Hole 8
Knien
In ancient times there was great poverty on Texel. Many a Texel family lived from the rabbits that the father would poach.
Older Texel inhabitants tell nostalgic tales of night-time poaching expeditions with a light-box, and miraculous rabbit catches with the domestic ferret. Then at least you had a rabbit (or ‘knien’ in the local dialect) for the pot.
The high hill behind green 8 sometimes turns into a rabbit village and the young ‘knientjes’ dash up and down the hills like stray golf balls. The poacher instinct is rekindled in the Texel golfer in a good ‘knienen’ year.
Tip: Note: balls which are too short always bounce to the right. The wind is the challenge here, so consider a club higher.
Drive
Particularly for the beginning player, hole 8 is a very difficult one to score on, if only because he or she has few shots. Neither is the fairway too even, and it’s guarded on the left by very difficult rough and on the right by out of bounds. So make sure your tee-shot ends up on the fairway, or even better, on the green. Playing the green on the left is preferred as the ball will roll out to the right. The tee: the difficulty of the eighth hole is the length from tee to green. The choice of club is difficult to determine, all the more so because it depends very much on the wind direction and/or wind strength. The club choice for the advanced player can differ between an iron eight and a metalwood 5! If you’re playing with the wind, it’s advisable to grab an iron and use that wind. A high ball flight is then ideal. This is achieved by placing the ball at the level of the left foot. Against the wind a low ball flight is ideal and a low iron is preferred to a metalwood, as a metalwood is assigned a role which is difficult to control. You get a low ball with your irons by setting it a little more to the right.
Approach
Green
The green of the eighth hole lies on an elevated plateau. If you stay in front of the green with your tee-shot, then a high chip to the pin is the best solution. But note the landing point because this determines the final roll of your ball. The pin position on the green is very important for your tee-shot and your chip. If the pin is on the right in the valley of the middle of the green, then you know that the entire green runs off to the right. If the green is slightly fast, then your ball will automatically roll in the direction of the hole! With a metalwood, the ball tends to roll towards the rear of the green.
Pinpositie
