Holein1
France |
Posted: Tuesday, May 2, 2023 @ 9:44:14 AM at |
IP Logged |
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A pretty but quite challenging par 72 course, where you will need to use your brains more than your muscles, as plenty of holes require a lot of thinking before you hit your shots, with plenty of water hazards and “well-placed” trees to deal with. If the first two holes are straight, they are quite nice with a tee shot landing short of an elongated lake flowing all along from the left and ending midway across, and a second shot over it to reach the green on the 1st hole (with a nice panoramic view as a bonus), and water on both sides of a narrow and undulating fairway on the par-4 2nd. Then, after the par-3 3rd hole, slightly uphill with trees all along on the left side, you will face the beautiful and tough right dogleg par-5 4th, with a narrow fairway next to the water on the right, a big bunker in the right corner and a long approach toward the green, hidden by trees. Two other pretty holes, besides the left dogleg par-4 5th, with water all along on the right side ending behind the green (partially hidden by more trees), are the par-3 6th, with a tee shot flying above a small lake (with a fountain in it) and a boomerang-shaped bunker behind the green (and to the right), and the very tough left dogleg par-4 7th, with water on the left side, trees on the right and a blind approach over water and tall trees to reach the green. Another left dogleg awaits you on the par-4 8th hole, with a tee shot landing in front of an elongated lake (with a few trees on its edge) and a tough approach over the water toward the undulating green (guarded by a big bunker, shrubs and deep rough in front, and trees on the right), before finishing with the right dogleg par-5 9th, with a tee shot above an elongated lake (with another fountain in it) hopefully landing between a couple of trees at its end, and a green, very hard to reach on your second shot, with water to fly over and bunkers on both sides to avoid. Coming back, I like the right dogleg par-4 11th hole, with a wide bunker (and a few rocks) midway in the corner and a steeply-elevated green (with a few shrubs and deep rough in front), and the par-3 12th, where you need to hit a blind tee shot downward to reach the green. You will then move on to the left dogleg par-5 13th hole, with a lake on the left of the tee box, a big bunker, midway in the corner, and a blind and very long approach to the slanted green (next to another big lake on the right), before facing the par-3 14th, with a very high and blind tee shot over trees, lined up on the edge of a lake (on the left). The left dogleg par-5 15th hole is very hard to figure out, with trees bordering another lake on the left, and more trees in the way toward the green, hard to reach on your second shot but, thankfully, that is not the case with the “cute” par-3 16th, with a tee shot over a a circular pond, landing onto a small green. Finally, after the straight par-4 17th hole, with a tee shot over a L-shaped lake and a blind approach to the green (with a couple of elongated bunkers in front and partially hidden by trees), you will move on to the tough par-5 18th hole, with water all along (on the left) the slanted fairway, and a blind and slightly-downhill second shot toward the green, over a big bunker and trees. With trees, often in the way of the greens, and very tough par-5 holes, you will have to be very patient if you want to break par on this Ponds 'n' Pines golf course, well designed by Bruce Ryder and one of his best...
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