As part of my golf writing journey I will be writing reviews and observations about various holes on golf courses I have played. Since Avery Ranch Golf Course in Austin, Texas is my home course I will write about every hole there, but not necessarily in order. However, starting on the first hole is appropriate here because the architect created a short par 4 that is quite challenging for its length.

The feature picture above this blog is of the first hole on Avery Ranch, taken from the cart path adjacent to the gold tees. The wide angle perspective of this image emphasizes the trees left and right but unless you shank the tee shot, they are not in play. However, this is a visually stunning hole to start on and this photo doesn’t do the view justice.

I used google earth to capture each hole and green complex to aid in discussing the hole’s features and pitfalls. I will first discuss the hole in general then discuss this and every hole from the perspective of playing from the white tees as that’s where I play with my skill and Handicap level.

The hole plays to 326 yards for the typical player from the blues. Most players hit long enough to avoid the left fairway complex but the fairway bunker on the right comes into play with a 250 yard drive and I’ve seen a lot of folks end up in there because it’s straight ahead of the tee box. A light draw is a very useful shot on this hole, both for the tee and approach shot. However, the prevailing South winds from the right will push shots left and it’s typical in Texas for one to two club winds to be the norm, especially in the Summer. The safest green side miss is short right or long left. The bunkers are filled with a very dense sand that when wet will fly way over the green with a typical full sand wedge splash shot.

The hole abounds with dangers from off the tee – a pull ends up in a dry and cactus filled hazard but normally findable with a chance to punch back into the fairway. A push/slice ends up outside back yards or OB if hit far enough and there are enough trees on the right to prevent you from getting on the green for the pushed or sliced errant shot. And of course, a topped tee shot invariably finds the creek crossing the front side.

The green is well guarded by a deep front bunker complex and a smaller bunker behind. It is a dual tier configuration with the slope descending from back left to front right. Except at the tier, the slope is gentle and not too tricky to read.

The whites at 288 yards should be an easy to reach GIR, but I have very seldom done so and have probably only parred this hole three times at most in 30+ rounds. I mostly attribute this lack of success to first hole jitters and that this is one of the holes that “gets in my head.”

Ideally, I would want to aim at the far fairway bunker and hit an easy 3-hybrid about 175 yards to fairway beyond the short-left bunker complex, leaving a 112 yard 9-iron shot to middle of green. I fail to meet this ideal either by topping, pushing, or pulling the tee shot with a tension induced arm swing. If I do happen to hit a decent 3-hybrid I end up fatting the approach shot into the bunker, or pushing right of green (which is a safe miss) or thinning it over the green into the back bunker or deep drainage swale behind the green. I look forward to the day when I can string together an acceptable tee and approach shot on this hole.

One of The Scoring Method Rules or Axioms is if you typically have first hole problems, “Start in first gear.” When I recover from my broken collarbone in a few weeks I have outlined a plan for this hole that emphasizes using my easy-to-hit go-to club to keep the ball in play.  Normally my 7-iron is my most reliable club now – that is, I can typically take an easy swing and hit it into a 25 yard wide fairway target at 130 yards 8 of 9 attempts. My 6-iron is a bit less reliable as I typically hit it to a 140 yard fairway target 7 of 9 times. However, because there is 120 yard carry over the creek on this first hole clearing it would require a perfect 7-iron shot inducing too much stress on the already stressful first hole. Thus, I will hit an easy 6-iron to the fairway right of the bunker complex. To take stress off the approach shot, I will hit a 9-iron layup shot short and right of the green-front bunker complex leaving me a 30 to 50 yard sand wedge to the green. Lately I’ve been hitting these type of SW shots to within 20 ft of the pin leaving an easy two putt and a potential par. Once I get a few rounds in with these easy bogies, and after I get to 8 of 9 reliability with my 3-hybrid, I will start attacking this hole with GIR as the goal.

Overall, it is a fun hole and I expect that I will gain the upper hand on this hole over time by starting in first gear and eventually getting to scoring par when, with purposeful practice, I develop my 3-hybrid into a goto club.