Favorite Shots: Poppy Hills 18th

A couple years ago my dad and I were lucky enough to win a local two man best-ball tournament and qualify for a regional NCGA event at Poppy Hills and Spyglass Hill. The first day of the tournament was played at Poppy Hills where we were wrapping up a decent, but not spectacular, round of golf.

I had been pushing the ball right all day long so I set up left for my tee shot on the 18th. Unfortunately I hit it dead left too. The ball sailed deep into what looked like Mirkwood Forest.

(Looking back from the 18th green: If you click to enlarge the photo you can actually see a tiny opening in the trees on the right side of this picture where I had to hit from.)

When I found the ball it was sitting on a perfectly clean lie on an even cover of pine needles in the throat of a narrow, but beautifully straight corridor of evergreens that opened to the left side of the fairway. Unfortunately the opening at the end of the corridor was only a few yards across and nearly 50 yards away. I had to hit the ball perfectly straight and relatively low due to have any chance of getting the ball back in the fairway. But since I had no other alternatives I pulled out my 3-wood and said, "Why not?"

I couldn't believe it when I hit a crisp, low-driving 3 wood that split the row of trees perfectly. The shot was nothing short of a miracle, leaving me with a simple 40 yard pitch to the flag on the far side of the 18th green. I hit a decent wedge to the green and followed it up by sinking a curling 12-foot putt to birdie the hole and finish the round on an unexpectedly high note.