The Par-5s Shouldn’t Intimidate

   Par-five holes mean different things to golfers of different ability.  In most cases, we pros figuratively rub our hands in anticipation when we approach the par-fives.  When we step on the tee, we are thinking birdie, maybe even eagle.  At the other extreme are the medium-to-high handicappers, many of whom dread the par-fives and are delighted to escape with pars.  More often, they take sixes, seven and eights.

            This really shouldn’t happen.  I’m not saying that players in the 90-100 range of ability should have the same expectations of birdies on the par-fives that we who make our livings in the game have.  But if they don’t psych themselves against them, there is no reason why these players can’t par them much of the time.

            Look at it this way.  Most par-five holes range from 475 to 550 yards in length.  Divide that by three and you get an average of about 175 yards.  Certainly, that is a distance that players of any skill at all can handle.

            What happens most frequently is that these golfers of just medium ability, awed by the par-fives, get themselves in trouble right off the bat with their tee shots.  They think that, with all that ground to cover, they had better try for extra distance with the tee shot.  Instead, by pressing, they disrupt their swing and either muff the shot or knock it into trouble off the fairway.  Then they compound the error by taking an unreasonable gamble from the rough or trees, perhaps trying to make up for a topped tee shot by going at the next shot with a wood in the heavy grass or from a bad lie short of the cut fairway.  In short order, they lie four or five and haven’t yet reached the green.  By now, they are unnerved completely.  Their concentration is gone and there is little likelihood that they can semi-recover with a good ship or putt.

            Here are a few thoughts that might help you, if you fit that picture.

            When you get on the tee of a par-five hole, think of it as a par-four.  Forget about the length of the hole and concentrate on hitting an adequate drive that will finish in the fairway.  That’s most likely a stroke saved right there.

            The same concentration on keeping your swing under control applies to the second shot, which will be with a fairway wood in most cases.  In fact, I’ve noticed that women often do better with fairway wood shots than high-handicap men simply because they don’t swing so hard, stay down with the shot and get the ball airborne.

            There will be times for the mediocre player when he can’t get safely home with his third shot.  It may be smarter for him to lay up rather than risk trying to carry a menacing hazard just short of the green.  It certainly makes more sense to lay up and perhaps wind up with a bogey than gamble with a shot in which he has no confidence, miss it and throw away the two or three decent shots that preceded it.

            The player we have been talking about will still catch the rough on occasions on these, and all holes, for that matter.  Good thinking will save strokes there, too.  On the par-fives, he may still have 200-300 yards left and is tempted to swing away with a wood from a bad lie.  Instead, he probably should use an iron with sufficient loft to dig the ball out and get it on the fairway.  He will be a far sight better off than if he muffs the wood and leaves it in the rough.

As I said at the start, a good par-five hole to my way of thinking is one that offers the pro and the capable amateur a fair chance of hitting the green in two.  It is one of the great challenges of the game to us and is one of the most exciting parts of tournament golf for the spectators.  Two of the favorite holes for the great fans who attend the Masters are the par-five 13^th and 15^th holes because they can be reached under the right conditions with the second shot but have water guarding the greens to spice the challenge.  Even though I’ve had my miseries on these two holes, I consider them outstanding par-fives.

            This type of par-five is, I feel, much more interesting than some of those monster ones that require three shots even by the finest players with few or no challenges enroute—for them two big wood shots, or a big drive and some sort of lay-up shot in some cases, then a short iron shot.  Nothing to really excite the fans or us players, either.