust your handicap too. Golfshot - Login

I only started using it recently and most of the rounds I posted were whilst on golf tour in Newquay and I was playing tough courses that were new to me. I don't think you can find the shots per par statistics online but my iphone shows this at the moment:

Par 3: 3.6

Par 4: 4.7

Par 5: 4.7

My par 4 stats are pretty high but like I said I've mainly been playing courses that are new to me. I think most courses are designed for the average golfer because par 5's generally have less danger and are just made long, but unless that hole is over 600 yards then I can hit the green in two and to be honest the average par 5 is around 470 so if I get a good drive away I only have a mid iron in.