17th Hole

17th Hole

We’ve made it to the penultimate hole, 17 an excellent hole for the closing stretch. From the Medal tee, the hole plays 495 yards, which as we have learnt over the past 17 weeks could play as a short par 5 if downwind or a bit of a monster if into the wind. A crosswind off of the left makes the hole particularly difficult as the ideal line is down the left to avoid the bunker and then if you are going for the green in 2 than it all feeds in from the left. The burn most definitely comes into play and as with any burn you need to know your distance both to the burn and carry over the burn. Once you know both of these you know whether or not you can take on the carry. There are yet again great examples of the fantastic bunkering on the golf course with 3 pot bunkers dotted around the entrance to the green. Once on the green, there is a lot of undulation to deal with, mostly from left to right bit also from front to back so maximum attention needs to be given. One of my favourite holes at Arbroath, played correctly can give you a great birdie or possibly even eagle try but stray offline on any shot and you can run up a big number. So take care, pick a club you are confident with and COMMIT!