Golfing Sawmill

My Friday afternoon round this week was at Sawmill Golf Course in Stillwater Minnesota.  A sister course to Loggers Trail, Sawmill is a nice course set into a lot of woods.  Built in 1984 by Dan Pohl this was the original of the two courses.  From the tips the course plays at 6262 yards and is a par 70, with each nine being par 35.  The course has bent grass greens and fairways and offers quite a few bunkers as well as water hazards and tree trouble.  Accuracy is definately an advantage over length on this course.

There are numerous practice greens for chipping and putting, as well as bunker practice.  A nice driving range is also available.

Today I played from the tips with 3 other guys who were all friends.  I don't rememebr all their names except Jordan.  They were ablast to play with and could hit the ball a ton.

The first hole is a 478 yard par 5 that is designed to require three shots to reach the green.  The fairway is divided twice by creeks.  The first fairway ends about 260 yards from the tips.  From there to the second creek is another 176 yards.  A smart play is to play 2 200 yard shots to set up for your approach to the green.  playing in this fashion takes the bunkers out of play off the tee and makes the hole a nice warm up.  Trying to go for the green in two is certainly possible but requires an accurate second shot right off the bat.

The initial fairway ends 260 yards out at the creek.

The second fairway here ends before the green at another creek.

The green itself is relatively unprotected.


The second hole is a 310 yard par 4 which has a mass of  bunkers in the middle of the fairway.  The best play is to hit about 160 yards and avoid the bunkers short.  Then attack the green which has only a single bunker short.

Here you can see all of the fairway bunkers

The third hole is a par 3 at 176 yards.  The green has bunkers short right and deep.  The best miss is left over the trees on that side.

The 4th is a 393 yard par 4 that requires 250 yards to reach the crest of the hill off the tee.  past the crest on the left is water that can be reached on the downhill side of the hill.  Along the right side is all trouble with OB there.

From the tee to the crest of the hill just past the tree on the left is about 260 yards.

A view from the top of the hill.

The approach to the uphill green.

Looking back up the fairway on 4.

Hole 5 is a par 3 that offers 2 sets of tees. one is 164 yards but requires hitting through a narrow tunnel of trees and across water.  The other set of tees is longer at 202 yards but is not a tough a shot.

Today we played from the shorted but more demanding tees.

A look at the 5th green and water from the fourth hole.

The green on 5 is surrounded on all sides with bunkers besides the water short.

Hole 6 is a 405 yard par 4 that requires an accurate straight drive to avoid the fairway bunkers on either side of the hole about 250 yards out.  From there it is a mid iron to a narrow but deep green.

An accurate ttee shot is required here

The fairway bunkers on the hole.

Past the bunkers the fairway is quite narrow on the way to the green.

The green falls off on either side and is narrow but deep.

The 5th hole is an interesting par 5 that makes you not hit driver off the tee due to the sharp dogleg right the hole takes.  You want to hit about 200-210 yards to get into the center of the dogleg.  Your next shot can handle all you want to give but trees and water can be a problem for any crooked shots.  An interesting design to make this 565 yard hole difficult.

Fom rthe tee the best place to hit is just to the left of the single tree on the right side of the hole.

The second shot requires good distance to have a good shot at the green but beware of a small pond left that is reachable. Over the green is OB onto a road so watch your distance there.


The 8th hole is a 175 yard par 3 that has heavy bunkering.  The whole right side of the hole is lined by a bunker and then water short of the green.  There is also bunkerins short left and deep.

The 9th hole should be called the tunnel of terror.  From the back tees you have a sliver of a tee shot to the right side of the fairway.  The fairway is actually quite large but most of the left side is not accessible because of the tiny window off the tee.

Is this narrow, or what?

Here you can see the fairway is wide but you wont be able to see that from the tee.

The green on 9 is a massive 2 tiered affair.

Another picture of the green on 9.

For me the front nine was OK I got off to a rocky start on the first hole with a couple of poor shots off the bat.  Things settled down and I managed a 5 over 40.


The wide open par 4 401 yard 10th hole.  A creek ends the fairway 290 yards off the tee.

The second on 10 over the creek to the green.

The green on 10.

Hole 11 is a 441 yard par 4.  It is about 210 yards to the top of the hill off the tee and from there the fairway falls off to the left.  A hidden bunker is 230 yards out on the right side of the hole.

The green on 11 bunkered short.

The green on 11 showing the left side bunkers.

Hole 12 is a dogleg left par 4 at 300 yards.  The best play is to just divide the hole in two to avoid the trouble on the edges.  Lots of sand on either edge as well as trees here.

The left side of the hole has sand all along the dogleg to discourage cutting the corner.

The green on 12.

Hole 13 is a 185 yard par 3 that requires a carry over water off the tee.  The gree is uphill slightly.

The green also lsopes from back to front.


Hole 14 is a straight ahead par 4 at 366 yards.

There is water both right and left off the fairway on this hole so a straight tee shot is critical.  The green is heavily bunkered and surrounded by trees.


Hole 15 is another straight ahead par 4 at 372 yards.

You must carry a pond off the tee here. It is 190 yards to the trees on the right side of the fairway.

A view of the hole from about 210 yards out.

The green on 15.

Hole 16 is the last par 3 at 134 yards.  Left is OB on this hole. The green is elevated and the hill short falls off left.  Several bunkers left and right find balls not hit to the green.  The green is fairly large.

The 17th is a wide open par 5 at 536 yards straight ahead.  A series of hills along the right side defines the hole, while left is trees.  The tee box is pushed well off to the left side of the hole and very near some trees that can make a left to right hitter have some issues.

A view from the fairway once off the tee and past the trees.

The green on 17.

Another shot of the green with the 4 large bunkers protecting the front side of the green.


Hole 18 is a 416 yard par 4 finishing hole.  The back tees are nearly 60 yards back on this hole.

The tree at the crest of the hill off the tee is maybe 200 yards from the tee.

Once you crest the hill, the green is below you with woods back.  The green falls off left and several large bunkers are over there.

Look, it's me!

 

The green on 18 looking back into the setting sun.

The back side of Sawmill was not as kind to me as the front.  I started with 4 double bogeys on the first 5 holes.  Things did not settle down until the lasat 3 holes where I made par on each.  I came in with a 45 for a round of 85. 

Summer is definately winding down.  The sun is getting lower in the round and the leaves are going to be changing soon.  I hope I can get back out here again before the end of the year.