SEVENTEENTH

Mens Par 4 Ladies Par 5

The hardest hole on the course. With the pin on the back of the green it measures over four hundred and seventy yards and is played into the prevailing wind. The tee shot is fairly straightforward but it is the second shot, played with a long iron or wood from a hanging lie, that makes the hole. There is a somewhat flatter area, twenty or so yards beyond and to the left of the right hand drive bunker, which allows for an easier stance but this is still two hundred yards from the green. It is all too easy to pull the ball over the central ridge and down the slope into some heavy rough in an effort to avoid the second shot flying to the right as the lie of the land and the wind determine.

The green which is long, narrow and cut into the seaward side of the ridge drops off precipitously on its right hand side. The second shot that finishes here leaves a nightmarish shot back, often from an indifferent lie. With tension in the hands and an over eager head the ball can be winging its way over both the green and the ridge in an instant. Putts on the seaward side of this green break away from the sea and those on the landward side fall towards it.