Showing posts with label Peachtree Golf Club. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Peachtree Golf Club. Show all posts

Friday

Peachtree Golf Club- Holes 10-18

Front Nine review HERE

Holes #10: Par 5, 519/503 yards
This is the only hole on the course that has a feature which can be considered somewhat unfair for lesser golfers but not in play for the better player, i.e. a bad feature. But that will be looked at in a moment. This hole is a generally straightforward par 5. As with many holes here at Peachtree, hole location will determine which side of the fairway is correct. In normal fashion, if the hole is cut front right, the left side of the fairway is preferred. From here the hole differs from the previous holes. Center hole locations are best approached from the right side of the fairway. The right side will yield a straight shot to the center of the green. However, holes cut in the far left portion of the green are very difficult to access with an aerial shot. For this hole location, either side of the fairway can be used, but the left side of the fairway will require the player hit a severe draw to the center of the green and let the fall roll down to the hole; the right side of the fairway will let the player hit a normal draw to the center of the green and, again, let it funnel back to the hole.

The above options are based on the golfer being able to go to the green in two shots and having to avoid the large bunker short of the green and the greenside bunker. The player laying up had better be able to pick a preferred yardage for the approach shot because the bottom of the flag will be obscured from the player and on left side locations, the entire flagstick may be out of view. The shot to the green will likely play two clubs uphill.

 From the tee, the bottom of the fairway is blind to the player. The creek visible in the above aerial is not in play from the tee. The fairway is basically flat and the player will be able to aim down the correct side and not have to worry about the ball rolling into the rough.

From the left side of the fairway, the opening to the right side of the green can be seen. The difficulty in accessing a left hole location can be seen here; were the hole cut far left, the flat would actually be to the left of the clean-up stripe on the fairway.

The semi-unfair feature mentioned in the beginning is the creek that cuts through the fairway. This creek provides no hazard at all for better players. But for average players hitting 225 yards or so off the tee, the creek is a significant hazard in trying to get across. Perhaps this is how Mr. Jones intended the hole to be played in 1948, have distance off the tee determine if the player can carry the creek or not and have a short shot to the green. Either way, in the modern game, this feature provides a potentially large penalty to the average player and virtually no penalty to the better player. This is the only feature this writer would change on the course.

Hole #11: Par 3, 220/180 yards
This is a very simple, though long, par 3. There is the slight chance to roll the ball onto the green, but the slope in front of the green makes that difficult. Overall, on this hole, the player will simply be asked to pick a yardage, pick a target, and hit a shot. This is a good rest hole prior to the difficult stretch upcoming.

Playing through a valley, the roll-up option is there, though is would likely be a difficult shot to pull off in normal conditions.

Hole #12: Par 4, 486/431 yards
This is the longest par 4 on the course and may well be the best. This sharp dogleg must be played different ways depending on how long the player can hit his tee shot. The back tee is located at the single purple spot at the very bottom of the picture below. A 275 yard tee shot will wind up at the double purple dots; a 300 yard drive will end up at the two orange spots. As you can see, if the 275 yard player hits his shot up the right side of the fairway, his approach will be blocked out by the trees. This player must play to the center or left side of the fairway, leaving another 225+ yards to the center of the green. The 300 yard player can hit his tee shot down the far right of the fairway, cutting down to perhaps 175 yards to the green. However, both of these shots will play one club longer due to the approach being substantially uphill. On top of all this, the setting of the green is exceptional.

 This shot taken from the 431 yard tee shows the blind tee shot down to the fairway. The downhill nature of the hole will help the player, but not greatly. If from the back tees, the 300 yard player could play directly down the right treeline, the 275 yard player will need to play directly over the tee boxes or slightly left of that.
Playing uphill to the green, the opening to the green is open enough to accept running shots, but the bunkers are there to provide penalty for shots hit off line. Players will need to take one extra club to get to the green.

Hole #13: Par 4, 470/385 yards
This is a solid and difficult par 4. Length off the tee is always a determining factor in how to play a given hole, but here it is key. Longer players, those that hit the ball out to 290 yards or more off the tee can play to any given point in the fairway and have a simple shot to the green with a middle iron. For these players, the bunkers in front of the green merely force them to guard against being short. Moderate length players, those hitting over 260 or so off the tee, have a different approach shot given that they will be playing from over 200 yards. These players should play up the left side so that they may use the kick-slope on the left side of the green in order to funnel the ball to the hole using ground contours. 

From the middle tee, the plays are simple. Down the treeline will leave the player with a shorter shot, up the left will give the best line if one is trying to use the kick-slope.
From the fairway, the kick-slope is visible on the left side of the green.

Hole #14: Par 3, 183/166 yards
There is little to be said about this hole that can not be seen in the pictures. Hit the green, or very close to is, or you will likely be in the water or playing a bunker shot towards the water. Certainly this hole fits the bill for a Heroic Shot.


Hole #15: Par 4, 470/411 yards
This hole starts off a fantastic closing stretch. As seen before out here, hole location determines which side of the fairway is preferred. Left hole locations are best approached from the right side; right hole locations are best approached from the left side. The creek visible in the image below is possibly in reach from the tee for the longest players due to the significant slope downhill towards the creek.

The left to right slope of the fairway can be seen here. Hugging the treeline is necessary for those players wanting to hit in the left side of the fairway.

The cluster of players on the green marks the hole location here. The line from the left side of the fairway is clear, avoiding the bunkers. From the right side, the player would be forced to play over the greenside bunker.

Hole #15: Par 5, 577/510 yards
This is a solid par 5 that might be reachable for the longest players, but it right at the range that will have all the better players scratching their heads. The player must have in mind off the tee if he intends to go for the green in two shots. If so, the better play is up the right side of the fairway. If not, the play is the left side of the fairway. The left side of the fairway opens up the second fairway, across the creek, more to the player. The right side will give the player going for the green in two, or trying to get very close, a better angle around the two fronting bunkers.

This fairway slopes right to left off the same hill that slopes the 15th hole. Shots played to the right side of the fairway should be started near the treeline in order to stay on the right side.

From the left side of the fairway, roughly 240 yards from the green, the second fairway can be seen along with the small pond. The large bunker short of the green makes going for the green from this side of the fairway problematic.

This is the view from the right-center of the fairway, perhaps 175 yards from the green. This is roughly the angle that would be seen from 250+ yards out. From this angle, the bunkers can be more easily navigated, but the pond and secondary fairway angle would make the lay-up shot more difficult.

Hole #17: Par 4, 420/391 yards
For one of the few times in the round, the best line of play off the tee is dictated to the player. The green angles away from the player left to right and has bunkers in front, making the preferred side of the fairway the left side. The left side will give the player a longer part of the green to work with and can also yield a run-up option for the player.

The fairway lays out nicely in front of the player. A play right towards the overhanging limbs of the pine tree will be perfect.

From the left side, the bunkers can be avoided and, although uphill, the player can attempt to roll the ball onto the putting surface if he wishes.

Hole #18: Par 4, 420/394 yards
The final hole of the day is one of only three holes with a fairway bunker. However, unlike the bunkers on #1 and #9, the usefulness of this one is not clear. The left side of the fairway does not seem to yield a better line of approach to the green over the right side. As it stands now, the final hole comes in as a hole where the entire protection for the hole is at the green. The green has a huge fall off short and will cause balls to roll back 10-20 yards off the green. This is a great hole to close out the round, giving the player a great chance to close with birdie if he can hit two solid shots.

From the tee, the bunker sits there staring at the player. Typically, that means the preferred angle is near there, but in this situation, that does not appear to be the case.

From over the bunker, this approach awaits the player. The bottom of the flagstick is not visible to the player making the shot more difficult.

The front roll-off area is visible here.

Overall, this course is very, very good. The shot making requirements from start to finish are high but not to high as to keep the course from being fun for the average golfer. It might be noted by the reader that there was little mention of the greens. As a rule, the greens had great features, but not the kind that come out well in photographs. The features were small and sweeping with the majority of the green being sloped as opposed to modern greens where the slopes are huge and bold and the rest of the green is virtually flat. These are some of the finest greens this writer has seen. That coupled with the shot requirements and flow in the round yields a fantastic golf course. 8 out of 10

Sunday

Golf Course Epiphanies

It is very rare that you play a course that really works to change your whole perception of other courses. Peachtree was one of those. But how did it make such an impact? This goes beyond the whole club atmosphere and to the heart of the course itself. It showed how good Robert Trent Jones could be at designing golf courses when he handled the work himself rather than letting his associates do the work. The course shows how to test all clubs in the better player's bag while still remaining playable for the lesser player. And the course shows how fairway bunkers are not needed in all spots and huge numbers on order for the course to be challenging.

First, this design shows just how good Mr. Jones could be when he did the work himself. The routing of the course is outstanding. There are a few long walks today due to new tees being built to lengthen the course, but aside from the transition from 16 to 17, the course has no long walks between holes. The course also has an outstanding set of greens. The internal movement is subtle in some places and bold in others. At all times, the contouring fits the shot being played into the green. But the real magic of the course is how it flows through the round. From difficult, to easy, holes to play safe, holes to attack, holes with options to do both, the course takes the player on a fantastic ride from start to finish. Mr. Jones knew how to tell a story on the golf course. Sadly, his later work, especially the course on the RTJ Trail in Alabama, don't reflect much of this. This happened as he began to let his associates take over the day to day design work and lending his name to the courses. Mr. Rulewich, who did all of the courses in Alabama, seems to know how to design holes like Mr. Jones, but what the courses seem to lack is real flow and certainly lack even a serviceable routing. No, Mr. Jones could do fantastic work all around when he did the courses himself. His name has been tarnished over the years due to his associates, however.

Second, the course is a virtual template for how to test every club in the better player's bag while staying playable and fun for the average player. The course does this by using fairway width coupled with green size and contouring. Approach angle is important here due to the size of the greens and the movement within them. This gives the better player something to think about as he plans his shots. But these same things also make it fun for the average player, giving them the chance to find the fairway and green with semi-regularity. Obviously these features make the course more expensive to maintain and that is why many average courses cannot and do not look like this. But overall, size and angling make the course challenging for the better player and playable for the average one.

Finally, the course shows how to be challenging without use of fairway bunkering. Peachtree has five total fairway bunkers, two on the first hole, two on the ninth, and one on the eighteenth; not included are the 4 bunkers that exist within 75 yards of the green on three of the par 5's. Compare this to the best modern course this writer has played (excluding the Bandon courses), Eagle Point. Eagle Point has 37 fairway bunkers. Yet, sadly, at least half of those serve no purpose other than simply being there, and more still do little to enhance the strategy of the course. Even though Mr. Jones began to use more bunkers in some of his later work, he still used fewer than many modern designers. No, with proper width and greens, tying into the second point, fairway bunkers are not always necessary to retain great strategic interest in holes. Mr. Jones figured that out at Peachtree.

So in these ways, Peachtree opened this writers eyes to things relating to golf. However, there is another part to the equation when it comes to these design features is cost. Is it more cost effective in the long run for courses to maintain fairway turf and green turf rather than maintaining bunkers in order to have strategy. The answer to that question is not known to this writer. Logic would suggest, however, that it is more expensive long term to maintain fairway and green space, especially green space. As such, courses wind up having to manufacture strategy with fairway bunkering and giving the players boring greens.

But here, on this course, Mr. Jones did a fantastic job of bring all of his design skills to the table and crafting a great golf course. This course is one of those rare places that may cause a golfer to reevaluate how he views golf courses and their features. Fantastic and thought provoking. What more can a course really be?

Friday

Peachtree Golf Club- Holes 1-9

The golf course at Peachtree Golf Club in Atlanta, Georgia is most certainly one of the finest courses in the Southern United States. This collaboration between Robert Trent Jones, the designer, and Bobby Jones, the player, is a golf course that has stood the test of time and works to test every aspect of a player's game. The quality of this course cannot be understated, indeed the jury is still out on what the final grade will be. On some holes, the player will be given a single directive as to what side of the fairway allows for the preferred angle into the green. On others, that side will change from day to day based on hole location.

This course is truly fantastic. The greens have tremendous movement internally and substantial contouring and run-off areas in the surrounds. Every club in the bag will undoubtedly be tested throughout the day as will the player's ability to move the ball in both directions. And this club also allows the golfer on some holes to play shots low and run them onto the green from a long distance out, a feature sadly lacking in most southern courses as well as much of Mr. Jones's later work. This course is very close to being as good as it gets.

Ranking
Variety of Design: Outstanding. The par 5's all give the player the chance to take an aggressive play and attempt to reach the green in two. The 16th hole is unreachable for all but the longest players and will cause them to put great thought into all 3 shots. Par 4's have solid variety overall, but slightly lack in the very long category and the sub-400 yard category; there is no par 4 that is even close to driveable. The par 3's are also solid in the middle of the scale, but lack in short and very long. Directional variety is fair, but not great, having 6 holes going right, 3 going left, and 9 straight. 8 1/2

Flow of the Course: Very good. The course starts off on a high note, eases off for a couple of holes, gives a reachable par 5, followed by a difficult par 3, the closes out the front nine with 3 solid, but not overly difficult holes. The back nine starts with a solid par 5, goes to a difficult par 3 followed by a difficult par 4, then starts into a very solid closing stretch where the player is given 3 holes closing the round where birdie is a distinct possibility. 8 1/4

Course Conditioning: Outstanding. This may be the best maintained course in the South, with only Eagle Point in North Carolina coming close from what this writer has seen. Fairways, greens, tees, everything maintained exceptionally. 9 1/4

Ease of Walking: The green to tee transitions are very good, with only one exception. The hilly nature of the site does it no favors, but overall, this would not be an impossible course to walk. 8 1/4

Atmosphere: Exceptional. From tournament history to rankings to the club in general, this club is great. When you arrive, you will know you are at an exceptional place. 7

Total: 84 out of 100

Each hole will feature two yardages, one from the Championship tees, one from the Medal tees. Images will be from the Medal tees.
Hole #1: Par 4, 410/370 yards
The golfer is given a definite test right out of the gates, though not one that is exceptionally difficult. This hole really sets the tone for the rest of the round. As mentioned above, often times the line of play off the tee is determined by pin position. That is the case here on the first hole. As you can see in the image below, if the hole is cut on the left side of the green, as marked by the orange flag, the best position in the fairway will come from taking a line over the inside corner bunkers to the right side of the fairway. However, a pin cut on the right side of the hole is best approached from the left side of the fairway.

Oddly enough, give that there are only five fairway bunkers on the entire course, on this hole, the bunkers serve little purpose beyond visual deception today. Even from the back markers, they require a shot of only 260 yards to carry, hardly a lengthy shot for a player legitimately capable of playing a 7,414 yard golf course. But as it stands, the bunkers are there, and truthfully, they do look to be a greater distance than that off the tee, perhaps due to the fact that the trees in the background are some 340 yards away. This is an incredible opener to what will be (or at least should be) an incredible round.


 From the Medal tees, the player has this view to start the round. As mentioned above, if the hole is cut left, the play off the tee is directly over the grass that separates the two bunkers. If the hole is cut right, play directly over the walk path.

 From the fairway, the player now sees the large false front that will penalize any shots hit much short of the flag. The crater like bunkers will strike fear into the ones who do not find the proper side of the fairway from the tee. In this picture, the hole is cut in the center of the green, making sides less important.

 This image does no justice to the contouring inside the green. This hole is cut in a bowl, with two feet of rise on either side.

Any player missing the green left will be facing a recovery shot from somewhere in this area.

Hole #2: Par 5, 584/511 yards
This hole was lengthened in recent times to give the player who is playing off the back markers the chance to play the hole as it was likely intended by Mr. Jones. From the 511 yard tees, the hole is almost certainly reachable in two shots by the best players. While it does, of course, provide a great risk-reward option at that yardage, that is likely not what Mr. Jones intended on this hole. No, from the layout of the hole it is likely that Mr. Jones intended this to be a hole that required three full shots while giving the player the option of picking either side of the split fairway to improve angle into the green.

Looking at the image below, the single black dot represents the 584 yard teeing area. From there, the pair of black dots flanking the fairway represent the 300 yard mark off the tee. From there, the green is essentially unreachable. Looking forward, to the next teeing area, you will notice a dark blue dot, then two blue dots flanking the fairway. The blue dots show the 250 yard mark from the same color teeing area. It is likely this was where Mr. Jones intended for tee shots to be played to and second shots played from; in extending the tee back, the club merely brought the intended landing area back into play.

In this case, the trees on the inside of the dogleg give the player definitive orders on how to play the hole. If the player feels he can hit a shot out over 290 yards, he can play up the right side of the fairway. However, anything shorter than 290 will likely be blocked out by the over-hanging limbs; certainly anything less than 275 will be totally blocked out. As such, the safe play is to the left-center of the fairway. This accomplishes two things: first, it opens up the best angle to the right hand fairway for a lay-up and second, gives a straight shot to the green for anyone attempting to go for the green in two. It should be noted that the right side of the fairway from the tee does provide a better angle to the narrow left-hand fairway approaching the green.

From the Medal tees, the long hitter has an extreme advantage, as seen with the purple makers. Those flanking the fairway show 300 yards off the tee, certainly within range of going for the green. The mark on the right, shows the final location for a long tee shot take up and over the large oak trees. Certainly tee shots played to there, leaving 170 yards or less to the green, were not part of Mr. Jones's original plan for the hole.


 From the tee, the player can see the fairway tumbling down to the right and see the green in the distance. Hopefully the first time player has a quality caddie who can steer him down the left side of the fairway, otherwise this hole may become far more difficult than it might otherwise be.

 From 200 yards out the player is faced with this view. The large right fairway allows for an easier lay-up attempt but forces the player to hit over water on his approach. The small left fairway is more difficult to hit but provides what should be an easier approach.

 This is the likely approach location for those players hitting up the right fairway. The player is left to play over the water to the narrower angle of the green. This shot is no bargain.

However, approaching from the left fairway is no bargain either. This shot from just in front of the green shows the massive contouring in this green. The enormous hill can deflect balls in all directions. Indeed, the shot played from here found the water after going over the hill with fractionally too much speed and going past the pin. Par is most certainly the score to play for here; anyone trying to be overly aggressive on this hole risks paying a supreme price.

Hole #3: Par 4, 433/382 yards
This hole gives the player a breather after what may have been a train wreck on the last hole. The entire  fairway slopes down to the left, so the best play off the tee is to start one down the middle and play a fade to hold the ball in the right side of the fairway. From the right side, the player will be give an open look at the green and even allowed to play the ball in low and running if he desires. The black marks below show 300 yards from the tee. The left side of the green is guarded by a deep bunker, making approaches to a left hole location coming from the left side of the fairway less than easy. In general though, this hole does not have much going on, which gives the player a breather after two exceptional, and potentially very difficult, opening holes.

 It is obvious from the tee that the fairway slopes hard to the left and the greenside bunker is also visible. It is plain to see that the right side is the preferred side.

 This drive, however, did not find the right side of the fairway and the player is now facing a semi-blind shot where he is unable to see the bottom of the flagstick.

This shows the entrance to the green with the slope of the land working towards the green allowing for a running shot if desired.

Hole #4: Par 3, 166/142 yards
It is difficult to determine the overall quality of the par 3's here. The variety in yardage is there, but all the holes require aerial shots to rather large greens. The first par 3 here is the shortest. Playing over the water to a well bunkered green. While being very scenic there is little to report on this hole. Pick a yardage, play an aerial shot to the green. This set of par 3's bears a significant resemblance to what can be seen of the set at Augusta National. Bobby Jones's influence is likely the reason for that.

From the tee, the wide green is clearly visible. The green has very subtle movement and is very difficult to putt. There is also a bunker behind the green, barely visible here.

Hole #5: Par 5, 536/520 yards
The second par five of the day is one as difficult as the one before it if only due to the far less severe green. The hole is a hard, nearly ninety degree, dogleg to the right. From the tee, the player has several options. From the tee, marked with purple dot, the player can play straight from the tee to about 250 yards, perhaps a 3 wood for the best players, hugging as close to the treeline as he dares. The second play would be to play down the center of the fairway with a significant fade (or draw for left handers). 300 yards off the tee for the long players would likely end up slightly behind the dark blue dot. The third option is to play over all the trees and out to the fairway. This is no easy shot due to the height of the trees. On a straight line, 285 yards will put the player on the blue dot, 300 puts him on the pink, but any shot carrying less than 280 will likely get caught by the trees.
From the fairway, for players hitting 250-275 off the tee, not cutting the corner, a shot to the green is not likely, especially considering the hole plays uphill and the fronting bunker. From there, the player must again look at the pin position in order to play to the correct side of the fairway. Same as on #1, when the hole is cut right, the shot needs to come from the left; hole cut left, shot needs to come from the right.
On the green, there is significant movement across the huge green. Unfortunately, no pictures were taken from up close to show this. As an example, when played, the hole was cut roughly where the blue flag sits in the aerial below. That is on the top of a large and elevated shelf. This writer's 4th shot from played from the fringe near the bunker (did get up and down for par, btw). While looking at the shot, it was a very real possibility that a shot going by the hole with fractionaly too much speed could have rolled all the way off the green, and possibly 10-15 yards down the front approach. This green is solid.

From the tee, the player can see his options plainly. The straight shot down the fairway/rough line, the fade played on that same line, or the shot played over the trees. The trees are significantly taller than they appear in this picture.
This is the approach shot for the player hitting over the corner and making it about 285 yards. From here, the left side of the green is quite accessible and the right side can be accessed with a fade.

This from the 300 yard range off the tee. This opens up more of the green to players, making approaches to all hole locations easier.

Looking back down the fairway, the movement in the fairway, along with a few of the green contours can be seen.

Hole #6: Par 3, 234/194 yards
This is a hole where a solid run-up option would be an excellent addition. At 234 yards, it would be very difficult to hold a shot on the green when the greens are very firm. Add to that the difficult green contours and this hole has the potential to be extremely difficult for all but the most elite of golfers. But in general, this is a very quality hole and the internal green contours give the player a chance to work the ball around a bit once it hits the ground.

From the 194 yard tees, the hole looks much more inviting than it must from the back markers. Even still, the bunkers provide significant hazards for the player.
Hole #7: Par 4, 445/423 yards
Here we have yet another hole where the player's ability to position a tee shot can directly effect the relative ease of his second shot. From the back tees, all but the shortest of players will have to work a tee shot from left to right. From the purple spot marking the tee to the purple spot in the fairway is 275 yards, obviously the fairway runs out at this point. Certainly 275 yards is not a short distance to hit the ball, but the number of golfers really capable of playing a 7,400 yard golf course and not able to hit the ball that far are few. So the golfer must be able to work the ball off the tee unless he desires to hit a three wood off the tee.

From the purple tee marker, the blue and orange markers represent a shot hit 285 yards off the tee. Again, different hole positions require the player hit to different sides of the fairway, but on this hole, there is an additional run-up option available depending on fairway side and hole location. If the hole is located left, the preferred fairway side is right and if the hole is right, preferred fairway side is right, as it has been on several holes before. Those options are marked with the blue and orange spots to the blue and orange flags. But the front-center and center hole locations, marked with red flags, allow the player the option to roll the ball onto the green when playing from the right side of the fairway.

From the tee, the player will have to shape a left-to-right shot around the corner, the trees are simply too tall to carry. A direct line down the walking path will take the player to the spot where the fairway runs out at 275 yards.

 From the right side of the fairway, the left side of the green opens up and the opening in front of the green for roll-up shots is visible.

Hole #8: Par 4, 409/363 yards
This hole, playing from bottom to top in the image below, is the first hole of the day where the player does not need to focus greatly on positioning the tee shot. The angle to the green is not improved by a meaningful amount based on fairway positioning. The player must simply get the ball in play in the fairway in order to have a reasonable approach shot. From the black spot marking the back tee marker, the pair of golf cars in the fairway represent a shot of 285 yards off the tee. That is a substantial blow on this hole considering the uphill nature of the hole. On the approach to the green, the player will likely need to add two clubs in order to reach the green. There is nothing fancy about the hole, the player is simply asked to hit two straight shots.

From the tee, the player is afforded a plain look at the fairway. As with most holes, there are no bunkers here to steer the player in one direction or the other. Simply hit the ball in the fairway and get ready to hit again.
 This is the view from the fairway roughly 100 yards from the green. The opening between the bunkers is not nearly as large as it seems and the uphill movement of the hole makes the roll-up shot a non-option.

Looking back down the hole, the back to front contour of the green is visible, as is the steep face of the front-left bunker. 

Hole #9: Par 4, 422/382 yards
The two bunkers on the right side of the fairway protect the preferred line of approach to the green. These bunkers were added in recent years, winter 2005-2006 if the historical imagery on Google Earth is to be believed. From the back tee, marked with the purple spot in the shadows to the purple spot located directly above the bunkers, it is a 285 yard carry. The hole plays slightly uphill to there, so that would take a big hit to get past the bunkers from the back markers. 

The orange spot on the left side of the fairway shows 300 yards on the most conservative line. As you can see, even to the far right hole location, the angle of no bargain; certainly the approach shot from the left side is less and less desired the farther left the hole location moves. For the first time on the day, the player is clearly directed to hit the tee shot on a single line in order to have the preferred shot into the green. The roll-up option is also available from the right side of the fairway, even if the elevation change makes it a dicey shot.

 From the tee, the perfect line would be directly towards the pine tree standing alone against sky in the distance. This will give the best angle to the green.

This is the only image taken from the fairway. Sadly the golf car blocks the view of the roll-up approach slope. This tee shot found the left side of the fairway and obviously had a less than ideal approach angle.