The first hole at Spring Valley begins right next to the clubhouse. It is a short dogleg left par-4 of under 300 yards. It’s best to go right if you miss the fairway, since there’s a pond left of the fairway about 230 yards out. Right of the fairway is a fairway bunker and a few small trees, but nothing that might cause too much trouble. In order to avoid all trouble, a golfer could always hit a five iron off the tee to lay up short of any hazards.
The second hole is a short par-5 that plays under 500 yards. It should be quite easy for big hitters to reach the green in two on a hole of this length, but the second shot is uphill and usually the green is not visible from the fairway landing area. Even if a player can’t see the green and elects to lay up on the second shot, the approach shot shouldn’t be more than 50-75 yards, making a birdie a distinct possibility.
The longest hole on the front side is the 515-yard par-5 6th hole. This is another par-5 that is much more imposing than the yardage would indicate. The landing area for the tee shot is fairly wide open and flat, but the second shot takes the player down a hill and around a couple of small water hazards along the right side of the fairway. The second hazard butts up to the right front edge of the green. To add to that, there are two bunkers on the left side of the fairway, which work to grab shots that attempt to run up on to the green.
Holes 8 through 14 have all been cut out of the forest, and the trees pretty much come right up to the edge of the fairway on all these holes, so accurate shots are required if you want to score well. Because most of the surrounding trees are pines, the needles help to keep the weeds and other underbrush to a minimum, so many balls hit in to the trees can be found, but a short punch shot is usually required. Hole 8, the first one in the woods, is a fairly straightforward par-4, but the ninth hole can be a doozy. It’s not a real long par-4, but the fairway makes a pretty abrupt turn to the right, and becomes extremely narrow as you head uphill towards the elevated green. A par on this hole is a very good score.
The tenth hole is another short par-4, but it has its own perils that the golfer has to deal with. It is short enough to be driveable for long hitters, but there are so many trees that come into play between the tee box and the green that I wouldn’t advise anyone try to go for it off the tee. The better play would be to lay up in the fairway about 200 yards off the tee, but even if you do that, trouble is not out of the question, since a tentacle of trees reaches out from the right side of the fairway in an attempt to grab shots that go too far right off the tee. The perfect tee shot on this hole is between 180 and 210 yards down the left side of the fairway, which should leave a short wedge shot around the tentacle of trees, and up the steep hill to yet another elevated green.
Holes 11 and 12 are back-to-back par-5s, the first of which is a very straight hole, and the second of which is very crooked with a 90 degree turn built in. Although the 11th is straight, there is a lot of undulation in the fairway, as the tee shot requires a shot to the bottom of a deep ravine which funnels balls towards the right edge. Because most tee shots end up at the bottom of the ravine, the second shot is usually up the hill to a blind landing area. The fact that the second shot needs to have quite a bit of loft in order to make it up the hill makes it almost impossible to reach this green in two. But if the second shot is kept in the fairway, the approach shot shouldn’t be more than a short wedge or 9 iron.
The 12th hole has far less elevation change than the 11th does, but the difficulty level is even higher. The fairway goes out straight in front of the tee box for about 225 yards, and then takes a hard, 90 degree turn to the left around the pine trees. A perfect tee shot on this hole would be between 200 and 225 yards long, which should put you at a good position to make the turn without having trees directly in your line of sight. The second shot should hug the right side of the fairway to avoid the trees that jut out from the left side about 100 yards in front of the green. The green on this hole is fairly flat, so the golfer who can hit it in regulation should have a good shot at birdie.
The 13th hole is the last one in the pine forest, and is a medium length par-3 of about 150 yards. There is a small bunker on the left side of the green and a lone tree in front to provide some excitement, but there is also excitement once the golf ball reaches the green, since it is a three-tiered green with many difficult pin placements. If you can, try to make sure you hit the correct tier, or else you’ll be in for a world of hurt.
Thankfully the final 5 holes are more out in the open, the most difficult of which is the par-4 16th, which is another 90 degree dogleg left. This hole, however is a par-4, but the fact that there are almost no level lies in the fairway makes it very difficult to hit the green in regulation. Whatever you do, make sure you don’t leave your approach shot short or to the left of the green, because that area falls away into another ravine which is very difficult to get up and down from. Did I mention that this course is hilly?
This has been just a quick tour of the beautiful yet difficult Spring Valley Golf Course in Spring Valley, Wisconsin. Just a short drive from the Twin Cities, it is truly an excellent and inexpensive test of golf no matter what your handicap is. 2
No comments:
Post a Comment