Need help with this hole before my tournament

[azplaya25]

Hey DGCR crew,
I have a tourney coming up next weekend at my home course, and I'm really struggling with this hole. Hoping some of you can weigh in on how you'd attack this.

The hole is hole 17 at Cat Hollow, for those of you who are familiar with the course.

Here is a sweet YouTube video which shows drone footage of the hole.

https://youtu.be/DWY--T6wvz4?t=400

I took a screen shot to show where I'm typically landing on my drives. The pin is behind the taller trees on the left, up on an island. The shape of the trees is kind of begging you to throw a hyzer over the lowest tree there. The problem I have is unless you spike that hyzer, it's really easy to skip off the island or miss the island all together. Then you are down in a ravine and really happy to save a bogey. Seems like coming in left to right is the safest route, but those trees are way taller than they look in the picture, and sometimes I'm even closer to them, so you need to almost throw a spike hyzer sidearm, which I'm not very good at lol.

Just curious how you'd play this approach. Anyone have any utility/specialty shots they use in spots like this ?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Horsman]

For me Id probably attack the hole and try to get as close as possible off the drive then lay up for 3 if Im out of position.

For you, have you tried to throw a forehand or a shot that will land further right. Seems like you might have a better angle from there. Try to get as close to that final gap before the green as you can. If you are going to land where your screen shot is then you should be mentally prepared and ok with taking a 4 on the hole. Seems like a hard hole to safely play for a par. Id play for a birdie and hope for a par.

 

[adamgservo]

A thumber could be a good option since it moves from left to right for a right handed person. Seems like that would get you out of trouble with the ravine.

Also think about what scores generally win or get the round rating you are looking for in tournaments for that course. Judging from all the danger on that hole, I'm guessing a par gets you a stroke on a large chunk of the field. (Maybe not Advanced or Open...)

 

[azplaya25]

For me Id probably attack the hole and try to get as close as possible off the drive then lay up for 3 if Im out of position.

For you, have you tried to throw a forehand or a shot that will land further right. Seems like you might have a better angle from there. Try to get as close to that final gap before the green as you can. If you are going to land where your screen shot is then you should be mentally prepared and ok with taking a 4 on the hole. Seems like a hard hole to safely play for a par. Id play for a birdie and hope for a par.

Man I'd love to see someone birdie this hole. No idea how you even put your drive inside of circle 1, but now that I see your rating, maybe you could pull it off. I guess you would have to throw a stable control fairway on a low flex shot that gets through the initial gap, goes a bit right then comes back with a nice skip through that last gap. Be a thing of beauty if you could pull it off.

For me, that is a good point about landing further right. I don't know that I have the forehand to get there, especially uphill, but I could probably backhand something flippier that would finish right further right.

 

[ru4por]

For me Id probably attack the hole and try to get as close as possible off the drive then lay up for 3 if Im out of position.

For you, have you tried to throw a forehand or a shot that will land further right. Seems like you might have a better angle from there. Try to get as close to that final gap before the green as you can. If you are going to land where your screen shot is then you should be mentally prepared and ok with taking a 4 on the hole. Seems like a hard hole to safely play for a par. Id play for a birdie and hope for a par.

Exactly. :thmbup: At 297 ft, I would want to be inside 50 ft, That means a 250-260 ft off the tee. A solid midrange drive should allow for that distance and pretty reliable placement. Agree getting to that gap, or right of it, will help the approach.

Horsman is again on the mark with his game management. In tournament play, it is too short to give up the bird, but you have to play to ensure the par.

 

[Horsman]

Yea honestly, Id probably play a straight shot with a roc at that final gap and hope to get lucky but definitely trying to at least get my drive to that last set of trees and then relying on my scramble game to get the par, or I would try to flex an OS mid or fairway up the gap and again try to get lucky. Id like to think I could at least par this hole 9 times out of 10 and maybe have a few looks for the birdie.

 

[azplaya25]

A thumber could be a good option since it moves from left to right for a right handed person. Seems like that would get you out of trouble with the ravine.

Also think about what scores generally win or get the round rating you are looking for in tournaments for that course. Judging from all the danger on that hole, I'm guessing a par gets you a stroke on a large chunk of the field. (Maybe not Advanced or Open...)

Thumber seems like a logical choice, problem is I never throw thumbers. I actually went out a couple days ago from where I typically land drives on this hole to practice some thumbers...after a disc got stuck way up in a tree and my shoulder started hurting, I decided a thumber wasn't the answer with only a week til the tourney lol. I definitively need to add some type of overhand shot to my bag at some point tho.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[azplaya25]

Yea honestly, Id probably play a straight shot with a roc at that final gap and hope to get lucky but definitely trying to at least get my drive to that last set of trees and then relying on my scramble game to get the par, or I would try to flex an OS mid or fairway up the gap and again try to get lucky. Id like to think I could at least par this hole 9 times out of 10 and maybe have a few looks for the birdie.

Awesome, thanks for the input. Btw just watched your in the bag and I dig your style. Basically 4 molds in various stages of wear and stability. I just decided to get serious about the sport this year, got a practice basket, and took everything out of my bag except for wizards, rocs, eagles, and a harp as my OS utility disc(don't have the arm for a firebird.) love throwing rocs and eagles and my game is simpler and so much better. Well...simpler except for this stupid hole lol.

Worth mentioning that I'm playing MA3, so probably just playing for 4 letting the rest of my division make mistakes here might be the best approach.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Meillo]

If you're close enough, then throw the BH spike hyzer with a baseline plastic putter or mid to avoid the skip.

 

[araytx]

Thumber seems like a logical choice, problem is I never throw thumbers. I actually went out a couple days ago from where I typically land drives on this hole to practice some thumbers...after a disc got stuck way up in a tree and my shoulder started hurting, I decided a thumber wasn't the answer with only a week til the tourney lol. I definitively need to add some type of overhand shot to my bag at some point tho.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Awesome, thanks for the input. Btw just watched your in the bag and I dig your style. Basically 4 molds in various stages of wear and stability. I just decided to get serious about the sport this year, got a practice basket, and took everything out of my bag except for wizards, rocs, eagles, and a harp as my OS utility disc(don't have the arm for a firebird.) love throwing rocs and eagles and my game is simpler and so much better. Well...simpler except for this stupid hole lol.

Worth mentioning that I'm playing MA3, so probably just playing for 4 letting the rest of my division make mistakes here might be the best approach.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Or even better to avoid the skip is throwing the grenade on the approach. That shot is made for holes like this, where you don't really want to skip left.

 

[dreadlock86]

i'm with Horsman, anything to get further to the right. even if you end up way shorter it's worth it if you can have eyes on the green through the gap.

that's a fun course

 

[ray1970]

When in doubt, throw a roller.

Seriously, I have resorted to trying rollers on holes I struggle with dealing with through the air.

 

[azplaya25]

i'm with Horsman, anything to get further to the right. even if you end up way shorter it's worth it if you can have eyes on the green through the gap.

that's a fun course

Yeah Cat Hollow is a blast. This hole and hole #1 give me the most problems.

Problem is I think I need to be longer and right, not just further right. I'm going to play around with throwing some more understandable disc tomorrow, see if I end up with a better angle.

May just play this for a super safe 4 depending on how the tourney is going. Just putter short through the first gap, putter up to the second gap, upshot with my harp cause I'm pretty good at ranging that disc from under 100 feet to sit beside the basket, drop in for 4 (or miracle par if the harp finds the bottom of the basket). Or option C, everything goes perfect, harp skips off the top of the basket into the ravine, I can't find it, scramble for an 8, lose one of my favorite disc and walk home.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[dreadlock86]

sure, longer is better but not certain it's necessary. i don't know about you but i don't have a good FH so i'm probably playing a higher anhyzer over/to the right of the first gap (with something kinda stable so i don't go OB) or maybe straight down the gap with a slow turnover. i want to be able to see through the second gap from there so i can throw a putter straight through and hopefully hit just at or below the top of the hill. if i'm lucky, i'll slide right up on the green.

the first gap is probably 100'-120' (?) so if you get past there and on the right, that's about another 120'-150' (?) to the second gap. i would practice throwing that second shot from a place you think you can reach off the tee (on the right). straight putter 150'-175' and get a good stop on the green... that should be manageable.

good luck at the tourney!

 

[azplaya25]

Went out this morning and I feel like I really dialed in this hole. Took some current pictures as well to give a better sense of what I'm working with.

Here's the teepad:

Biggest danger on this hole is hitting that tree on the left of the first gap down the fairway and kicking left into the woods. Actually added my DX Cobra back to my bag for this shot. Found that I was pretty consistent with hitting the gap and finishing right with the Cobra on a rhbh.

Here's where my drives were typically landing and this upshot to the island green is the reason I started this thread. What I discovered today is that I can actually hit that gap with a wizard/harp/stable dx roc on a flick anny and that shot shape glides right to the pin with no chance of skipping off the island because the stability of the disc is fighting to go away from the danger. Glad I figured this out...I think a lot of people step up to this shot and immediately think spike hyzer over the trees, but now the natural flight of your disc is going towards danger. The forehand anny just floats in and the misses are typically short or right, which as you can see, is way better than long or left.
Here are my upshots

Really glad I dialed this in, feel confident that I have three shots I can execute and bag a par on a hole that most of my division will probably struggle with.
Really fun figuring out some of these nuances.

One last thing - Most players who are trying to get better at disc golf are obsessed with throwing further, myself included. I spent 10 weeks this spring out in a field just throwing, filming my throws, working on form, trying to increase my distance. I can now throw a dx eagle 330 and a star valk 350 - still have a long way to go, but I couldn't break 300 with any disc when I started form work. What I've discovered is that while the added distance is great, dialing in my approach/scramble game is actually saving more strokes than the extra 50 feet on my backhand is. In addition to this anny flick, I've learned a thumber roller with my putter, and a little tomahawk throw that lands upside down and slides towards the basket. I'd encourage any player who is serious about better scores - keep up the form work, distance is great, but don't neglect the short game.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[drk_evns]

yeah I'm throwing a Nova on hyzer through that lowest tree gap unless its windy.

 

[Meillo]

What I've discovered is that while the added distance is great, dialing in my approach/scramble game is actually saving more strokes than the extra 50 feet on my backhand is. In addition to this anny flick, I've learned a thumber roller with my putter, and a little tomahawk throw that lands upside down and slides towards the basket. I'd encourage any player who is serious about better scores - keep up the form work, distance is great, but don't neglect the short game.

Well said!

The short rollers with a putter and little overhands also with the putter that land upside down are most useful tools of mine as well. They nicely solve the problems I would have headaches with otherwise.


And thanks for the update on your hole mastering progress.

 

[Lazerface]

One last thing - Most players who are trying to get better at disc golf are obsessed with throwing further, myself included. I spent 10 weeks this spring out in a field just throwing, filming my throws, working on form, trying to increase my distance. I can now throw a dx eagle 330 and a star valk 350 - still have a long way to go, but I couldn't break 300 with any disc when I started form work. What I've discovered is that while the added distance is great, dialing in my approach/scramble game is actually saving more strokes than the extra 50 feet on my backhand is. In addition to this anny flick, I've learned a thumber roller with my putter, and a little tomahawk throw that lands upside down and slides towards the basket. I'd encourage any player who is serious about better scores - keep up the form work, distance is great, but don't neglect the short game.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

100%. When I played in AM divisions it was consistent up shots that separated me from the field and allowed me to win. Having that touch anny flick and scramble rollers game is key. Folks don't practice those shots enough, but most people can do it in their yard.

 

[Horsman]

I'd encourage any player who is serious about better scores - keep up the form work, distance is great, but don't neglect the short game.

Over the years as I have gotten into much better shape, my distance has gone from about 550 to now being about 450. In that time my rating has gone from about 970 to 1000. Distance is great but not always needed. I would never be able to compete on tour at the highest level but locally I can have a lot of fun.

 

[azplaya25]

100%. When I played in AM divisions it was consistent up shots that separated me from the field and allowed me to win. Having that touch anny flick and scramble rollers game is key. Folks don't practice those shots enough, but most people can do it in their yard.

Yes! I practice fh and thumber putter rollers in my backyard all the time. Especially from awkward, off balance positions, one knee, etc. I've become very confident with them but one problem I'm now running into is just taking my medicine and pitching out. Especially with rollers, I've had quite a few where I see the roller line, execute the shot, then remember I'm not in my nice grassy backyard as I watch my roller bounce off a pebble I didn't see and roll directly across the fairway further into more rough lol.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk