A straightforward yet testing opener requires a good tee shot for an unobstructed go at the green, with a hazard left and woods right. Long hitters may have to scale back off the tee as a deep creek bed cuts directly across the fairway. A level green is guarded left and right by bunkers, so use ample club on the approach.
The number one handicap hole comes by its rating honestly. It requires a long and perfectly-placed fade off the tee to allow any chance to go for the raised par-5 green in two. Shorter hitters will find the second shot as tough as the first, the fairway pinched by a hazard left and woods on the right. Take an extra club to the uphill green and mind the steep front slope. There’s plenty of movement on the surface to further complicate matters.
This shortish par-4 is a bit of a breather after the second hole, although a pull off the tee will find a large fairway bunker. The approach shot should steer clear of a steep fall-off on the left, and stay below the hole if possible on this sharply sloping green, back to front.
An almost 90-degree dogleg left makes this par-4 all about the drive. Long hitters can risk a mighty blast over the trees and leave a short iron to the green. A safer shot will have to steer around a left fairway bunker, leaving a longer second shot to a green bunkered left and right. Don’t go long here and risk having to hit out of deep grass.
A short par-5 that is nonetheless a real strategic puzzle, as the hole plays down a hill, pass a large pond on the right to a wide and topsy-turvy green protected in front by a devilish little pot bunker. A long and accurate drive down the hill can set up a second shot to the green, but the tee shot is blind and offline hits can lead to a big number. A safe shot that stays on the upper level leaves the player looking at a pretty downhill vista, while pondering a fairway wood toward the green, or a layup left of the pond