Lemmon Drop First Half

Ah, the Lemmon Drop. Sean came to town (more on that next) Thursday-Sunday. Actually I blog this as he's in the air back to Indianapolis. Suffice to say this is one of the most difficult courses I've played. Huge dropoffs, massive downhill holes, heavy trees, and the steep inclines make for some treacherous play (you could easily wipe out walking down these holes; we showed up for the random-draw doubles on Friday, and every single player besides us had hiking poles; clearly they were used to this).

Some statistics: the course tees off at 9,150 feet. The total distance of the 17 holes we played (the doubles played only 17 holes) was about 6000 feet. The duration of the round was approximately 4 hours. Sean and I were paired up with random dudes. His team shot -4. Mine shot -3 or possibly -2. The winning pair were at -8, which is a good (but not great--playing doubles there are lots of birdies out there, but also bogeys because there is ample opportunity to fuck these holes up intensely) score.

I'll blog the first nine here. First, here's the course map (accidentally pilfered by Sean). We played only 17 of these holes (the full tourney plays 27 per day Saturday and Sunday).

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And the view from the chairlift up to the first tee (you take the chairlift up twice to play the course):

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First time on a chairlift for me. There's apparently etiquette and technique involved in getting on and off these things. I took the ride up with this kind of crazy guy (more on that eventually).

A shot from the top, overlooking Tucson. Because of the burn a few years back you can see all the way down:

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So, to the actual course. Sean's group was in the front. Mine teed off last. First hole's a beaut.


About 350 feet, but downhill some so it's drivable with a Buzz or a Roc if you wanted. As you can see you've got a great gap on the right that's designed for a drive, but if you miss it, don't get enough distance, or hit anything, your disc could roll down 400' without much trouble at all. Many dudes were hiking down to get their discs. You could also play a turnover shot along the left (or a forehand), but it's tough with a forehand, or for a lefty, to get it to stick on the pathway so you have a putt. Don't leave it too high, and don't undershoot. A difficult birdie but a reasonably easy par. Real nice hole to begin. I drove about 50' left of the basket on the road and we putted but missed the birdie. On to the second:

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Similar sort of idea, about 280, but also downhill. Follow the gap on the left, it plays to the right a little. Of course my partner and I both winged the first tree, and had to scramble for par.

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Three's a shorty, easy birdie, maybe 220 or so, a little hyzer. Not worth photographing, apparently. Nice to get a break from the serious damage of the first two holes, but if you miss the gap you can (as I did) roll about 150' down the hill. Which would be terrible to play from. My partner parked this one, thankfully. Hole 4's maybe my favorite on the course: it's a huge hyzer shot that drops off a lot to the left. You have to throw a pretty big, tall shot, keep it on the right and let it fall forever down. If you don't get enough distance, you'll roll right back and down into the precipice.

Too much and you're in the trees with a bitch-ass putt downhill (this next shot is a view from the corner):


and the coup de gras is that the putt is just exceedingly nasty. You cannot go 6 inches past the basket, and god forbid you catch an edge. Groups were rolling 300' past the basket after chaining out:


A real lovely hole, the kind you almost never get to play. That's what this course is about, actually. You just don't practice these shots (Erik Sather knows this from playing the Snowbowl up in Flagstaff). But this course is even more like that. Big downhill shots like this don't require drives, a lot of times, just really stable Roc shots. The only way to play these holes is to practice them, and if you've played the course last year (as 90% of the players who showed up did) then you've got a big advantage.

Sean claims to have parked this hole. I actually was only about 25' off it with my drive, but after my partner's putt rolled on down, I had to play it safe and settle it under the basket. Par's a good score here.

Speaking of downhill bomb shots, here's a great one, hole 5:


It plays 510' downhill. You can't leave it right (on the right you can see dudes teeing off on hole, what, 8?). It's a turnover shot, but it drops off so much it's hard to get used to teeing off at a major downwards angle. You don't need to kill it. Just give it enough spin to level off and preferably tail right a little. I didn't play most of these drives properly at all. The best part of 5 (above) is that once you get through those tall upright trees, it drops off significantly. You can blow past (as I did) and have a fine shot, but not much of a birdie chance unless you barely graze the crest. Keep it fricking low, homes. And here's the reverse angle on it from the bottom:


A super-fun hole. My response to this course was that I'd love another shot at it. Unfortunately you can only play it for the tournament itself. Sean and I didn't want to do the whole tourney (he left this morning, so could only get the first round in, and really, we'd rather play together) so we did the doubles instead. Downside: our scores were not against each other, and were as such meaningless in terms of the rivalry. Upside: playing doubles here is super satisfying. You can go for a lot more, obviously.

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Hole 6 is another big downhill hole, 420'. Again, if you have a good turnover drive, then you're set. Generally the rule for this course:

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Hole 7 is "short but steep," 201' but uphill 72', so it's a big shot to get up there. Not that fun of a photo so I skipped it. I parked this hole with a big destroyer shot. Also the kind of shot you don't get used to throwing. The Snowbowl has a lot of these holes. They're worse at the Snowbowl because it's so grueling. This is a grueling course too, but on the Snowbowl you have to hike up half the time. At least this course you take the lift up.

Hole 8 is the easiest by far on the course. 123', straight ac ross, or maybe up a little. Ace run. No one aced. Kind of a lame hole except as a breather, which you'll need. But anything less than hitting metal you don't feel good about.

More to come.