I birdied the 12th!!!

I just have to write this as it was the most brilliant hole I have ever played and I could quite easily never do it again. If any of you have ever played Moortown you will know that the 12th hole is a long par 5 (albeit downhill) with heather running down both sides of the fairway. It has plenty of bunkers to catch your drive and a multilayered bunker on the right hand side further down to catch a wayward second.

I started out with the longest drive I have ever done, and it was straight - so straight away I was pretty happy. It was my second shot which got me into trouble. I came up out of my 3 wood a bit too quickly and I saw it head down the right towards the dreaded bunker. It was also skipping a bit and just before the bunker it hit the ground and went straight up in the air and landed in the top most bunker. The bunker is made from a mound and there are about 5 separate bunkers with long grass in between so wherever you land it is a right bugger to get out of. I was right on the top which is a tiny little bit of sand.

So I make my way up the top with my 52 vokey. I have just enough room to stand and it is a bit precarious as you are about 10 foot above the fairway. I try to focus on doing a nice tempo swing and just get the ball back onto the fairway.

I achieve the former very well. I nip the ball off the surface so I don't even need to rake it. It sails beautifully through the air, hits the down-slope and gently rolls all the way down, onto the green and then continues to the back pin position and finishes 15 foot from the pin.

I did a huge yelp and jump and very nearly came a cropper!

Made my way back down to ground level and off I set to the green. I can't believe I then made the putt. The hole is stroke index 1 so I get 2 shots. That is 4 for 2 for 5 points!

Luckily it was a social round with some visitors from USA and we were playing as a team (2 from 4) so my playing partners were delighted. I think JP will be horrified and be calling me a bandit though!

Well done Judy.

From what I remember, the 12th (old 10th) is a tricky hole. First we had to decide if we wanted to take on the rough that ran across the fairway and then we had to cope with the blind second shot. I found that I made more birdies when playing it as a three shoter than I did when I took the green on.

There has been some work on the rough which runs across the fairway. There is a 10 yard wide path of grass on the right hand side now which you can aim for if you are brave. The rest of the rough is still horrible but they have added a couple of bunkers (centre and left). It does speed up play quite a bit as you don't have to hunt for your ball in the heather as often but the bunkers are a bugger to get out of - they have just enough lip to require a short club.

I have never before had problems with that particular rough as I didn't hit it far enough. However, after a lesson on Saturday with the Pro I suddenly have found an extra 20 yards and with the wind behind my drive made it to the edge of the path on the right.

Will have to consider a 3 wood off the tee in future if it is wind behind.

Moortown is made tricky for the longer hitters by the well placed ditches on 1, 2, & 16. No need for 470yd par 4's .

Well done Judy. As Lyth points out, this is one of those par 5's that commands a bit of respec. Sure there is the risk and reward but when the risk could mean a lost ball then playing at a three shotter is a no brainer for me. How's Moortown playing these days after our long extended winter? it's over a year since I played there last.

It is in beautiful condition. We are getting run on the fairways for the first time in 18 months because of the dry windy conditions but the downside is the greens are quite firm and very very quick.

I have never attempted to play the 12th as a two shotter it is completely out of my range - my husband sometimes has a crack at it in two but not in a strokeplay situation - only matchplay or social.

Well done Judy, try and make a habit of it!!!!!

Colin.