Blackwolf Run The River Course Holes 10-12

Hole 10
River and Marsh
Par 3
227 | 204 | 194 | 175 | 147 yards

Another long par 3 waits on the first hole of the back 9.  Water protects front right.  The river also comes perilously close to the right and just behind the green.  If you avoid the water you must also traverse a gauntlet of bunkering that nearly encircles this green.  There is a small bail out area short and left of the green.  This green is made all the harder by the fact it slopes front to back.

Hole 11
Rise and Fall
Par 5
621 | 560 | 536 | 522 | 446 yards

Rumor is that this is Herb Kohler's favorite hole on the Kohler properties.  A really tough par 5 that almost anyone would consider a true 3 shot hole.

The river which runs again up the right side of this hole essentially dictates the shape of this hole which is a neck and neck with hole 1 for the longest hole on The River.  Off the tee you are faced with negotiating 5 bunkers that sit on either side of the fairway.  Two bunkers sit on the right but are a little too shallow to save a poorly hit ball that finds them from staying in them.  Instead you are far more likely to continue on and reach the river bank which slopes severely down to the water.  Needless to say, right is very bad.

A shot to the left will likely find one of the more severe three bunkers that frame the start of the fairway landing zone.

Is someone brave enough to take this green on in two?

If you are lucky enough to have found the fairway, your adventure truly begins on the next shot.  Only the very bravest souls will try to take on the green on the second shot.  Not only is it a carry the entire length over the curving river, a pair of trees strategically left at the crook of the river bend block any low shots hit slightly off line.  The safest play on your second shot is to lay up just short of the this cluster of trees in the middle of the fairway.  With a good 300 yard drive, this requires only around 100 yards to set up a 3rd shot into the green from around 150 yards.

For your third shot, you must negotiate the green which is turned nearly 90 degrees relative to the path of the fairway.  Anything right will find the river which squeezes in very close to the green's edge. A small sunken grass bunker also waits short right of the green.  TO the left you will not fare much better with a deep bunker.  From here it is a nervous shot to the green with the river as your backdrop.

If you do find the green, good luck.  With some pretty sever undulations a regulation par here would be a great score.  This is a really fun hole and totally exemplifies the key strategy while playing The River.  Hit a good golf shot, and think about where you need to hit that shot.  You'll need a solid string of shots here to avoid a big number.

Hole 12
Long Lagoon
Par 4
486 | 465 | 423 | 372 | 333 yards

After the tough 11th hole, the pressure doesn't let up on the 12th, which is a long par 4.  Ahead of the tee your dominant consideration has to be the water that occupies nearly the entire width of the hole.

We played it dead into the wind at it was a heck of a carry to clear the water off the tee.  To hit to the left portion of the fairway you have to carry 270 off the tee.  To the right is more manageable but will leave a long shot into the green.  To add insult to injury a ribbon of sand stretches across the far side of the water.  Should you avoid the water you may well find  this narrow little toy chest.  Dividing these two landing areas are a pair of yet more bunkers.  Woe is the golfer who hits a good drive into one of these traps!

Should you survive the tee shot unscathed, your second shot will prove to be nearly as challenging.  Once more, the Sheboygan River makes an introduction, snaking its way down the right edge of the green.  If you played safe on the tee shot to the right, your second shot may also involve carrying a stand of trees that occupies the right edge of the fairway between the golf course and the water.

Luckily Pete Dye offered a small concession on this brute, leaving the front of the green open for a run up shot.  Be wary of going long here though as a deep bunker awaits along with mounding thickly covered with some very nasty rough.

A view back up the 12th seen from the 8th tee.

If you've made it through both 11 and 12 at even par I'd like to congratulate you on something I am sure not a lot of golfers can boast about!

Blackwolf Run The River Course Introduction
Blackwolf Run The River Course Holes 1-3
Blackwolf Run The River Course Holes 4-6
Blackwolf Run The River Course Holes 7-9
Blackwolf Run The River Course Holes 13-15
Blackwolf Run The River Course Holes 16-18