[Jay Flemma]

What a day.  I got lost in Hell's Half Acre!  I couldn't get out of the Devil's A&%@*le, and I hit it sideways a few times...but I also made a fistful of pars!  I made a boatload of putts! (Thank you, Justin the caddie!) I birdied 8 after pitching to one foot! (On the RIGHT green no less, with the pin in the back ledge!)  It was a perfect day...dappled sunshine, not a cloud in the sky.

And it was my birthday.  Game, set, match.

We've all seen pictures so I'll refrain from posting stuff you've already seen and putting up pictures of my friends and I dorking for the cameras...those go in my scrapbook...because this was a life event.  My birthday felt like Christmas.

To give this some architecture content, what does everybody think of the D.A.?? Has anyone here gotten out of it successfully?  How about in competition? I hear at the Crump guys that hit it in, just re-tee...my first shot hit the sidewall and I had to jump out of the way to avoid it hitting me!  What other ways are there of dealing with getting out of it once you're there?

[Dan Boerger]

Jay - Sure beats Valley View, doesn't it! I actually did get out of the DA once. An amazing place to be sure.

[Andrew Buck]

sounds like a great day ... glad you enjoyed your birthday!

[Jim Colton]

I think the D.A. is an appropriate punishment for missing a 150-160 yard par 3. You know it's there -- avoid it!

I got out climbing down there with a practice shot, though I had an ideal lie. Not sure what you'd do if you were stuck anywhere other than the very bottom of it.

Jay, knowing how deep the bunker is and how tall you are, I'd like to see a picture of you in the D.A.

[Dustin Ferrell]

Was fotunate enough to get my 1st PV experience a couple months ago, and its a total treat.  Doesn't play nearly as tight as it felt to me, and didn't lose a ball all day to my surprise.  I also was shocked at how penal the DA is....i didn't hit in, but did walk down and take a look....i'm not sure how you'd get out.  Def. no excuse to end up even close that that thing.  We had a back pin and I was middle of the green...thank goodness.

[JR Potts]

This news is certainly worthy of its own thread.

[Michael Wharton-Palmer]

Happy Birthday Jay..

[Jay Flemma]

Jim, it swallowed me up!  There is a pic of me in there.  It was sooooooooooo much deeper and steeply walled than I expected...I've taken on an impressive list of the toughest bunkers in America - getting up and down out of BOTH the San Andreas fault at PGA West AND the Principal's Nose at National, (as well as the cliff-side at 8 Forsgate), and getting down in three from Chambers Basement (which I escaped with a 9-iron), but nothing compared to the D.A.  I was expecting it to be deep, but not that deep.  But what grabbed me was how narrow it is...it's cone-shaped almost!  It's like getting swallowed up!  

I actually hit the fringe with my tee shot, but  when our sponsor asked if anyone wanted to try the D.A. for fun, I volunteered.  He tossed a ball in which wasn;t at the very bottom, though my feet were.

I thought I might have had a ghost of a chance since there was an inch or so of sand behind the ball, but I have a flat swing in the sand and had no chance with that...I tried breaking my wrists at the crucial moment to compensate, but lost the necessary velocity to get it all the way over the lip.  As it hit, I leapt out of the way so it didn't hit me...then it settled to the absolute bottom and I was toast.  I took two more college tries, then gave it up.  D.A. 1- Jay 0, to be continued.  Now I have something to work at on my game though - a life challenge!

If there is a place where you can smile through your golf pain, it's Pine Valley:)

Guys, thanks for the birthday wishes!

Dan, how did you get it out?  Where did the ball lie? What kind of swing did you make? Did you play out sideways? (How?  Where do you hit it from there??!!)

Why don't we build more bunkers like that?  

[Dan Boerger]

Jay - 60 degree wedge, opened it waaaaay up, broke my wrists early and ... got lucky!

No sand save of course.

[JT Taylor]

As hard as it may be to believe, I think the DA over the years has actually gotten shallower.  There was a time when you would stand at the bottom of it and when you spoke, your voice echoed in it.   Hello....hello....hello........can anyone hear me....hear me....hear me........
laughably difficult!

[AJ_Foote]

Jay,

When I was there last year, the caddies told us that the way to play the DA shot is to take a hybrid and smash it straight at the face as hard as you can - the ball should run/bounce up the face and pop out in front. Fortunately I didn't hit it in there to test the theory.

Andrew

[Michael Ryan]

Jay,

When I was there last year, the caddies told us that the way to play the DA shot is to take a hybrid and smash it straight at the face as hard as you can - the ball should run/bounce up the face and pop out in front. Fortunately I didn't hit it in there to test the theory.

Andrew

Agreed, in three trips around PV I've yet to hit it in the DA and honestly don't think it should come in to play given how penal it is and that you have a short iron in your hand.  My first experience included the requisite dropped ball in the DA and my only successful attempt to extricate came from a fully smashed 4 iron that hit the wall and popped up and out to 20 feet.  I doubt I would have the guts to try it in a real situation.....

Mike

[Jay Flemma]

One of my friends says he uses a full swing with a putter. You guys are right...and that's ingenious!

[Joel_Stewart]

I've always considered the DA ornamental and never considered anyone actually playing out of it.  I've played Pine Valley several times and myself or playing partners have never ever come close to hitting into it.  Trying to be nice, that must be a pretty bad shot to go into it.

On occasion and if you're playing early, the starter may send you to the 10th as your first hole.  Early in the morning the hole is aligned dead east and with the sun coming up and low in the sky it can be blinding.

[Scott Warren]

Joel,

Playing Pine Valley off the 10th is a very different experience.

I find 10-12 a fairly gentle start, though of course then the hard-as-nails run of 1-5 becomes a six-hole stretch of 18, 1-5 and six holes of that difficulty on the hop takes a lot out of you.

That said, all things considered I think the course is easier off the 10th purely because you can ease into the round.

[archie_struthers]

  


As to the DA, it was so cool back in the day when a putt to the front right pin could roll into the aperture!  Particularly at today's green speeds , it would make the 10th lot different  on tournament day!  

Understand that the rolling thunderstorms that occasionally pass thru South Jersey  made this a maintenance nightmare. However I could see tarping it as a solution .  What do you supers out there think , would this work ?

As to hitting it out of there. Hmnnnnn?..   Better to tee off again , Although it takes away from the fun !

[Jay Flemma]

Five is murder...it also reminded me - in terms of its length and carry only - of five at Fishers Island.  Long carry and you have to be laser straight.

Boy I envy you single digit guys who can say parts of PV are easy:)  For a bogey golfer any club can explode into a double bogey at any moment

Anybody else have some stories about getting lost in Hell's Half Acre?  It sure looked larger than a half-acre to me...maybe a full!

[Pete_Pittock]

Jay,
As to your question "To give this some architecture content, what does everybody think of the D.A.?? Has anyone here gotten out of it successfully?" I don't know they answer  but I'm pretty confident Tommy Naccaratto" is the only one who has SUCCESSFULLY gotten into the DA  

[noonan]

Glad you had a great day!

[Jay Flemma]

Hey Pete:) I hear you ad Brother William had a great time at Lawsonia:)  I'm  also sure he'll chime in with some stories as well:) Jerry, Hell's Half Acre was far more cruel than the Great Hazard at [insert course].  

The Crump guys who checked in with me yesterday said the course was really breathing fire yesterday...much harder than Teusday!

[SPDB]

I can confirm that the preferable exit strategy is to hit a hard hybrid which causes the ball to skip off the hard front face of the bunker popping it straight up. My opponent in a match ended up in the DA and used this approach to get up and down. Pretty remarkable to watch. I actually have video of it floating around here somewhere.

[Pete_Pittock]

Hey Pete:) I hear you ad Brother William had a great time at Lawsonia:)  I'm  also sure he'll chime in with some stories as well:) Jerry, Hell's Half Acre was far more cruel than the Great Hazard at [insert course].  

The Crump guys who checked in with me yesterday said the course was really breathing fire yesterday...much harder than Teusday!

He did the phone drive imitation on the front nine, #5 if I remember correctly

Happy birthday. I waited a day so it is belated. Can't treat you better than family.

[RJ_Daley]

No Pete, it was the tee on 18, and one of the most amazing things I have seen, given he hit it right down the middle and long enough under the circumstances to be impressive.  And, he survived to finish the hole, given that by then, Steve had had enough with the phone constanty, and I thought Steve would wring his neck before he struck it as he was yammering lawyerly talk as he addressed his ball with the phone wedged between ear and shoulder.  It is lucky for Jay that he did hit an unbelievable drive and deflect Steve's growing ire with the unussual feat, or I think Steve would have dropped him!  

[Jay Flemma]

Now Brother William you are embellishing a bit!  Don't turn a small book of hours into the poetics of Aristotle:)

[Tags:]

Tags:

[Tags:]

Tags:

Call to undefined function theme_linktree()