How Did You Hit Your First Tee Shot At The Old Course?

[AltC]

 Not a dig at the caddies by the way - I’m Scottish and know the way the Craic rolls!! Had a great day in any case!

[MattyO1984]

Yet to hit a bad one thankfully!!

 

My first, I hit a beauty, I was delighted with it. My initial thought was 3 iron, keep it low and get it chasing but there was a breeze into our face and 3 iron was not going to go far enough. 3 wood was the next option but it was never going to be a choice. I have an unfortunate habit of getting a little underneath my 3 wood when I am nervous so it was driver. Thankfully, I pipped it straight down the middle and was left with a gap wedge in for my second shot which was more than decent as well 🙂

[golfkid33]

Pumped a high draw 5 iron 220 left, just short of the burn. What a place.

[golfday]

Dark skies and a little drizzle (which luckily cleared out after about 3 holes). I hit a nice 3 wood down the middle of #1, miraculous give I'd spent the night on a wooden bench! 

 

My buddy was so nervous that he hit a 5 iron (didn't trust any club larger with the nerves) and pied it right down the middle too. Followed it up with a second 5 iron into the middle of the green and made an easy par.

 

Great caddies we had there - this buddy isn't a great player and usually throws away several shots around with questionable decisions, but his caddie picked up on his 5 iron distance on the first hole and then was able to club him the rest of the day. Mine gave me perfect lines and landing areas off the tee all day.

[cardoustie]

Massive hook 5 wood to the bridge, knock down wedge to 15 feet, burned edge

[ColinKelvin]

I felt strangely calm.  No idea why.  Hit a driver with a wipey fade into the wind and ended up with a longer 2nd than expected and a bogey. 

 

One of my playing partners full topped a hybrid, and another - who has played the OC many times - sliced a driver OB right and scattered some tourists.  Both are decent (single figure) golfers.

[goaliedad30]

Left. By design!

[scooterhd2]

Hybrid. Aimed well left. Absolutely striped it to cheers from the crowd. Slight pull so it went a little further than normal and ran out more left then I would have wanted, but actually set up a really nice angle to the back right pin. Not bad for no warm up, no sleep, and freezing outside all night. 

[Schley]

Hit a low slice shank with my 5 wood.  Went about 200 and 20 yards still from fence so ended up paring.

[Schley]

On 6/15/2023 at 10:31 AM, scooterhd2 said:

Hybrid. Aimed well left. Absolutely striped it to cheers from the crowd. Slight pull so it went a little further than normal and ran out more left then I would have wanted, but actually set up a really nice angle to the back right pin. Not bad for no warm up, no sleep, and freezing outside all night. 

Wait that was you?😀

[scooterhd2]

18 hours ago, Schley said:

Wait that was you?😀

 

Indeed. Got that yellow ball to 15 feet on the approach. Missed the birdie, but tap in par to start the day. Well, I had been at the course for 11 hours already, so not sure when the day started. But to start the round anyway.

[Chanceman]

No course I have ever played has quite the same aura as TOC. Such a buzz. Feels like it’s the meeting place for all golfers. 

[EmperorPenguin]

10 hours ago, scooterhd2 said:

 

Indeed. Got that yellow ball to 15 feet on the approach. Missed the birdie, but tap in par to start the day. Well, I had been at the course for 11 hours already, so not sure when the day started. But to start the round anyway.

What time did you show up at the walk-up line?  I heard horror stories of guys showing up at midnight, being fourteenth in line, and getting a 5:30 starting time for a single spot.

Edited June 21, 2023 by EmperorPenguin

[scooterhd2]

12 hours ago, EmperorPenguin said:

What time did you show up at the walk-up line?  I heard horror stories of guys showing up at midnight, being fourteenth in line, and getting a 5:30 starting time for a single spot.

 

It's going to vary so much day to day. I'd check the ballot results for the day you plan on camping out and see how many blanks there are. Some days its 8 spots, some days theres 30 blanks in there. Gives you an idea of how many guaranteed tee times there. Ideally you have a low enough number to get a guaranteed tee time, so you can pick your time and then go nap, shower, eat whatever instead of waitlisting and sitting around all day hoping for your chance. 

 

I thought I was being smart getting out there at 11:50pm. I was number 19 in line. Was not feeling good about that but got on to the course at 10:40AM. 

[ousuxndallas]

Sounds like this year (2023) has been much worse than last year (2022) for lines at TOC.  My guess is more and more demand, coupled with more tee times being bought by the big operators so less "lottery" slots.

 

Anyway, we got there last year around 11 pm and were 4th in line on a day that had 20+ slots.  Guys that showed up at 5 am still got a tee time.  That's one data point, but it really looks like the camping is getting harder and harder.  

[johnspies]

I took a group of 8 and one of the guys is Scottish and has played TOC many times. He tees off first and damn near puts it on the beach! So there I am shaking and thinking that if that's how HE hit it, just what the hell am I gonna do? I striped a 3 wood straight down the middle, still don't know how that happened. The other 4 in our group played the day before so we had that audience plus the usual 30-40 milling about.

[Octopus Golfer]

On 6/22/2023 at 11:07 AM, ousuxndallas said:

Sounds like this year (2023) has been much worse than last year (2022) for lines at TOC.  My guess is more and more demand, coupled with more tee times being bought by the big operators so less "lottery" slots.

 

Anyway, we got there last year around 11 pm and were 4th in line on a day that had 20+ slots.  Guys that showed up at 5 am still got a tee time.  That's one data point, but it really looks like the camping is getting harder and harder.  

I just got back, and my group of 20 had really good luck with the queue. On Saturday, two of us showed up at 5:00 a.m. We were 38 and 39 in line. When we got inside at 6:00, the starter gave out 18 guaranteed times. He told the rest of us to come back at 9:00 a.m. to see if he could fit us in. Every 10 minutes, he was getting people out on the course. I got out at 9:45, and my buddy got out at 9:50. 
 

We have two foursomes hit the lottery later that week, so they got to play. Then, 10 guys camped out on our last night. The first three got there at 11:30 p.m., and the last few got there just before 6:00 a.m. All 10 guys got out that morning. In fact, the last guy to arrive got to play at 7:20 with the first three who showed up the night before. 

[italianstallion]

Played yesterday. Hit driving iron and absolutely cold topped it about 150 yards. Had 214 in and pulled the same club again and hit it to 15 feet. Routine 2 putt par. Absolutely scorched my drive on 18 about 10 yards short of the green, so I got my revenge. 
 

Camped out last night for the slot and when I showed up at 5:30 pm the day before I was 10th in line for 7 guaranteed slots. Three guys ahead of me left within an hour of my arrival so I was quickly bumped to that seventh slot. The two guys who were #1 and #2 were numbers 15 and 16 from the day before, waited around all day, and they did not get out. So they just decided to continue waiting again. The day I played by the time I teed off the guys who were 18 and 19 were called up for the 12:20 tee time right before me, so I’d imagine the first 25 or so guys who showed up for the queue got out. 40 were there by 6am. 
 

I wasn’t sure how Open Championship week would play out. Based on my conversations with people many of them were going to the tournament this weekend, so I do think it has a negative effect on your chances for the singles queue. 

[EmperorPenguin]

This thread evolved from a first tee shot on the Old Course to that plus the walk-up line stories.  I like the stories of the latter as well as the former.  Keep 'em coming, guys!

[Octopus Golfer]

My first round, I got word from the starter at 9:40 that I was on the tee at 9:45. I had to pay, grab my clubs, and walk to the first tee. I barely had time to stretch before teeing off with three strangers and a bunch of folks watching. I was really nervous, but I piped one down the middle way past the other three in my group. It was definitely a good feeling.