A gorgeous course, all the way around, with a front 9 with plenty of elevation changes, narrow rollercoaster fairways, a few blind shots and some water hazards, and a back 9, quite difficult with cliffside finishing holes.
This par 72 starts with four beautiful holes : the par-5 1st is uphill all the way along a cliff (and the ocean, on the right), and requires a long and blind approach over a small stream crossing the fairway (and flowing out into the ocean) to reach the green, and is followed by the pretty and straight par-4 2nd, with a steeply-downhill tee shot landing onto a narrow tree-lined fairway and a steeply-uphill second shot to get to the sloped green.
The par-3 3rd hole is superb with its peninsula green, but the dogleg left par-4 4th is nice too, with another steeply-downhill tee shot and an uphill approach toward the green over a small stream coming down from the hill and crossing the fairway.
After an “easier” par-4 5th hole, with a slanted fairway winding its way uphill to the green, you will move on to the short and straight par-4 6th, with a blind tee shot flying through a tree-lined fairway downward to the sloped green, reachable from the tee box.
Then, after the dogleg par-4 7th hole, bending slightly to the right, with a steeply-downhill tee shot landing onto a narrow fairway and a long uphill second shot to try to reach the green (framed by two elongated bunkers), you will face the wide open dogleg left par-4 8th, along the ocean (on the far left) and its elevated and undulating green.
As for the beautiful dogleg left par-4 9th hole, you will need to hit your tee shot over a small lake landing down onto a rollercoaster fairway, before hitting your approach downward to the visually attractive green, set next to a lake.
The scenery then changes on your way back, starting with the dogleg left par-4 10th, with an uphill tee shot and a tough approach to an elevated and undulating green, guarded by a small pond (in front) and partially hidden by tall trees (on the right), before walking over to the scenic dogleg par-4 11th, along and above the ocean (on the left).
Water is again present on the pretty par-3 12th hole, facing the ocean way below and with a tee shot flying past a small mountain river crossing the fairway, midway, just like on the very nice par-4 13th, with an uphill tee shot and a tough second shot downward to a peninsula green, and the superb par-3 14th, with a downhill tee shot over a big lake landing onto a tiny peninsula green set midway on its edge.
The par-5 15th hole, with the ocean below (on the right), is quite tricky with a blind tee shot over trees to try to reach the green (set slightly to the right), unlike the “easier” and straight par-4 16th, with a fairway again hugging the ocean (on the right) and with trees (on the left).
Finally, as if you did not have enough challenges, the very tough par-4 17th hole, above the ocean, will definitely test your skills with its fairway, split midway by a small fault, making your tee shot quite tricky to figure out, and your approach too (with a small elongated bunker to the left of the small green), not to mention the spectacular dogleg par-5 18th hole, bending very sharply to the left along the ocean and where, despite being scary, you should be able to putt for an eagle.
With this Cliffside International GC, rlslay designed another masterpiece, and one of my favorites, where you almost get two different courses (inland and cliffside) “for the price of one”, with various challenging holes that will shake you up all the way until the last green !