George,
At 385 from the back tee and into the wind, attempting to go at the green was impossible. And yes, for February, the course was playing fairly fast especially around the greens and including the fringes. I forget the exact name, but I was told the fringes were a grass called Verde something. I've never played on it before, but it was perfectly smooth and was a grey color in it's dormant state.
My playing partner and I commented on how the dormant grass looked like the old Anderson Consulting qualifying rounds in Japan back in the mid 90s. That was the first time I had ever seen a golden colored course!
Carl,
From 385 and into the wind, I hit driver at the 2 fw bunkers which left me a little more than 115 for the approach. I hit a 9 iron up the hill for my second shot and I did make the putt.
Because of the rolling nature of the hole, the wind into our face probably made it play a little easier. We didn't have to worry about the ball getting away from us. I would imagine that with warmer temps and an opposite wind, you have to think a little more about how to play the hole when standing on the tee.