Playing Wild Marsh

I made it out to Buffalo to play Wild Marsh for the second time this year.  The first time I was there was early in the year and we played through a torrential rain storm.  This time it was not as wet and the course was in a lot better shape than last year, after the greens died off during a summer heat wave.

Wild Marsh opened in 2000 and was designed by Graham Marsh, designer of a lot of international courses and the great Sutton Bay courses in South Dakota and Prairie Club in Nebraska

 I played today with Michael Vigen, Jeremy, and my Dad.  Jeremy, Michael, and myself played form the blue tees.  At only 6032 yards the Blues are still not too challenging.  My dad played from the whites which are too short for me.  I played from the whites last year and remember really not liking the course because it meant a lot of the same club combinations on holes of 4 iron, then wedge.  Fomr the blues the course is a lot more enjoyable.  The blacks are not that much longer, at 6505 yards, but have a stout (72.4/140) rating and slope.

The approach to the green on the par 4 1st.

 

 A view of the tees on 2.

 The carry off the tee required on the par 4 2nd.

 

A shot of the 2nd green on approach 

 

Vigen on the tee on the par 4 3rd.  He hit it left into the trees. 

 

At the dogleg on number 3. 

 

Jeremy teeing it up on the par 4 4th. 

 

At the dogleg on 4. 

 

The pretty par 4 5th hole.  ANother forced carry over the marsh to an uphill fairway. 

 

The second shot on 5 is all up hill. 

 

The green on the signature 6th, tucked into the corner  by the lake.

 

The appraoch into the heavily bunkered 9th green. 

 

 The tee shot on number 10.  Driving the center bunker is possible.

 

 The initimidating tee shot on 11.

 

 A view back down the 11th hole.

 

Another forced carry on 12. 

 

A shot into the elevated 12th green. 

 

The long 218 yard par 3 13th hole.

 

The par 4 14th has trees lining the left side. 

 

A house on the 14th tee takes advantage of the myriad of wayward tee shots on the hole.  Vigen bought back a ball he lost earlier this year on the very same hole! 

 

The green on 15. 

 

The par 3 16th. 

 

The tee shot on the par 5 17th. 

 

Vigens tee shot left him with a wonderful lie on his second shot. 

 

The green on 17. 

 

The tee shot on the par 4 finishing hole. 

 

The approach to the  elevated 18th green with bunkering flanking both sides short.

 

 

The 18th green is quite deep.

 

 A shot of the elevated 18th green and the clubhouse behind.

I ended up carding an 87.  The good news is it was a bit better than the 90 I shot my first round here this year but the bad news was I still played crappy. 6 Bogeys, 5 Doubles, and 7 pars.  Blah.