Great Opening Holes: #1 at Lion's Muni

Nerves on the tee always presents a fantastic challenge, even more so when it's the first shot.

This is the first in a series about opening holes, what makes a good opening hole, and why. Here, I will be discussing one of my favorite opening tee shot on any course. #1 at Lion’s Muni, in Austin, TX. The hole works so well because it tests the player’s mental game with gallery at the tee, and tricky club selcetion. This creates a sense of tension on the tee shot that isn’t some cliche fairway bunker or forced carry. It rewards well struck tee-shots with multiple options into the green, and forces them to conform to the architecture, while allowing talented players take advantages of excellent shots.

Here is the hole. Par 4, about 340 yards¹, with a strong dogleg right. Stroke index is 5.

The hole is absolutely not intimidating on the card, and it shouldn’t be intimidating to play. However, while it asks for a straight-forward shot from the, it will exercise any player’s will and good judgement. Well played shots are rewarded on the approach, and poor shots, while punished, allow players a chance to make up ground.

The tee shot:

The tee shot is one I rarely see in golf, it’s an iron. Let’s face it the driver is a tough club to hit, and it’s even tougher when you are playing cold. Now, there’s nothing wrong with driver off the first tee, but with short par 4s so prevelent, they don’t seem to come first. I often wonder whether the first tee is the best test case for rewarding power, or whether we ought to let players get a few swings in before hitting the big stick.

On this hole, no one should be taking driver off this tee. Honestly, hardly anyone should even be taking 3 wood. The distance to the turn is about 195 yards, downhill, to a fairway that’s typically, extremely dry. Anyone who unthinkingly grabs their driver will blast their shot well through the fairway, and rough, behind a group of trees protecting the green.

Using a driver to cut the corner is also off the table. The fairway after the turn is rock hard, and slopes away from the clubhouse, so even a perfectly played cut would likely kick down into a waste area below the green. It could lead to an easy chip up, maybe, but the risks are absolutely enormous compared to playing the hole as it was designed.

So, the standard play is a running iron or hybrid. A focused, low-handicapper should expect to place the ball precicely at the turn, trivially, and that’s fine. For the mid-handicapper, however, the hole can be dramatic. Why? Stress. Let’s look at the teeing area:

The first tee at Lion’s flanked by two crowded practice greens.

The tees are directly adjacent to two large, elevated practice greens. It is also directly adjacent to the main entrance and the parking lot. This gives all players a de facto gallery on any busy day. The chatter of other golfers, watching, waiting. Players coming and going from the clubhouse. Players can hear all this from the first tee. One can feel the eyes watching them. This can put heat under the collar of any amature who doesn’t fully trust the club in their hands. If you’ve never practiced hitting your tee shots under pressure, you will feel it on this hole.

So we have our players, under pressure, but wait… relax, it’s just a mid-iron. Maybe they’ve warmed up, maybe not. Doesn’t matter, the shot is easy, it’s nothing to worry about… right? We take a breath, and swing. Maybe it’s perfect… maybe not.

The standard miss for amatures who haven’t warmed up, is to the right side. Here, the right side forces players to take an extra shot without egregious punishment. There are two sets of trees to punish the level of error. One group is at 140 yards, and another at about 180 at the turn. Most players can punch through these trees, and get a few extra yards squeezing through the corner. However, they won’t be able to access the green, since, the fairway slopes away from the clubhouse. The non-standard miss, to the left side, is mostly fine but it adds significant distance.

If the player gets just to the edge of the corner, they should be about 140 yards out, and are rewarded with many options to the green. The green slopes back-to-front so flying the ball there is always welcome, but these full shots always come with risks. The other option for players is to bump-and-run along the gentle slope of the fairway into the green. Anything too far left is down a hill in trouble, anything long is a disaster. Giving players two ways to approach the green balances these huge risks so they can play their best game, especially when their approach is the second shot they’ve taken that day.

If you hold the green, putting is fairly straight-forward from all angles, but may have significant slope. One-putt birdies aren’t trivial, and getting close will be rewarded.

Every other angle at the green is trouble. Too short off the tee forces the player risk an unhelpful fairway bounce. Too long will require movement around trees on the left side. Too far left off the tee adds significant distances, which increase the increadible danger of running off the back of the green.

So there it is. Control your nerves off the tee. Try and land the shot at the corner. Fly or roll the ball up to the green, two-putt, and you’re on your way. This hole give players a unique challenge for an opening hole. One with real threats to deal with. All this without a single bunker. It’s why I think #1 at Lion’s flies under the radar as an excellent opening hole that shouldn’t be taken for granted.

1. From the Whites tees (Blue: 359, White: 338, Red: 330). I’ll be refering to all distances from the standard amature tees, because this site will be focusing on golf from the perspective of average golfer. I will attempt to point out any notable differences for low-handicappers aside from an added few club lengths.