Streamsong Red Hole 1

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Par 4
474 | 464 | 447 | 358 yards

The opening hole is a brute.  From the elevated tees you must first carry the water straight ahead. Not a problem unless you flub one, however, this water extends around the hills on the right.  Another ponds sits hidden left.  This fairway is essentially a bridge between these two water hazards, neither of which can be seen from the tee.

After hitting your tee shot you walk down to the right around the pond.  The walking when not on the fairway is a rugged affair.  Mostly you are on soft sandy soil so it is a bit like walking on a soft beach.

Unless you hit a wildly offline tee shot, water is not going to be a problem.  Your more immediate issues can be found on land. A massive bunker on the right side is chewed from the side of a hill.  To the left of this bunker is the widest landing area for your tee shot.  Hitting to that area, like the fellows in these pictures, makes for a very long shot into the green, all uphill.

Beyond the widest part of the fairway off the tee, the left side offers up another set of bunkers which cut into the fairway. Immediately across from these on the right side, is a trio of hidden bunkers located over the large hill/bunker off the tee.  These bunkers are right on the edge of the water down the right side.

As you play up the hole, you get a close hand look at the tremendous vegetation that has reclaimed the sand dunes throughout the site.  Hitting into this stuff is a sure lost ball.

Beyond the fairway bunkers the fairway dissolves on the left into a sandy wasteland that stretches far beyond this hole.  Down the right side is a string of deep bunkers leading up to the green.

Once on the fairway the hole rises the entire length to the green.  Avoid the right side as you hit to the green for obvious reason.  The green has a sizable false front.

Speaking of the green, the greens throughout the course were the fastest, and smoothest I have ever played.  As you can see on the shot below I hit what I thought was a good pitch from just short onto the green.  The ball proceeded to roll and roll and roll about 20 feet past the hole.  Yikes!  I guess a few practice chips could have come in handy at the practice area!

After finishing the hole you climb the stairs to the left, where I took this picture of the green.  The greens throughout the course are massive.  Most of the holes on the Red course don't offer the more extreme contouring as the Blue course, but their subtle breaks (and blazing speed) still cause plenty of problems.

I ended up with a bogey. Something I felt pretty good about after taking on this daunting opening hole.

Already I'm in love.

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