Dan Kelly,
You're right, I forgot.
I'll try to provide my answers in match and medal play perspective.
As an informational point, my experience at NGLA is that the breeze picks up from the morning, such that it is usually stronger when you reach the 18th hole.
Medal play:
The first hole appears benign, with a wide fairway for conservative play with a
3-iron to driver, with a more challenging second shot, and it presents an opportunity for a bolder drive to adequate fairway and rough area, for a prefered angle of attack for a relatively short second shot. But,
now the terror begins. The green is frightening if you don't hit the plateau or bowl where the pin resides.
At 327 yards, downhill from the championship course, one is both HAPPY and FORTUNATE to walk off the first green with a par.
All too often, ones day gets off to a rocky start when a bogie or WORSE is carded on # 1.
Match play allows for bolder play, though not always with positive results. There is also a tendency to play your opponent, not the hole, which can be dangerous. I've seen golfers drive the first green, and make SEVEN.
I find that the riskier drive puts pressure on an opponent if you have the honor, and pressure on your opponents second shot if they played first, with the conservative drive. Again, the fun begins on the green.
But, shots hit from the safer, shorter, middle of the fairway have a far harder shot to the pin then the more aggressive drive, which has a fairly benign shot into a green composed of plateaus and bowls.
# 18
# 18 is only 502 yards from the championship tee, though it is rising substantially uphill. Two huge bunkers, one deep, lie left. to the right, dunes and marsh grass lie below the level of the fairway.
As you ascend from the tee to the highly elevated green site, the right side of the hole falls off sharply to the bay and areas to frightening to describe. Deep bunkers are both left and right in the fairway and off fairway areas as you hit your second shot.
The green sits on a plateau, falling off sharply to the right 60 or more feet, it falls off steeply to the rear by 40 or more feet and it rolls off to the left by about
6-8 feet, severly penalizing any ball that misses the green, except a short ball. Even from 40-60-80-100 yards, the shot into the green is scarey and if the wind is blowing, which it usually does, it's frightening !
Match play.
It is such a great hole because of the decisions you have to make, depending on whether you're one up, even or one down.
Now, there are two rules on the tee shot,
Rule # 1. Don't hit it into the left bunker.
Rule # 2 Go back and reread rule # 1.
For long hitters the bunker can be carried, giving the golfer a PREFERED angle of attack into the green or short green area. But, if you go in that bunker, forget about birdie, par may be gone as well. If you hit your tee shot safely to the right, you now have to hit over bunkers, and if you favor the left side for your second, into a bunkered area.
Assuming you execute a second shot that leaves you 180 to 60 yards from the green, you're still faced with an incredible demanding shot.
Medal Play,
The risk/reward aspects are great.
Hit a conservative tee shot and you're left with a demanding second shot, and always a demanding third shot.
Play an aggressive tee shot and you're left with a better angle for your second, but, the third still takes nerve.
Looking at the 18th green from 60-80-120-180 yards out, it looks like the planet ends, behind and right of the green.
Sorry for the long response, but I wanted to try to convey my thoughts on the play of both holes. Perhaps TEPaul and others can provide their thoughts.
I will post Pictures shortly. Unfortunately, they are blurry. I need to buy a digital camera.