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Countdown to The Gauntlet

wluker17

wluker17

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Should have started this on Sunday, but there are now 52 days until the Gauntlet starts. There are 54 holes to be played over Saturday and Sunday. So I'll try to countdown a new hole each day starting with the Hills course, then Fazio and finally RTJ. And without further ado here is #1 of Arthur Hills

This hole is a little more open than it seems on here. There is a big mound in front of the left half of the green and a ridge that cuts the green in to the left half and right half.
 
Driving range on left fwiw lol
 
Got some catching up to do so here is hole #2 on Arthur Hills

This hole is a pain. Difficult tee shot and difficult approach. It doesn't help when you try to play your second shot from the 9th tee box to the right of the picture. Just get something in the fairway off the tee and maybe it won't be so bad.
 
Alright, with 52 days left, here is hole #3 of Arthur Hills

It may seem like there is some bailout room left of the green but there are a series of grass bunkers over there. Awkward lies await there. If you are going to bail out, the bunker is not the worst place to be. Otherwise just put it on the green and make the putt.
 
Great idea Will! Thanks
 
seemed to me that the green on #1 was more to left & tough to see from the fairway behind that mound
 
jhstew1 said:
seemed to me that the green on #1 was more to left & tough to see from the fairway behind that mound
Click to expand...

I agree. I remember distinctly how big that mound was when we played.

Also, if that par 3 is the one I think it is, the bank is very steep from the wood up to the green.
 
Thanks Will!!! #1 is a typical Hills opening hole. Generous fairway to start but that's where the generosity stops. Hills does a really good job of forcing the driver out of your hands to make short holes play longer. A real thinking man's designer.
 
i will also say that most of the holes are more open/wider than they appear to be on the pics that are posted & in the yardage books
 
jhstew1 said:
i will also say that most of the holes are more open/wider than they appear to be on the pics that are posted & in the yardage books
Click to expand...

Absolutely. We had a lot of good laughs thinking back to all the people who were saying they were going to be teeing off with hybrids and 4 irons leading up to the invitational being held there. It didn't help that we were playing the par 4s from the tips when we got to the longer ones.
 
Greg Kulbick said:
Absolutely. We had a lot of good laughs thinking back to all the people who were saying they were going to be teeing off with hybrids and 4 irons leading up to the invitational being held there. It didn't help that we were playing the par 4s from the tips when we got to the longer ones.
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I hope we are playing the same tees.
 
I missed left on 1 and 2. Terrible idea.


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Smithfaced said:
I missed left on 1 and 2. Terrible idea.


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Click to expand...



Yeah. General rule of thumb for the Hills course is to not miss left. Ever.
 
I had a great start to my round at Arthur Hills. From the first fairway, it's tough to see the pin with the huge mound in front of the green. Solid drive and you'll have a short iron or wedge into the green.

#2 is a very intimidating drive. Probably a FW for most. If you nail a driver, you might reach the edge. If you get it far enough down on the left hand side, you can avoid the huge tree. The approach shot is pretty scary. Seemed like there was a lot less room to miss to the right than the pic shows.

#3 is a pretty straight forward hole. Water doesn't come into play unless you hit a really poor tee shot. The course really gets tough after this opening stretch, IMO. A couple of breather holes, but it's easy to put some high numbers up on a few.
 
ATLGolfer said:
Yeah. General rule of thumb for the Hills course is to not miss left. Ever.
Click to expand...

The shot into the green on 1 if you miss left isn't terribly difficult. Finding your ball amongst all of the range balls is what makes it difficult.


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Agree... Hills doesn't give you many chances to breathe. 1 and 3 are seemingly the easiest holes on the course,
Other than those there is no real chance to let your guard down


Proud Member of #TeamParadise
 
Little homework is always nice to have, and insight from those who have played the track. Thanks!
 
Greg Kulbick said:
Absolutely. We had a lot of good laughs thinking back to all the people who were saying they were going to be teeing off with hybrids and 4 irons leading up to the invitational being held there. It didn't help that we were playing the par 4s from the tips when we got to the longer ones.
Click to expand...
wait i used my 4 iron a lot, although it was so chilly it did not go as far as I hoped
 
Pro tip: Don't top your drive off of Arthur Hills #1 like I did in the Invitational. It looked even worse when wluker17 got up there after me and piped one straight down the middle.

My parents have a place at Palmetto Dunes and I've played all 3 courses multiple times, so I'll chime in as much as I can on these holes. On #1, the right side of the fairway will give you a better angle into the green. #2 is just a hard hole because the left side of the fairway isn't good as the big tree blocks you out on your second shot unless you can hit a big draw. #3 is a relatively easy hole compared to the first 2 holes.
 
I used hybrid off the tee a good bit. Some with success and some not so. I took 3wood on #1 and hit one of my better tee shots of the day but it left me at a little bit of an in between distance. Next time I'll probably just pull driver and aim right at that tree to the left of the fairway and try to hit my little cut that has become my go-to shot lately. That should leave me somewhere around 100 or less, hopefully.


War Eagle from my iPad
 
wluker17 said:
I used hybrid off the tee a good bit. Some with success and some not so. I took 3wood on #1 and hit one of my better tee shots of the day but it left me at a little bit of an in between distance. Next time I'll probably just pull driver and aim right at that tree to the left of the fairway and try to hit my little cut that has become my go-to shot lately. That should leave me somewhere around 100 or less, hopefully.


War Eagle from my iPad
Click to expand...
I don't hit my driver as far as you hit your hybrid. If I had your length off the tee I'd use hybrid out of fear of running out of fairway, especially on the Hills course.
 
The rough didn't scare me near as much as the palmettos. But I do try to play smart. #1 just seems to fit my eye and shot I like to play. At the invitational I had planned to hit 3wood before I actually saw the hole and just decided to stick to my plan. Although the rough might be a little thicker in September vs March.


War Eagle from my iPad
 
Amen to those who said don't go left on #2. That's what I did enroute to a big number. Aim for the right side off the tee!
 
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