Riverside Course

The approach to this green is easier from the right side of the fairway, as the green is set on a right to left angle, with bunkers along the left of the green, to create a variety of hole locations that are hard to get to from the left side of the fairway.  Driving down the right, players will have to be aware a longer tee shot can run through the fairway, where rough and two bunkers await.  A tee shot just left of the middle of the fairway will tend to feed left and run out more, leaving a shorter approach, but only the right side hole locations are reasonably accessible from here.  The green has a variety of small distinct hole locations, with subtle slopes that will challenge the player to make putts over 20 feet.  The green will feed approach shots right to left to back left hole locations, but an approach shot played too firm can run through to a fairway area over the green, where an up and down to rear hole locations will be tough.  Putt from the middle to back left pins will be among the faster putts on the course.  Fairway right of the green does offer a safe miss, but this area is a little more challenging than similar areas elsewhere on the course – better to miss short right of the green.  

One of the shorter par threes on the course, the green is very well protected, so good distance and directional control are important.  There are four distinct sections in this green and playing the hole well is found in getting your ball to the section the hole is cut, and preferably not getting past pin high.  To the front right of the green, favor staying below the hole, as missing just short is better than being 30-40 feet behind a hole cut in this part of the green.  With a back right pin, staying below pin high is the conservative play to keep from having a tougher two putt, or a recovery from over the green.  Slopes in the middle of the green will feed tee shots to the left if you land it right in the middle, while leaving a tee shot in the back right of the green to a back left hole location will leave a tough two putt.  The front left pins will arguably be the toughest on the green to get close to, and getting too far beyond these pins will leave a tough putt, so better to favor a pin high shot a little to the right.  

This new par five offers a lot of options off the tee, with the layup, and how you play into the green.  Off the tee, you are faced with the decision to stay short of the center line bunker, stay right of it while not running through the fairway, or being aggressive with a tee shot to the left which can run out and get you closer to the green.  A tee shot down the middle to right side of the fairway does provide a better angle to layup either short of the creek on the right, or to more aggressively layup further down the fairway on the left, where the further you play a shot down the left, the more the green, and a variety of hole locations, becomes easier to play to.  A layup short of the creek down the right is more conservative, but it leaves a shot requiring good distance control as the green is not as deep from this angle.  Missing the green long and left leaves a reasonable recovery to most hole locations.  If playing a longer approach to this green, whether going at the green in two, or having some trouble that leads to a longer approach, pay close attention to the pin location. Make sure you get beyond the creek, and try to generally stay left of any hole location – the exception being a far left side hole location, where you are better to favor right.  

The positioning of your tee shot on this new par four will dictate how you can play at this narrow green.  An aggressive tee shot down the left, near the lone fairway bunker, will leave the shortest approach with the best angle, noting this makes the large pine on the left more of a factor.  This allows the player to be far more aggressive to any hole location on the green.  The bunker presents a challenge to this approach, while missing the fairway can leave the player without a chance to reach the green.  The player can also be more aggressive off the tee length wise and play down the right for just a slightly longer approach, but the angle is not nearly as good, leaving an approach where distance control is more important.  Twenty yards short of the fairway bunker the fairway is quite wide, with most of that extending down the right.  It is an easier tee shot to play this length off the tee down the right, but again the angle is not as good and from this longer approach, distance control become vital to avoid the three bunkers surrounding the green, or the strong false front. The green is relatively subtle, but there is still the constant change in direction of slope that will challenge the player to match up line and speed.  Leaving an approach short and left of the green can be a smart play if you don’t feel comfortable playing to the well-guarded green.  

Completing the change in the flow of the back nine, and to add more opportunities to be rewarded for aggressive play, this hole has been redesigned to be reachable from the tee for the brave player.  The Chattahoochee River is very much in play all along the right side of the hole, but most in play for the aggressive player from the tee.  That aggressive play can reward the player by leaving a very good chance for birdie, if not eagle.  That aggressive tee shot not only has to avoid the “Hooch,”, it also has to avoid the two bunkers on the left well short of the green, which would leave the dreaded 30 to 50 yard bunker shot.  For those playing more conservatively, who rely on a precise approach shot, there are a myriad of options.  The closer in the fairway you get to the river, or the further down the fairway you play, the better the angle will be to most every hole location on the green.  Some will favor playing to the middle or left side of the fairway to the back right plateau pin.  However, favoring the middle to left side of the fairway, away from the river, short of the bunkers, leaves an approach where getting a good feel for the distance of the shot will be a challenge.  To left side hole locations, favor the middle of the green, but to front right hole locations, favor staying below the pin, even if just short of the green.  If you are not up to trying to get a ball to pins cut on either of the back left or back right plateaus, the best approach is to the middle of the green, get your two putts and move on.  

The pines and lay of the land here make this a gorgeous hole, somewhat masking the start to a stretch of three tough holes along the final four.  A tee shot down the middle to left side of the fairway is relatively conservative, but it is likely not a driver for the longer players from each set of tees.  This leaves a longer approach from a less than desirable angle, but it can take the fairway bunkers out of play – not a bad play to right-side hole locations where the angle is not as important.  You can play the same club off the tee down the right, to take the first left fairway bunker out of play, but you do bring the right fairway bunker into play.  This approach leaves a longer approach, but from a far better angle, especially to left hole locations.  A more aggressive tee shot just right of the left fairway bunkers leaves a good angle, with the shortest approach, while playing down the right will leave a slightly longer approach from the best angle you can get to the green, especially to left hole locations.  There is a lot of complexity in this green, so you will have to learn where you prefer to leave an approach to each hole location, but the middle of the green leaves a reasonable two putt to all but the very back left hole location.  This very far back left hole location is small, slopes away on three sides, and leaves a nearly impossible up and down from over the green.  Unless you need to make a birdie, favor playing to about 10 yards short of this hole location.  

A good many changes to this hole have not only fit it into the land better, it now has more options off the tee, and there is more room to play safe into the green.  Off the tee there are three basic options.  The most conservative is something less than driver down the right side, but with the three front right greenside bunkers, this leaves a tougher angle into the green, especially to front right hole locations.  It is a good approach for a player who is confident with their iron play.  Do note that there is room to miss the green to the left and have a reasonable up and down opportunity. You can hit driver down the right, to stay left of the far right fairway bunker, to have the shortest approach.  Do note that either drive down the right leaves less of a view of the green and the flag, so getting a feel for distance is more of a challenge.  The third option is to play driver up the left side of the fairway, which is relatively narrow and it is hard to keep a drive left with a strong left to right slope in the middle of the fairway. From here you will have a better angle of approach with a better look at the green.  It is important here to have a view of this green, to get a better feel for the distance of the approach. This is the largest green on the course with more small slopes defining the hole locations, so good distance control is needed to leave a makeable putt. It is best to favor staying below the pin here, which is easier from the upper left part of the fairway.  Putting from above the pin here will leave some of the faster putts on the course.

The longest and likely toughest par three on the course, this concludes a tough three-hole stretch where the player really wants to escape without losing much ground to par.  Using a traditional design tactic, I created a strong right to left slope short of the green and in the collar right of the green. This allows the player to land this long shot short of the flag and let it feed to the left, where slopes in the middle of the green will further help feed shots to the left side of the green.  The longer players may be enticed to take on the left bunkers to go directly at left side hole locations, while the average length to shorter players can use these right to left slope to get to the same place without taking on the bunkers.  The right to left slopes along the middle of the green divide the green into upper right hole locations and lower left hole locations.  To get close to the upper right hole locations you do have to keep your tee shot a little further to the right, keeping in mind this will bring the big low areas right of the green into play.  Note that the green slopes to the rear in the back left a third of the green, so with hole locations in the back left you have to judge well the run out of your tee shot to get close. Favoring coming up just short of this area can leave a tricky putt to judge speed – going just long of the green here is not all bad.  With a lot of interesting slopes in the green, playing to the middle of the green won’t necessarily leave a makeable putt, but it will leave reasonable two putt opportunities to all but the back left hole locations. 

The removal of the lake at the green will encourage more aggressive play, to make the home hole more interesting for all players.  The tee shot here is most critical in setting up how you will play the rest of the hole.  The best angle to go at the green in two is down the right. But for those players who can reach, or get close to, the green in two, you will be long enough to reach the two fairway bunkers on the right. Playing down the left off the tee sets up the best angle to lay up short of the small left layup bunker.  A layup in the lower left part of the fairway leaves a good angle to right side hole locations, but this is not the best place to play at left side hole locations.  A layup down the right, short of the layup bunker and on the higher ground, leaves a great look at the green, which may be the best way to play a third shot close to a back left hole location.  The removal of the lake makes trying to get closer to the green a reasonably aggressive option, where playing short right of the green will leave a better angle to play a short wedge or pitch, greatly improving the opportunity to pick up a shot.  However, if you miss an aggressive play at the green too far right, or short left of the green, rough with slopes and rolls will leave a challenge, and the three bunkers under the green are some of the toughest on the course.  This green continues the theme of having greens with a lot of subtle rolls and changes in the direction of slope, which is enhanced in places here.  It is a hole where successful aggressive play can pay off, while there is enough danger to lead to a lost shot.