Post by b101 on Dec 27, 2020 3:25:27 GMT -5
if I have a criticism of the course in general, it's the number of other "no-brainer" tee shots.
As previously mentioned, the aim with this one was for shades of grey - you could bang driver all day and you wouldn't necessarily be dead, but you wouldn't be in position A1 either. It's by a mile the most strategic course I've designed, so there's a lot there.
1- Lion's Mouth bunker means that depending on pin you want to be either left or right for best look. Right hand fw bunker is a carry hazard, left hand bunker is rollout with camber towards it.
2 - Cut as much of the corner as possible - particularly for the far right pin, you want to be as far left as you can
3 - par three but tees change the angle significantly.
4 - play to the outside of the dogleg, as close as you can to the right hand bunkers, for the flattest stance and to open up the green, whilst hitting dead at the slope on the green rather than across it.
5 - Far left bunker can't be carried unless downwind. Hit a draw to shape the ball through the 'channel' or a partial to the right to avoid running through to that end of fairway bunker. The more right you play, the more you're hitting across the green slopes
6 - driveable in some conditions and actually the front bunker is a good miss. Right is dead. If you're laying up, the greenside bunkering will dictate best position depending on the pin (e.g. back left you want to be as far right as possible, middle you want to be right, far left you want to drive short left of the green etc)
7 - par three demanding a draw.
8 - hit the middle of the fairway between the bunkers. Slightly right has a camber that'll feed you right, but keep you in the fairway. The punishment is angle and the swale short right of the green. You want to be hitting straight at that from the left hand side of the fairway. Every inch right has you having to hit more of a cut to avoid the bunkers and the swale and exacerbating the slopes.
9 - the one tee shot I don't like as it's a bit video-gamey. Be as much on the far side of the fairway as you can, but really translates to you just having to hit a perfect between the bunkers - too far right and you run into the bunker right, left and you can't carry the final bunker. Green is tough front left to back right, so if coming from too far back, you likely might bounce through.
10 - Focus on line, length and desired second shot distance. Aim to finish on a straight line to the green on your preferred distance. If you take driver and don't cut enough of the corner, you'll be in heavy rough from a crap angle. If you go left, you're in the bunkers. Can cut the corner, but it requires an inch perfect shot to not funnel into an awkward position for most pins. Really, you want a full wedge in for the spin and control.
11 - par three demanding a fade.
12 - you want to be dead centre. Too far left and you have a crap angle to a green angled away from you or you finish in the fairway bunker, too far right and that tree will force you to hit a fade into a green that really wants a draw landing short and rolling on (or left short for front pins)
13 - skirt the bunkers right as much as possible. Camber takes you left otherwise, leaving a worse angle and bringing the front greenside bunker in more on your approach shot, particularly as you likely want to land it right where that bunker is for some pins.
14 - long three demanding a ball to land short and you to visualise rollout.
15 - don't go right off the tee - it'll leave an awkward pitch to a very narrow green from that angle. Play over the bunkers on the left if you can or lay up short of them on the left for a full wedge. Again, camber takes you away from this position.
16 - Elevation change and bunker/tree placement means if you're hitting driver, you have to absolutely nail the fade. If not, hit a partial. Into the green, you want to be working a draw running in from short right as the green all flows front to back. Or bomb it over and chip and putt.
17 - Play as close to the inside dogleg bunkers as you can for a flat stance and taking the greenside bunkers out of play, whilst not hitting across the slope. If you're right, you'll be off a slope pushing the ball left with the green further pushing the ball left from a less ideal angle.
18 - Execution test - hit a drive between the bunkers (ideally toward the right hand side) then a good approach shot. Really just two good shots here.
Some of that you may have got, some you may not have done and some may not have mattered at Platinum level. Honestly, fine with all of that and I never designed with Platinum players in mind - just made the course I wanted to. I didn't want a video-gamey course where you were in position Z with no hope if you weren't in position A, but where tee shots did matter a hell of a lot if you really looked. The thing that was hardest here was variety. If you look through, you'll see all the different shots it asks you to hit, which I'm damn proud of given that there's no water, centre-line bunkers, ravines, big elevation change, OB or split fairways (bar a visual one on 18).
Glad people seem to have enjoyed it