Muirfield Village 11th

[Kirk Gill]

I enjoyed watching the pros play this hole as much as any on the course during The Memorial. It appears as if the way the creek cuts across the first fairway that you have to go further and further to the right if you want to get close enough to go for the green in 2, making the approach a dicier proposition around the trees and over the same creek. I loved the look of the hole, especially from ground-level, and I enjoyed the way it was played.

But I am a simple cave man. What do those who have played the hole think?

[Glenn Spencer]

It is better than the fifth. I didn't think a whole lot of it. In the times I have played it, I have usually bailed out to the right if I went for it. I never loved the tee shot, so I am normally found laying up here. I have no wedge game- so therefore, I don't like the hole.

[Doug Sobieski]

Kirk:

I think it's still better to keep it down the left side if you are going to have a go at it in two. Recently my friend and I hit it about the same distance off the tee on #11 (within 3 yards of each other). I was in the left center, he was slightly right of center. I had a fairly simple fairway wood in, while he had to try to take it up over the trees, and ended up short in the creek because he had to hit 5-wood due to the tree trouble.

The bail out area to the right of the green seems to be a lot more open since they took out some trees. Really not much difficulty if you can just bang it up there anywhere right of the green past the trees.

[Kirk Gill]

Gotcha. It just seemed (watching it) that if you wanted to go for it in two you'd have to hit towards the narrowed part of the fairway and would tend to head for the right side to avoid that creek.

If the hole is middling, what would it take to turn it up a notch?

[Glenn Spencer]

Kirk,

It just seems goofy to me, but I am not Tillinghast's grandson or Ross's. The tee shot, when firm, can be very tough to hold it on the proper line  and it is very easy to hit it too far. The second is cool if you are going, but it extremely hard if you lay it up. I guess it is not that bad, it just seems goofy to me, for a great golf course, hard to put my finger on it though. A lot of the pros hit 3-wood and I should too, just leaves me another 3-wood to get home and that is a stupid play, so I have hit driver and gotten into trouble too far.

[Glenn Spencer]

Turn it up? I would think extending the fairway down the left-side and giving more people a chance to hit driver and go for it. Eliminating the 2 fairway bit might also be a good idea.

[Tommy Williamsen]

Eleven is good just the way it is.  It requires a good tee shot as close to the left as possible but the trees and a creek test the player accuracy.  For mere mortals like me it is a three shot hole where the second shot requires the player to hit the best shot to get the best angle into the green.  As for the green there are a bunch of places where two putts are tough.

[Doug Sobieski]

I agree with Tommy. I like it the way it is. It challenges you to hit an aggressive tee shot, and you are rewarded with another chance to hit an aggressive shot. It's rarely an easy hole, and you can make 3's and 8's there. I probably enjoy it more than the other three out there. The other holes don't seem like they'd have as high a scoring differential.