Hole 4
Par 4
425 | 379 | 316 | 256 yards
The 4th hole is an intimidating tee shot that must find the narrow chute of fairway running between the thick trees on either side.
The fairway is a bit wider than it appears off the tee. A rocky hill on the right obscures part of the fairway from the tee. The fairway is actually two distinct portions. On the left half you have the upper fairway and on the right you have the lower portion. The fairway is split by a rocky slope.
It is a forced carry to the fairway over native grasses and wetlands. It is about 225 yards maximum carry from the tips to the fairway.
A ball hit down the right side will find the lower fairway and a partially blind shot to the green over the hill on the right edge of this hole. A drive that can carry the hill on the left can get a big kick forward if it can reach the far side and the large down slope there.
With a good drive down the left you can see how your ball can shoot forward leaving a very short shot into the green. All told the fairway here is almost 70 yards across so it should be fairly easy to hit. The hazard is a ball down the middle that catches the rocky slope and gets hung up in the surrounding grasses.
With a natural slope coming in from the right this green offers an option to bank it in from right to left. There is not much room to miss left as the rough is fairly close to the putting surface on that side. Missing right, short or long, is not too bad with a sizable chipping area into this 40+ yard long green that is canted diagonally from the center line of the fairway.
Hole 5
Par 4
312 | 312 | 284 | 251 yards
With only a distance of 312 yards one would think this could be an easy hole but it has a variety of hazards to make up for the lack of distance.
Of the tee it is an uphill tee shot to the fairway. It requires a carry to the fairway of 180 yards from the back tees.
Missing to the right you will find the trees that line that entire side. Missing left of the lone pine tree will find the rocky slope framing the opposite side of the hole. The hole does dogleg left once you reach the fairway. A bold tee shot would be a driver at that solitary pine. If hit on the proper line you can get very close to the green.
My tee shot was just a bit left of the fairway and this is the lie I found myself with. Thick rough on top of rock. Not fun. You can see that further up the hole a sheer rock cliff comes into play down the right side.
That 50 foot rock wall is right up against the right side of the green. On the left side of the green is another rock outcropping. The green is basically in a gap between these two rock faces so hitting the green is important. This is a deep green at just under 40 yards and is nearly 25 yards across.
Behind the green it falls away down to the cart path and the trees beyond. This is a fun hole but one that can definitely benefit from having played a couple of times to know how to play it.
Hole 6
Par 3
188 | 178 | 151 | 137 yards
The 6th might be my favorite hole on the course. A longish par 3 that plays in a variety of ways depending on which tees you play from.
From the back tees the green is essentially level, or slightly below you. However, to reach the green you must carry the entire distance. A rock wall marks the start of a fairway landing area short of the green. This extends 100 feet to the green but is so steeply sloped back towards the cliff that anything hit short of the green may not hold this area.
The green is surrounded on the other three sides by rocks. The green here is pretty massive. It is about 30 yards in both directions and is shaped somewhat like a giant apple. There is both a false front and back though so the actual playing area is less that it appears.
From the forward two tees I think this hole is almost more daunting as these tee boxes sit in the valley below the back tees and the green. These shots are shorter but require playing a massively uphill tee shot.
A view from the rock wall immediately behind the green looking back at the tee boxes in the distance.
The front left of the green falls off as does the back right of the green.
Making a two putt even if you are safely aboard is no guarantee on this sizable green.
on the 6th green you are at one of the higher elevations on the course besides the first tee. Behind the green you can see the massive shared fairway of the upcoming 9th and 10th holes. Turning to the left you can see the par 4 7th you are about to play.
Hole 7
Par 4
489 | 432 | 347 | 347 yards
From the elevated perch that the 6th green shares, the 7th tee boxes are either highly elevated or, if playing, the forward tees somewhere down the hill. Speaking of hills, this is the parking area for the carts and the hill you need to climb back up to get to the back tees.
This par 4 features another fairway similar to the 4th hole, with two fairway levels bisected by a rock cliff. Unlike on the fourth hole, this rock cliff wraps around the far side as well, making for a sheer drop at around 200 yards from the green.
The intended line here seems to be to the upper fairway. There is danger to hitting here though because the hidden cliff cuts across at about 280 yards from the back tees. A ball that doesn't fly that cliff can get an unlucky bounce and get lodged somewhere on the cliff face (I know, one of my playing partners had that happen).
If you can clear the cliff face and hit the lower portion of the fairway, the rest of the way to the green is open, provided you stay out of the trees. There is another set of smaller rocky cliffs on the left side of the fairway (hidden from view as you play down the hole) but with them being 130 yards out they are unlikely to be in play.
This is the cliff face that runs across the fairway. We are about to try to find a ball that ended up somewhere at the base of this rock face in some very thick grass.
Looking back up the fairway from near the green you can see how this hole descends pretty much from tee to green.
A look back from behind this unprotected green. This is a really deep green, 50 yards from front to back. Missing on either side or behind the green, your ball will run off into a sizable chipping fringe. The right side is the most severe runoff and would be the side to avoid.
Hole 8
Par 4
343 | 328 | 328 | 298 yards
The 8th is a tight driving hole. The fairway slopes strongly from right to left so a shot down the right is preferred. A pair of rocky mounds sit down that right side though and require either attempting to carry them or play to their left. You don't want to play more right than the right greenside bunker in the distance though as more rocks await you down the right side of the hole over the top of the mound.
The first of these mounds is even with the start of the fairway which is a carry of around 130 yards. To reach the second mound from the tips is 180 yards.
An ideal conservative tee shot would appear to be a 200 yard shot hit just at the base of the rock mound. If properly played it will kick left and end up near the 150 yard stake. A more aggressive shot with driver should be at the right side of the green.
From the forward tees this hole is much less visually narrow. The rock mound is still in play but the length of the fairway is better exposed. You can see that to the left of the rock mound is a trio of bunkers sitting among the native grasses.
The approach on this hole requires carrying a slope in front of the green to a triangular two tiered green. Sitting on either corner, short of the green are a pair of deep greenside bunkers. A front pin like we had requires hitting to the lower of the 2 tiers. Hitting a back pin, especially one tucked into one of the corners makes this hole much harder. With the green being 30 yards deep it can also make for a couple more clubs on your approach.
A look back down the hole shows the multi-tiered green and the size of the fairway over the top of the rocks.
Hole 9
Par 4
389 | 389 | 358 | 284 yards
The final hole on the front is one with a fairway shared by the 10th hole. Looking out at the expanse of fairway it can be hard to know where to aim. Your target is actually to the left of the stand of trees. A large cross bunker must be carried in order to have a short approach. To carry that bunker from the tips requires at least 260 yards. If you can pull that off you will have 100 yards in. A shot played right of that bunker is safer obviously but that brings the trees into play and may prevent a direct approach into the green.
Over the top of the cross bunker the fairway runs uninterrupted to the green. The green is perched on the edge of a precipitous drop-off both behind the green and to the left. A slope to the right of the green can kick balls back onto the putting surface. There is a bit of an upslope right in front of the green so shots running up may not get there.
Whatever you do try to avoid the left side (unlike me). Hitting down there brings in a couple of rocky patches and lots of rough. I managed to find my ball and hit a great flop way up the hill onto the green but I failed to convert the putt on another 30+ yard deep oval green.
Part 1
Part 3
Part 4
Wow!!! Really awesome golf blog.
ReplyDelete