Phil Arthur throws his second shot on hole 9. Unfortunately Phil doesn't hold to the Texans' policy of throwing nice, highly visible discs. He's thrown what might best be described as a "cut grass" colored disc, but take my word for it, it's there.
The Crucible - Hole #9
Par 4, 700 feet
|
Phil Arthur throws his second shot on hole 9. Unfortunately Phil doesn't hold to the Texans' policy of throwing nice, highly visible discs. He's thrown what might best be described as a "cut grass" colored disc, but take my word for it, it's there. |
Hole #9 plays out of the woods, with the first 100 feet being a tunnel shot before heading into the open field. The lake is to the right, but isn't really in play (although I have seen people hyzer into it, it does take some doing). Once you're in the field you have a 45 degree turn to the right as the fairway squeezes a bit (but nowhere as much as I want it to, we need a big tree there) before heading to the green which is under a big ol' horkin' oak tree. The lower limbs of the tree were hanging a bit too low this year, but the greenskeeper (me) didn't notice in time to get them trimmed so players were left with tight access to the green. There was water 40 feet to the right of the basket as well as in front of it (mainly due to the amount of rain).
| Overall |
Open Men
|
Pro Masters Men
|
Advanced Men
|
Open Women
|
|
| Average |
5.1 (2)
|
4.3 (2)
|
4.9 (3)
|
5.4 (2)
|
4.8 (5)
|
| Birdies |
9
|
7
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
| Pars |
52
|
26
|
4
|
20
|
2
|
| Bogeys |
66
|
19
|
10
|
47
|
1
|
| Doubles |
42
|
1
|
3
|
37
|
1
|
| Other |
19
|
3
|
1
|
15
|
0
|
 Sonny Ashby throws his short forehand upshot. The basket's somewhere around and under all that greenery. Sonny took a par here, as he did each round. |
I'm a bit disappointed that I don't have a picture of the tee shot on this hole, it's definitely a big part of the experience. I'm sure it's also a big part of this hole being the second hardest on the course. That surprises me even though last year it was 3rd hardest (hole #17 was harder last year and easier this year 'cause of the tee pad being moved up).
We didn't have a single birdie by the amateurs, which surprised me, and only Jonathon Pierce and Ryan Renz managed to birdie it more than once, each of them getting it twice (Ryan in rounds 1 and 2, Jonathon in 3 and 4, so between them they had the thing covered). At the other end of the spectrum, Michael Fussner (who finished in the plastic in the am's, in 8th place) took an 8 and a 9 on this thing.
 Jon Burpee putts... and to be honest, I can't remember if he made it or not. It looks like he took a bogey this round, but maybe this was a great bogey saving putt? I just dunno. |
In fact, the bad end of the score spectrum on this one is pretty interesting in that of the people who took 8's on the hole all except one actually shot pretty well during the tournament. I already mentioned Michael, but Jon Burpee (who was in the lead card in the open division for the 2nd and 3rd rounds) took one, as did Jake Nye and Jesse Yingling, who finished 4th and 6th in advanced, respectively. I wonder what that means? Maybe it means they missed the gap on their drive and then tried to do too much to make up for it? Or maybe it's just weird luck?
I need to type more here so I have enough text to make the pictures look ok, so pretend to be interested, OK? Originally (like WAY back in the design process) this hole played downhill from where #17's green is now and hyzered to the current basket position. Sure, it would've been a lousy hole, but I was just starting, eh? Anyway, it was Stephen Renz (who is responsible for the name of the course as well... or can I say "as well" there or not? I mean, I haven't gotten to what I was going to say here yet.) who came up with the idea for the hole playing along the side of the lake, with the tee pad where the current middle tee is (just out of the woods and off to the right, near the lake, making the drive an anhyzer). I pushed the tee back into the woods to make it a real par 4 instead of 3.5 and voila! You're welcome.
 Scott Renz hits a nice putt coming back at the basket for his par |