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I have
played Lederach Golf Club a number of times since it opened,
and once prior to opening, so it may interest readers to
know a little about my thoughts on playing the holes. The
course must be played a few times to begin to understand it,
not necessarily to know how to master it, but to know what
options and opportunities to take at certain times. The
remarkable aspect of the course is the fact it has only 32
bunkers, 16 in the fairway, and 16 greenside, and there are
about 38 acres of fairway. Most of the greens are open in
the front, but with some interesting breaks in the land.
Yet the general consensus is the course is challenging.
Without boring you with too much details about yardages, and
other statistics, I will keep to an informal narrative. It
should be said that I do hit the tee ball about 265 yards if
that helps with understanding my reports from playing. If
you have not played the course don’t expect to get much out
of this because I am not going to describe the layout of
each hole in exacting detail, but hopefully you can remember
some of my comments when you actually get on the hole. For
those that have played the course hopefully this helps,
maybe it becomes like an owner’s manual for you.
I have
never played the
1st
hole well off the tee. Most of the time I have walked on
without warming up. One time I played a driver past the
bunker on the right into the rough and ended up in a crummy
lie, but only about 80 yards out. The pin was in the back
on the right side of the green which made my angle a good
one for approaching the green. That is about the best
personal insight I can give you for this hole. I did
witness a guy in the group behind me sneak to the left of
the left bunker and end up in the fairway no more than 40
yards from the pin. Great angle for approaching the pin
because it was in the back, middle portion of the green.
Those familiar with the green know that that pin position is
a part of a flat top that is in back of the green and comes
around the left side of the green, leaving a hollow in the
front right of the green. From his angle he can bounce it
in the left side of the green and feed it right back to the
pin thus avoiding the hollow. I should have watched his
approach. Recently I played the hole with a 3 iron off the
tee. It was a strong shot and I found the left bunker. My
belief is that it is best to under club on the approach, but
you must be careful of the approach bunker.
The
2nd
hole has presented some interesting outcomes. There is a
blind fairway bunker down the left side. The wind direction
is a major factor in my decision what to do off the tee.
Once we had a north wind which makes the tee shot down
wind. Having hit a poor tee shot on the first hole, three
times actually, I decided to hit a 4 metal off the tee, down
the middle of the fairway. With the wind I actually drove
it slightly through the fairway into the rough. With a
driver I could easily have played over the left bunker
caught the down slope in the fairway and been a 110 yards
from the green. In the past with a prevailing wind from the
south I just missed clearing the bunker, what I had left was
not pretty; I think I managed a 5 iron out of the bunker to
just in front of the green. From the lie in the rough I
played a choked down 6 iron but had a big slope in front of
me. The ball went high landed just in front of the green
and rolled to the middle. A little off line with the pin
but still good for me. The putt left for my 3, well it was
typical stuff at Lederach, and I was off line with the
approach and ended up in the wrong portion of the green
which means you are really concentrating to get down in two
putts. I managed that this time.
At the
3rd
hole so much depends on your strategy from the tee and how
well you play that shot. Once I played way to the right to
another part of the fairway that is reachable from the tee
and was left with about 230 yards to reach the green. I hit
a nice 2 iron, but a little low, not much air time. It must
have caught the blind bunker in the fairway but it was not
enough to capture it as I ended up about 20 yards short of
the green in the fairway. Had I hit that shot more to the
right of the bunker it would have found the green. Back to
the tee shot, another time I played more left of this line
and was in great position, but no chance of getting home in
two. Twice I have played a 4 iron down the fairway to lay
back of a hidden bunker in line with the green and found the
bunker. Another time I played well right of the bunker and
caught the side slope of the fairway that brought the ball
back to the left and near the green. Putting from off the
green I got down in two putts for my 4.
Hole
4
is a tough driving hole. You want to keep it left center
fairway to have a good look at the green for the approach
shot. However, a deep bunker waits on the left side and if
you have too much right to left spin on the ball it can
catch the sloping fairway and very quickly veer off line
into the left rough which is a jungle. In the past I have
hit some pretty good tee shots and had a good look at the
green. I remember once being suckered into playing a 9 iron
approach shot out to the right because the pin was right and
anything hit to the right of the pin will feed into the pin,
well I left way out to the right and there was no bounce
back to the green leaving me in an impossible situation to
get my chip close to the pin. One day playing into a wind I
hit a very good tee shot but left it out to the right, in
the rough. Again, I had another good lie in the rough and
played a 5 iron along what I thought was a good line to the
green. I was trying to under club to let the ball feed onto
the green from the fairway. Having a blind shot I didn’t
see what happened but the result was that my ball found the
deep left green side bunker. Had a played a 6 iron I would
have been in front of the green. Another time I hit a pretty
good tee shot into the wind and played a 6 iron to the green
and found the left bunker again. The land in the fairway
does pitch down hill right to left, and this seems to cause
me to hit a right to left shot consistently. Next time I
will aim a little more right of where I think I should aim.
Again, it seems you get in less trouble at Lederach if you
don’t get too aggressive and over club.
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This last
time I played hole
5
was memorable. Basically, there is a hump in the approach to the green,
with about one-third of the green opening up to the left of
it, and quite a bit of green opening up to the right of it.
The pin was in the left portion of the green. The approach
leading up to this pin area accommodates the rolling ball
and leads it into the pin area. Just so happens I hit a 3
iron exactly how I wanted to, and fed it right through this
area just past the pin and slightly into the rough behind
the green. Being 220 yards out, down hill and down wind I
should have hit a 4 iron, but I still had a reasonable off
green putt back to the pin. Previously I tried this to the
same pin area but yanked a 4 metal left, the wind in my face
that time. It is another good example where the green is
open in front. Despite being a long hole, it is relatively
easy to find the green. However, if you find the green other than where the pin is located you
have a long, breaking uphill or downhill putt.
On a typical hole if you hit a similar shot off line
you might find a bunker and your recovery shot is a
sand shot. Here your recovery shot is a long
and difficult putt. |
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Hole
6
reportedly is one of the more difficult holes. There is a
lot to learn from playing the hole and my knowledge of the
design seems to help because it has not played difficult for
me. From the back tees the bunkers can be reached but not
carried, at least not by me. Twice I have steered clear of
them by playing a 4 metal. This has left me in great
position to then play a 4 iron to the wide part of the
fairway leaving a wedge into the green. Playing from the
blue tees, one set up from the back tee markers, I was able
to clear the bunkers with my tee shot. Although I did not
execute my second shot well, I believe from this position
one can play more directly at the green rather than trying
to find the narrow fairway near the green. This line gives
you more room for error left or right, and even if you find
the rough on the right you are likely to have a pretty good
angle into the green. A low punch can run onto the green
nicely. If you intend to play to the pin make certain you
have plenty of club. The fairway in front of the green,
mostly in front of the right half of the green, will deflect
a short shot off to the right leaving a most difficult chip
to the pin. The approach to the green is a challenge
because of the large, rugged mound that is positioned in
front of the green It obscures many pin position so despite
knowing the yardage the tendency is to make certain you have
enough club. However, you must be careful because there is
a deep bunker behind the green so you must play enough club
to take the mound out of play, but be precise so you don’t
bound past the green into the bunker. Because of the
movement throughout the green a bunker shot is most
difficult to get close to the pin.
Hole
7
generally has played into the wind. I have twice tried a
low approach knowing the ball will land short and bounce to
the green. Both times I turned the shot over and found the
bunker on the left. Recovery from here is not easy because
of the depth of the bunker, and from the bunker the green is
blind. Because of the contours in many greens bunker shots
must account for distance and break in the surface once the
ball lands.
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Hole
8
is one of my favorites, maybe my favorite. The
bunker in the middle of the fairway requires much
thought, or maybe just sheer power off the tee.
Certainly a mighty blow off the tee will take the
bunker out of play, but a carry that puts you near
the end of the fairway before it bends right can
make for a difficult approach into a pin position on
the left side of the green. I did this once
and was faced with a wedge to play high and soft
over a large tree to the left pin area. Since
the green is tough to hold I wanted to play just
enough club to get to the front of the green.
Unfortunately, I was a tad short and caught the top
of the tree. Recently I pulled my tee ball and
ended up at the far left edge of the fairway on the
junior tee. The pin was in the middle of the
green beyond the tremendous slope in front of the
green rising from the fairway. Some have said
they can not hold a shot on the green when the pin
is in this area, although there is some relief in
the form of about 30 feet of fairway beyond the back
of the green. It certainly would be
exasperating if instead this area were heavy rough.
On the other hand if this additional area were made
putting green then the immense slope in front would
be defanged! In any regard, I played a low 7
iron from about 130 yards, hit the slope in front,
and ended up on the green about 20 feet from the
cup; an easy 4 that day. |
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Hole 9
is a
challenging short hole from beginning to end. If the wind
favors the tee shot I try to take the two fairway bunkers
out of play by hitting a driver beyond them. Twice a 250
yard drive end up being a 300 yard tee shot when the ball
caught the down slope beyond the two bunkers and bounded up
to the green. Other times I have not been so fortunate and
ended up in the bunkers. Then I could only play a recovery
shot out to the fairway. My last trip around the course the
pin was back left so I thought it best to be at the far left
edge of the fairway; seemed like a good angle from which to
approach the green. This time I played a 3 iron to the
middle of the fairway left of the bunkers and let the slope
feed the ball down to the left edge. From here I decided to
play a sand wedge to the middle of the green where the big
hump is so the ball would then feed to the left pin area. I
over did my wedge shot and ended up beyond the green just at
the edge of the fairway and rough behind the green.
Surprisingly, from here I putted to within 2 feet of the
cup. It was actually worth misplaying my approach shot to
experience the joy of such a fine recovery putt.
Hole
10
plays
straight ahead then bends left to the green, or you can take
a
more direct line to the green because of the plentiful
fairway that begins beyond the bend toward the green.
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My
first play of the hole I could see from the tee that
the pin was on the left side of the green
so I took this direct
route. This is important because a tree was
left in the middle of the fairway several yards shot
of the green. The tree was an anonymous figure within a
hedgerow that began or ended with the tree that is
to the right of the fairway in that area. Now the
tree is a lone, notorious figure. Playing straight
ahead with the pin anywhere from the middle to the
left side of the green makes you factor the tree
into your approach strategy. Unfortunately its
notoriety could be short-lived because it is showing
signs of splitting apart.
Anyway, taking this direct line my tee shot cleared
some scrubby land and found the fairway leaving me
no more than a sand wedge into the green, and a
clear opening. Depicted in the picture to the right
is my approach shot.
Another time I played straight ahead but pushed my
tee shot slightly right and found the far right edge
of the fairway. The pin was in the middle of the
green, leaving the tree directly in line between me
and the pin. There is a nice, little hump in the
front, right portion of the approach to the green
which can bump your ball toward the green. You can
see it at the right edge of the picture to the
right. In order to avoid the tree, because
hitting a 7 iron, which is what I had left to get to
the green, could be difficult since much of the
green descends from front to back, I played with an
8 iron for this hump, but went beyond it.
Fortunately this portion of the green is a mighty
slope that faces the approach somewhat, therefore it
impacted enough into the right green slope so that
my ball gently rolled left toward the pin.
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Hole
11
has proved
perplexing for some, and I can not deny that seen in
conventional eyes the hole will not be well liked. Some of
the ways the hole can be played for one is to hit a driver
260 up the main fairway, which puts you near the highest
spot in the fairway, left of the bunker. This leaves a
clear view of the green, 140 yards out, 15' downhill to the
green, hitting more into the narrow part of the green. A
shorter hitter would play a 190 yard shot near the beginning
of the bunker where you have a clear view of the green, if
you keep it somewhat close to the bunker you have 160 yards
to the green, and you are at about the same elevation of the
green. And, you play into the long axis of the green.
Anything in between these two shots you will have an
obstructed view of the green. With little or no wind in my
face I like to play a 3 iron to the narrow part of the
fairway that leads to the green. Sometimes I find the
fairway, and sometimes my ball bounds into the sloping rough
beyond the fairway. Once when there was a southerly wind I
chose to play a driver in this direction, knowing I probably
couldn’t hold the fairway, I hit it probably 240 yards up
into the rough area beyond the narrow fairway. That was fine
with me because even though I had a sloping lie I was only
100 yards to the pin which was in front. I played close but
missed the birdie. I accepted the risk of having a bad lie
in the rough and the possibility of having a severe stance
to only be 100 yards out, as opposed to playing down the
fairway bringing the bunker into play and having a blind
approach, because I could not reach the 260 yard spot where
the green becomes visible again. It may be odd to say but
there are definitely some positions on the course where I
will accept being in the rough if the ball doesn't hold in
the fairway because of the distance or angle advantage. One
day I played the hole with the club manager and from the
front of the middle tee he boomed a drive at the green and
made the fairway and was a pitch shot to the pin. The hole
may not be conventional in the sense that a viable option is
to play to the rough in order to have a very short pitch
into the green. To make the fairway more deep and inviting
would only diminish the challenge, and dilute the reward of
a bold play, and a well deserved birdie.
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