Very cool this came back up, and interesting you fellows were discussing CPC the very day my chums and I were playing the course. No wonder I didn't see all this before...
Given that was a scant two weeks ago, the memory is fresher, so I can say this about Nos. 9 and 16:
9: the card says 292 from blue, 282 from white. That's to the middle of the green. Remember, the dune on which the green sits is MASSIVE, so the entire green is well above the tee, but the back left is REALLY above the tee. So my assessment would be:
front right pin: big hitters go for it without a doubt, as Dave says. The actual widest point to leave their shot (besides hitting WEDGE off the tee and staying short of the dune/scrub that starts on the left about 150 off the tee) is right up by the green. So the choice really isn't there... it's either wedge to a fat part, something that goes 150-220 to a skinny part, or 220+ to another fatter part, up by the green. Unfortunately you're likely to get the result Rich did unless you carry it about 270 uphill, but what the hell, it's the right shot anyway. It's not an EASY shot, but it seems to me to be the only viable choice, really.
Back left pin (upper tier): only the most foolish even try for that. You're gonna need a carry of 280, uphill, and then hope that stops on that shelf. Doesn't seem very likely... and the risk is HUGE... short means death on the dunes, long means you pray it stays on 10 tee and even then the pitch back would be brutally touchy, with the most likely result being the ball goes all the way back down the tier.
I too love the golf hole, I like the choices involved... but then again, I'm not a Schmidt/Wigler/Ward type blaster for whom the above are the choices - I couldn't make the back left pin with a cannon, and front right exists for me only if I get some serious wind behind. All of the above is just speculation as to how these blasters would handle the hole... Hopefully one will see this and grade my thinking.
In any case, us mortals surely do have to give a lot of thought to the tee shot choice... normally it would be trying to fit something into the skinnier fairway at 150-200. Two weeks ago I went ahead and hit driver, and it worked out fine - ended up about 40 yards short of the green - damn good shot given the odd left to right and against wind we had. But I can see the normal shot, for me anyway, being in the 150-200 range.
Rich makes a VERY good point anyway that in the end, a shot up near the green isn't that much better than a shot layed back... for me, a 50 yard pitch up hill seems easier than a full 140 yard shot, which is what the wedge off the tee would leave... but that's because my iron play sucks. I can see a finer iron player doing this 9-iron/8-iron for sure... if anything the shot from farther back allows you to see more of the green and isn't as uphill as being right below the dune...
Oh well, it's one hell of a golf hole that can inspire this much commentary, anyway!
And I didn't mention 16 yet! No, no choices exist there - not if you're there as a guest, anyway. I can't see ever playing left, unless I was a member and had a lot riding. The shot isn't much easier going left... So long as I'm able to make a 200 yard carry, that's always gonna be the play - straight at the hole.
That doesn't lessen the greatness of the hole at all, for me anyway. Choices are one thing, and incredible beauty and magic are another. The latter speak louldy to me....
TH