I took this pictures this morning at El Encin. Something went wrong with my camera so I missed a couple of greens, but this will give you an idea of what the greens are like. I am a very lousy photographer as the greens are waaay more severe than what the pictures show.
In general, the most difficult part is that the many greens are very, very wide but have very little front to back depth (15meters), making holding shots very difficult unless you are very close and have a wedge in your hand. This doesn't happen that much as the course plays pretty long....
Another feature is that most greens have a depression that runs front to back, dividing them in two or more sections/platforms. The depression is usually 1-1,5meters deep, making two putts from section to section extremely challenging.
Some of the photos follow:
The 3rd, a 190m par three where the green is more than 50 meters wide. I played to where the photo is taken from and had no way of getting to the pin for 2 putts.
The 4th, a par 5. Photo doesn't do justice to the swales
The 6th. A huge double green with the 8th. The green has a depth of 15-20 meters. The raised platform on the back is a good 1.5m above the bottom platform.
The 7th slopes front to back and none of the green is visible from the fairway. The hole is a 440m par 4 where the only chance of getting to the pin on the picture is bouncing on the front platform and letting the ball run down. Anything else will run past the green and down to a swale.
The 10th, from the fairway and from the side of the green. Although the green can be reached with short iron, please look (again) at the amazing width of the green (more than 50m) and the very little space available to hold the ball when approaching the green. No chance at playing at an angle to take advantage of the shape of the green
The 14th has a very large swale/hollow in the middle where most balls ended up this weekend.
The 16th breaks away with the lack of depth and is a 170m par 3 with a 60 meter long green. Need a very powerful draw to reach the back pin as the hole is played at an angle to the green and over water.
The 17th also features a very long green: 65 meters. You can see that in some sections it is not more than 10-12 paces wide. The hole is a very long par 4 (433m) and the back of the green severely slopes away from the shot.
