HOLE BY HOLE GUIDE
HOLE 9
BACK TEES DISTANCE : 400 YDS
CLUB TEES DISTANCE: 355 YDS
LADIES TEES DISTANCE: 245 YDS
PAR : 4
SI : 10
WATER:
None
OUT OF BOUNDS :
None
BUNKERS :
Just the one. It's to the right of the green and acts obviously as a hazard but also as a nice indicator of where the green is.
TREES :
None
TEE SHOT:
This is an interesting one. A decent drive here can set up a good score on this hole. The rule of thumb here is to make sure that you clear the hollow at the front of the fairway. Do that and there's not a bad landing area in relative terms to what's gone before. You have a choice here, aim left and open the green up but bring the drop on the left hand side of the fairway into play. Aim to the right of the fairway and if you hit it nicely you've a terrific angle in but if you go a bit too far right you've got a few cranky dunes there looking to take their frustrations out on a few stray golf balls. Couple that with the bunker suddenly coming into serious play for the second shot and you're in a spot of bother. If you can find the centre here then you'll be happy as a pig in a playhouse.
APPROACH SHOT:
Depending on the drive this could be a nice second shot to have a crack at. The hole isn't that long so you could be left with a short iron to a huge green. Bear in mind you'll need to get near enough to the pin as the green is just less that 170 feet long. That means that you need to get somewhere near the pin or else you're looking like a monster putt.
GREEN OVERVIEW :
As was already alluded to above, the green is just less that 170 feet long and wouldn't it be perfect to think that it would be nice and flat to make up for the size. That's not in Lahinch's nature. Nope, this is a tricky one no matter where you putt from be it a 5 footer or 150 footer. The front of the green has a steep uphill gradient. Once you get up to the top level of the green you'll notice that there's more wrinkles here than a 60 year old who's been frowning for 90 years and who thinks Botox is a funny way of referring to your Glutus Maximus. It gets so tricky that the back of the green looks like a few ramps for Evil Kneivel's pet rabbits. Couple that with the fact that there's a steep drop off on the left hand side this is a round ending green if played too agressively or too tentatively..
OVERALL TIPS :
This is a wolf in sheep's clothing. To look at this hole you may be forgiven in thinking that this is the easiest hole so far. No dogleg, no blind shots, only the 1 bunker, not overly long. Happy days. Then the reality kicks in. Unless you've a fair whack of a ball you'll need to aim right for the tee shot. If that's the case you're taking on the bunker for the second. Should you overcook that there's a massive drop off on the left hand side of the green where there's another giant periscope needed to see the pin. If you're lucky enough to hit two half decent shots and end up on the green you could be wishing that you had ended up in the rough. Get out your binoculars, there's a pin here somewhere in the yonder distance. If you are left with a putt of gargantuan magnitude then play it sensibly. Look for a part of the green close to the hole that is relatively flat and aim for that as opposed to aiming for something that you can't see. This could lead to a well deserved 2 putt or at the very worst a 3 putt. If you completely misread the putt and end up going to either extreme you might as well call ahead and say you may be late home. A par is a very good result on this deceptive hole.