Par 5, when to wait for the green to clear

[trilerian]

The title says it all, when do you wait and when do you layup?  I don't care about yardages, that is subjective to each golfer.  But let's say a perfectly struck FW will get you to within a few yards of the green, do you wait?  And, does it matter how busy it is and who you are playing with?  Also, what is the distance from the green you feel is acceptable to layup to, ie the group in front is on the green, how close are you willing to hit it to the green and still consider it good etiquette?  All 4 par 5s at my home course I can potentially reach in 2.  They all require a great tee shot to get me in position, so it isn't that often I am going for it in 2.  But when to go for it? If I am by myself, chances are I am going for it in 2.  Why, because I am not holding anyone up by waiting for the green to clear.  But if I am playing with others and the course is busy, I usually layup for pace of play.  Now if I am in hybrid or long iron territory, I don't layup, but if I am in FW territory I generally will. But I don't want to, and like I said, if I am by myself I wouldn't.  

 

Now, I'll be real here.  I've actually only been on in 2 twice this season, but I've knocked on the door a lot by being within 10-20 yards.  But I've also hit my fair share of bad shots going for it as well.  

[rogolf]

I don't get to par 5s in two anymore and I don't hit to one when I think the people on the green could hear the ball land.

[Pepperturbo]

1 hour ago, trilerian said:

But let's say a perfectly struck FW will get you to within a few yards of the green, do you wait?  And, does it matter how busy it is

Given you say you're a 12.4, that suggests dispersion and perfectly struck doesn't happen as often as most want to believe.  I would tell you to hit.  Odds are not that great, you're going to end up in-front or close to the green edge, affecting people on the green.  And more than likely, your ball will be rolling.

Edited June 24, 2021 by Pepperturbo

[miamistomp]

Hit it

[klebs01]

I’ll hit if I can’t fly it within 20 yards of the front edge. Will adjust if there’s a ramp making it more likely to roll on. No chance I hit if I can fly it to the front. I’m not changing my play just cause I’ll have to wait. It’s not going to make a difference in the time the round takes overall. I’ll catch up quickly if I’m already waiting on a group. I will joke about how bad the shot may be after waiting though. 

[trilerian]

Hitting it without waiting for the green to clear is not an option.  I either wait or layup.  

[trilerian]

2 minutes ago, klebs01 said:

I’ll hit if I can’t fly it within 20 yards of the front edge. Will adjust if there’s a ramp making it more likely to roll on. No chance I hit if I can fly it to the front. I’m not changing my play just cause I’ll have to wait. It’s not going to make a difference in the time the round takes overall. I’ll catch up quickly if I’m already waiting on a group. I will joke about how bad the shot may be after waiting though. 

 

This is what I am looking for, thanks.  You will not change the way you play just because the course is busy.  

[Abh159]

If I'm confident I can get it within 10 - 15 yards of the green (with or without roll out) I'm waiting. 

 

Nothing annoys me more than being on the green on a Par 5 and seeing some clown roll his ball right up onto the fringe (or fly it into a greenside bunker short of the green). Therefore, I refuse to be that guy. 

[wfallon]

always better off to wait unless you couldnt get to the green given 10 tries

[DFS PFD]

If you have any chance at rolling the ball onto the green or the apron, wait. In your 3-4 hour round you have time to wait an extra couple of minutes and avoid potential conflict. 

[b.helts]

You can go.

[golfortennis]

21 minutes ago, Abh159 said:

If I'm confident I can get it within 10 - 15 yards of the green (with or without roll out) I'm waiting. 

 

Nothing annoys me more than being on the green on a Par 5 and seeing some clown roll his ball right up onto the fringe (or fly it into a greenside bunker short of the green). Therefore, I refuse to be that guy. 

Agreed, although if you tend to know who is behind you, and someone hit a career shot(ie., could never in a million years reach, and never hit into you), it is kind of neat to see them get to know that feeling.

[Newby]

If your ball finishes nearer than 20/30 yards from the green you probably won't see your ball again at any course in my neck of the woods

Edited June 24, 2021 by Newby

[TheBear95]

24 minutes ago, Abh159 said:

If I'm confident I can get it within 10 - 15 yards of the green (with or without roll out) I'm waiting. 

 

Nothing annoys me more than being on the green on a Par 5 and seeing some clown roll his ball right up onto the fringe (or fly it into a greenside bunker short of the green). Therefore, I refuse to be that guy. 

 

The counter, of course, is sitting behind a group that's waiting for the green to clear. And, they are 300 yards out. They wait and wait and wait. Green clears... they hit... Ground ball. Sadly, I see it all the time. And, people wonder why rounds can take so long.

 

To the OP, unless you're at a yardage that you very feel confident about hitting the green, I say hit away. 

[trilerian]

3 minutes ago, TheBear95 said:

 

The counter, of course, is sitting behind a group that's waiting for the green to clear. And, they are 300 yards out. They wait and wait and wait. Green clears... they hit... Ground ball. Sadly, I see it all the time. And, people wonder why rounds can take so long.

 

To the OP, unless you're at a yardage that you very feel confident about hitting the green, I say hit away. 

 

Let's say I feel comfortable hitting X yardage.  The front of the green is X + 20, but I can on occasion roll it out to X + 20.  I played last night and went for both par 5s.  One was X + 20, the other was X + 30.  I waited for both greens to clear.  I hit X on the X + 20, on the second I ended up 5 yds short of the front.  I personally think in both cases it was correct to wait.  But what if it were busy  and I duffed the shot?  Cause I do that sometimes too.  Man is that embarrassing

[TheBear95]

2 minutes ago, trilerian said:

 

Let's say I feel comfortable hitting X yardage.  The front of the green is X + 20, but I can on occasion roll it out to X + 20.  I played last night and went for both par 5s.  One was X + 20, the other was X + 30.  I waited for both greens to clear.  I hit X on the X + 20, on the second I ended up 5 yds short of the front.  I personally think in both cases it was correct to wait.  But what if it were busy  and I duffed the shot?  Cause I do that sometimes too.  Man is that embarrassing

Depends. Are guys waiting behind you? If not, sure, wait. If yes, I say hit away. At the end of day, this is a low percentage shot. Play the percentages and give it a go.

[Abh159]

10 minutes ago, TheBear95 said:

 

The counter, of course, is sitting behind a group that's waiting for the green to clear. And, they are 300 yards out. They wait and wait and wait. Green clears... they hit... Ground ball. Sadly, I see it all the time. And, people wonder why rounds can take so long.

 

Fair, but let me ask you this... Would you be comfortable putting on a blindfold, standing on the green, and letting a 12 handicapper swing away from the fairway with a 3 wood? Because I've been hit by someone in a group behind me before and guess what... It f****** hurts!!!

 

I think we can all agree that people who are an unreasonably long distance out (300 yds to use your example) don't need to wait, but if there is even a small chance that they can get it close to the green the don't need to hit the shot until after the green clears. 

[Pepperturbo]

From what I get, it's been established, the OP is not likely to reach the green in 2, for an Eagle putt.  So, the other considering that influences waiting, hitting or laying up; do you have a reliable short game for shots in the 75yd and less range?

 

 

[trilerian]

Wow, I'm just gonna say I don't want a lot of you guys playing behind me.  Again, if I think I can get it anywhere near the green, I wait!  The question is, it's busy, should I just layup?

 

What if we change this to a drivable par 4?  There are some shorter courses I play where this comes up. 

[TheBear95]

3 minutes ago, Abh159 said:

 

Fair, but let me ask you this... Would you be comfortable putting on a blindfold, standing on the green, and letting a 12 handicapper swing away from the fairway with a 3 wood? Because I've been hit by someone in a group behind me before and guess what... It f****** hurts!!!

 

I think we can all agree that people who are an unreasonably long distance out (300 yds to use your example) don't need to wait, but if there is even a small chance that they can get it close to the green the don't need to hit the shot until after the green clears. 

A 12 handicapper, sure. I have better chance of winning one of these Covid vaccine lotteries. 

[Warrior42111]

The question is, it's busy, should I just layup?

 

Do what is best for your game. If you really like a number like 75 or something sure lay up. If you play better the closer you are with chips and little pitches go ahead and wait and knock it as close as possible.

 

Busy should not matter as long as you catch back up to the group in the next hole or two.

[dvq9654]

I'm a little surprised by the answers in this thread. Etiquette is important and you should not hit up on people if you can get to the green, but if someone knows they can't to the green and they hit a ball 10 yards short of the green while you are on the green, you are going to be upset? Why do you care? How does that impact your game in any way and how is that poor form? I'd argue this type of view and approach is why we have to suffer through 5 hour rounds so often. 

 

You can debate whether someone knows how far they are going to hit the ball and use that to urge caution or suggest they only go if they know they are going to be 20+ yards short (or some other arbitrary distance), but having someone wait when they know they can't get there in order to placate a hypersensitive group on the green seems silly to me. 

[DFS PFD]

Reachable par 4 I play, tournaments group in front of you plays to the green, then let's tee box group tee off onto green or wherever else and then finishes putting out. Weekend gen pop I just wait since no one understand basic etiquette and don't want to risk hitting the green while some drunks are putting. 

[ChipStrokes]

1 hour ago, Newby said:

If your ball finishes nearer than 20/30 yards from the green you probably won't see your ball again at any course in my neck of the woods

you’d walk 20 yards off the green to pick a ball up that never came within 60 feet of you? 

 

very interesting take there. 

[nsxguy]

4 minutes ago, ChipStrokes said:

you’d walk 20 yards off the green to pick a ball up that never came within 60 feet of you? 

 

very interesting take there. 

 

Well, he didn't said HE'D do it.

 

But clearly some guys would,,,,,,,,

[Newby]

14 minutes ago, nsxguy said:

 

Well, he didn't said HE'D do it.

 

But clearly some guys would,,,,,,,,

Generally the same guys who park their trolleys in front of the green 🙄

[miamistomp]

This is a trolley, damn it !

 

[GLF4EVR]

My take on this goes back to high school golf in the early 70's.  One of the courses we used to play had a 620+ yard par 5.  If you could get the drive far enough, you would be on an upslope to hit the driver off the deck to try & get close.  So if anyone did make it there, thinking of waiting for the green to clear was a non-issue.  That is until I did actually make the green.  Did not hit anyone, but ever since that if there is even the remote chance I hit it pure enough to make the green....I'm waiting for it to clear.

 

I am now close to 63, so can still remember those miracle shots.

[Newby]

57 minutes ago, miamistomp said:

This is a trolley, damn it !

 

That is a tramcar or tram

 

Liverpool tramcar No. 245

 

Edited June 24, 2021 by Newby

[TomRUtah]

If I decide to layup because I think it's too far to reach the green, I inevitably smash it and reach the green anyway.  It's followed up with an apology for hitting into the group.  If I wait for the green to clear in my attempt to reach the green, it falls 100 yards short.  It's related to Murphy's Law. 😄 

 

I nearly always wait for the green to clear.  The exception is an intentional layup to wedge distance because of water or similar where "going for it" has a very low chance of success.