A Hackers Guide To Royal Ascot - Hole 9 (Ascot Farm)

The end of the front nine is in sight but we don't have time to contemplate a rest just yet. Having negotiated the previous eight holes we reach the par 4, 400 yard ninth hole. It is predominantly a straight away hole but always, always plays into the wind and in my opinion is tougher than the stroke index of 12.

This is how the club website describes the hole:
"From the tee it looks like an open hole, but don’t be fooled. The drive has to be correctly placed, keeping it left of the fairway bunker, right of the large tree on the left of the fairway and not so long as to go in the cross fairway water hazard that can not be seen from the tee. The second will be with a medium to long iron to a large green, where many subtle turns will be found on this putting surface."

As the guide says, right of the large bunker on the right is ideal. It runs downhill from the bunker towards the ditch that crosses the hole and is blind from the tee and in summer it can be in range even for a moderate hitter like myself although in my case the fairways do have to be baked hard and with no wind blowing.

The view down the left side of the hole - this where you should aim off the tee

The ideal shot is at the large tree to the left centre of the fairway and let the right to left camber take your ball down into the ideal spot. Be careful not to overcook it though as the tree will block the second shot to the green and there is a ditch to be negotiated. The second shot can be anything from a fairway wood (in Winter particularly) to a mid iron and the green is guarded by two bunkers right and one on the left. There is also out of bounds running down the right of the hole from the ditch, past the greenkeepers compound to the practice green.

The view of the green for your second shot

The green is another that slopes significantly from back to front and from right to left as you look at it. It is one of the deeper and larger putting surfaces too and so you need to be aware of the flag position when choosing your club. Depending on where the pin is placed anything coming out of the bunkers or needing to be chipped onto the putting surface needs careful planning as the slope can take even a well played stroke and run it away from the hole. Putts too need to be a good speed especially if you coming from above the hole as it will run on and on.

The large putting surface - another green with lots of borrows

In truth, the hole shouldn't pose any real problems apart from the length and playing into the prevailing wind. As always though it is never that simple and I've had more than a few mishaps. Perhaps the unluckiest came in a medal earlier in the year. I was going along well if not spectacularly and had found the fairway off the tee. I pushed my second and it hit the cart path that runs up the right edge. Normally the ball will just bounce along and eventually come to rest. Not this time. It bounced, flew high into the air and straight right scattering everyone on the practice putting green waiting to go out. Out of bounds and no choice but to hit another. It wasn't a bad shot and was only about ten yards wide of the target. It was just a freakish bounce but a real show stopper in terms of momentum.

The greenkeepers shed is another popular target. There is something about the shiny metal roof that regularly draws golf balls towards it. The sound of surlyn projectile on metal is very, very loud and echoes across the course. As the ninth runs close to the clubhouse there is nowhere to hide if you are unfortunate enough to slice one and it hits. Been there done that. Of course, the ditch can also catch the unwary. Playing out of the right hand bunker it is at least 100 yards to clear the hazard and so if you don't make perfect contact the ball will usually find the ditch. Similarly if you push or pull the drive and have to play from the rough either side, getting over isn't a given.

And there you have it. On paper not a real card wrecker and to be honest it can present a good par or nett birdie opportunity but like the other holes so far it needs treating with respect. We've made it through the first nine holes. Hopefully our score card is in good shape, we still have the original ball we started with and we're ready to move onto the start of the back nine.