There’s a lot of things to love about match-play golf: the fist pumps, the passion, the mind games, the miss/make moments. However, one aspect that I look for specifically is the risk-reward scenarios.
Unlike traditional stroke play, where a bad shot can lead to you dropping two, three or even more shots, match play has a safety net. The worst outcome of any given hole is exactly that: one hole. That aspect of the format lends itself to players taking on shots that they may not if they had a scorecard in their pocket.
This week at the Walker Cup, the Old Course at Lahinch Golf Club in Ireland has plenty of opportunities for players looking to roll the dice. Here’s five specific examples you might see over the weekend’s play.
Hole 4
This is one of the most unique par 5s anywhere in the world. A narrow corridor of sand dunes leads 300 yards to Klondyke Hill, a 30-foot dune that blocks the view of the green. Beyond the hill, is 100 yards of fairway short of a large green that sits right up against Liscannor Road, the thoroughfare that divides the Old and Castle courses at Lahinch Golf Club.
The hole isn’t long; it’s only 480 yards. If it were any longer, the club would need to build a new tee into the Atlantic Ocean. For that reason, it’s easily reachable for most amateurs, including the world’s best competing for the U.S. and Great Britain & Ireland this week for the Walker Cup.
I wouldn’t normally describe the tee shot on the fourth hole as risk-reward but after seeing what Preston Stout did in practice, I think it needs a mention.
The fairway runs out at 300 yards, with most players choosing to hit 280 to 290 yards to leave enough distance to summit Klondyke Hill and find the green in two. However, if the hole plays with the wind off the ocean, a drive of 340 yards in the air would carry the hill and potentially leave just a pitch to the par 5.
It’s worth remembering here, there is no four-ball format in the Walker Cup, like there is in the Ryder Cup, Solheim Cup and Presidents Cup. Every ball hit is in play in each match. The option of one partner “going for it” while the other lays back isn’t available. For that reason, I’d be surprised (however, not shocked) if anyone took on Klondyke Hill this weekend.
Hole 6
Blind shots are common at Lahinch and the sixth tee shot is a prime example. The short par 4 bends right to left towards the coast. A huge, grassy swale divides the fairway at 275 yards. The vast majority of visitors aim to replicate the white ball flight above, around 250 yards from the back tee, to a wide fairway that offers an approach of around 160 yards.
However, if a player is feeling brave and fully warm from the opening stretch, they could challenge the fairway divide. A drive carrying around 335 yards would fly over the dune on the inside corner, land on a downslope and finish close to putting surface on this 420-yard hole.
Remember, that 420-yard measurement is taken down the middle of the fairway, around the dog leg. As the crow flies, the hole measures just 370 yards to the front of the green.
Hole 7
Having driven close to the green on the sixth hole, why not take on the seventh as well?
Measuring 411 yards from the championship tee, the fairway dips, bends left and narrows at 310 yards. As you’d imagine, the common play is to hit right, to the high side of the hole around 290 to 300 yards and leave an approach of 110 to 130 yards.
But those looking to push may consider covering the dune on the inside corner and getting within 50 yards of the green. To carry to the fairway on the other side requires 325 yards through the air.
Hole 9
The final hole of the front is a straight-away, uphill par 4 that measures 400 yards. The fairway is split in two levels by a ridge that runs diagonally from right to left.
As the image above shows, a 280-yard shot from the back tee will roll left into the low section of the fairway and leave an uphill approach of around 120 yards. However, if a player is feeling brave and can carry the ridge on the right side of the fairway at 300 yards, he will be rewarded with a shorter, flatter approach from 80 to 90 yards.
The prevailing wind at Lahinch blows northeast. The tee shot at the ninth plays southeast so will likely be helped if it blows during the Walker Cup.
Hole 13
The 13th hole is designed to be driveable. From the furthest tee, the front of the green is just 310 yards with the surface nestling up into a landscape of sand dunes.
It’s likely that most players, regardless of wind, will take on the green here. They will err left, likely aiming near the two fairway bunkers, to avoid the penalty of finding the low area of rough to the right of the fairway.
The safer, more conservative approach is a shot of around 270 yards to the widest part of the fairway. From that point, you are pitching up the green from 70 or 80 yards.
Those are just five examples of decisions that players will make this year at the Walker Cup but as with any links course and coastal conditions in Ireland, every shot will require some degree of risk-reward and bravery. How they handle those decisions will hugely impact who takes one of the game’s most coveted trophies.
Photo by Stephen Szurlej