Chomonix GC- Feb2010

Chomonix Golf Course has a reputation of being a northwoods-type course in the middle of a metropolitan area. After playing there, I can surely attest to that. Chomonix (pronounced shom-o-nee) is located in the city of Lino Lakes, which is a suburb on the northern side of the Twin Cities. It was carved out of the forests of the Rice Creek Chain of Lakes nature preserve, meaning most of the holes are lined from tee to green with countless trees. In the rare instances that there aren’t trees lining the fairways, there are often ponds or marshes waiting to grab errant shots. With all of the trees and water hazards lurking close to the edges of many of the fairways, Chomonix is a very difficult course if your tee shots aren’t accurate, or if any of your other shots aren’t accurate. Unfortunately, I learned that the hard way, putting 3 shots deep in to the woods on the first four holes alone. Luckily, my wedges and putter were working well, so I was able to escape with bogeys on all of those first four holes. In fact, I bogeyed the first eight holes, which is not exactly the start I was hoping for. Add in a triple bogey on my ninth hole, and I had my worst 9-hole score since high school. As frustrating as that was, at least I was out enjoying some beautiful weather on one of the most scenic golf courses in the Twin Cities.
        The front nine starts innocently enough, with a medium-length par four that has the smallest of doglegs to the left. The trees aren’t even that thick, but that doesn’t matter if you hit one of them square in the trunk. The second hole is a relatively benign par-5, despite being over 525 yards long. It follows a very gentle curve to the left around the trees, so if you can avoid those, this hole shouldn’t pose too much trouble.
        The first water hazards that appear on the front nine are on the third hole. There is a small marshy pond right in front of the tee box which shouldn’t come in to play most of the time, and then there is another small pond along the right side of the fairway, in between the landing area and the green, so it shouldn’t come in to play too often, either. For the most part, there isn’t as much water on the front side as there is on the back, so the main obstacles that might get in the way of a good score on this nine are the relentless woods and the sand traps that are sprinkled here and there.
        The 5th hole is probably the most memorable hole on the front, since it is a shortish par-5 of under 500 yards, but it plays as a double dogleg which requires pinpoint accuracy to get a good score. The landing area looks miniscule from the tee box, with trees pinching in on both sides. The hole turns left past the landing area, and heads up a narrow chute between the trees to another landing area about 100 yards out from the green. It then turns hard to the right towards the hole. Be sure to avoid the right side of the fairway on your second shot, since that would most surely put you directly behind a large grove of tall trees that jut out from the right. If you can find the left side of the fairway, you should be able to avoid these tall trees, and should have a clear shot to the green. I say “should” because I never actually made it over to the left side, since my shots all headed right, so I can only speculate at this time. The rest of the front side at Chomonix is more of the same, with narrow fairways, countless numbers of trees, and trouble lurking everywhere.
    The 10th hole is a narrow par-5 measuring just under 525 yards from the tips, with trees converging in on the fairway as you get closer to the green. Hidden behind the trees on the right side of the hole is a large marshy water hazard in which it is almost impossible to find a lost ball. I can tell you that because I have first-hand knowledge, since one of my lost balls occurred right there. Luckily I hit a nice wedge to within a few feet on the large green.
    The 11th hole is a long par three of about 214 yards from the back tee. There is another marshy water hazard behind and to the right of the green, and a small bunker to the left of the green - a green which is quite large. There is plenty of open space in front of the green, so a straight shot could easily run up from the fairway. My tee shot miraculously stayed out of the water, but it did find its way in to the bunker, leaving me a long sand shot of about 30 yards. I got out of the sand quite well, but missed the 4-foot putt I left myself for par, so another bogey was in store.
    The 12th hole is a long par four, made even more difficult by the fact that it has a very narrow landing area. It is completely necessary to hit the small landing area, because a few feet off the fairway on the right are two long water hazards, and a foot or two to the left of the fairway are some of the thick woods that I mentioned earlier. This was the very first hole I ever considered buying one of the very popular hybrid clubs that are on the market, since my usual driving club, my 3-wood, put me deep in to the woods to the left. Luckily it is played as a lateral hazard, so I was able to drop a ball where my first had disappeared, and somehow I pulled another bogey out of thin air. Did I mention there’s another water hazard up in front and to the left of the green?
    The next hole, number 13, is a short par-5 of under 475 yards, which you would think would make it a nice reprieve from the difficult holes we’ve played so far. But, oh no, that’s not the case. This would have been another good hole to have a hybrid club to tee off with, since the landing area was again very narrow, with water on the right and those thick woods running up the entire left side of the fairway. I was able to avoid the woods and the water on my tee shot, barely, but I left myself in a prickly spot in the deep rough right in between the first and second ponds on the right. I was not able to get a very good shot off, but my ball did make a nice splash as it landed in the third pond on this hole. Thankfully, this was another lateral hazard, so I was able to take a drop and save another bogey.
    There aren’t any more water hazards on the back nine at Chomonix until the 18th hole, but that doesn’t mean the difficulty level goes down. The trees seem to get closer and closer, and the landing areas seem to get smaller and smaller. By the end of our round I had completely convinced myself to go out right afterwards and find myself a nice hybrid club to use on all the narrow driving holes. I haven’t actually done that yet, but I will for sure have one before I go back and tackle Chomonix again. I can safely say that Chomonix is probably the most difficult course I have played recently. But it definitely makes you feel like you’re hundreds of miles away from the hustle and bustle of the Twin Cities. If you want to “get away” for an afternoon without having to drive very far, and you feel like you’ve got you’re A-game working, check out Chomonix in Lino Lakes. Now that I know what kind of strategy is needed to play it, I definitely will go back and tackle it again.