Ok, I'll bite. Growing up in East TN, I was able to play a lot of high school matches and tournaments at the best courses in the region... and also more than a few rural tracks that were way off the beaten path. It's been almost 20 years since I've played this course, but my memory is still strong of this as a poorly routed hole.
Given the topography of the region, the most common flaw I saw on courses was trying to cram more of a hole into a spot than land was available for. The biggest example of this is the one I am submitting for review.
The course is a small-time family owned operation with no internet presence I can see... so for the sake of this thread I'll call it "Mountain Farm CC". The 3rd hole at MFCC is a downhill, roughly 460 yard par 5 on a direct line from tee to green, but 490 yards on the scorecard. So easily reachable in 2 under normal circumstances.
The black line shows the typical line of play for the hole. Other holes in the vicinity are shown in Orange, #1 & #2 at the bottom, #4 at the top, and #8 at the left. Given the other holes nearby, the most logical routing would have been the blue line, resulting in a fairly modest 350 yard par 4. However, it appears the architect did not want to open with 4 consecutive par 4s under 400 yards, and wanted a par-36 front nine at all costs, so we have this hole as a result.
The defining feature of the hole is a cluster of very tall, thick trees, roughly 150 yards from the green on a direct path from tee to green. Up to that point, the hole is downhill with a slope from the golfer's right to left.
When playing the hole as designed, one must hit their drive directly over the cart park, a couple of trees, and the second green, with a 250-275 yard drive placing them squarely behind the cluster of trees about 180 yards from the green. For the second shot, the player must either try to hit it through the trees, or go wedge, wedge to the green.
After playing the hole a couple of times, one realizes going way right, up the 2nd fairway, is a better approach.... which is of course dangerous as the trailing group is coming up the 2nd fairway! So the club added multiple additional trees and an internal out of bounds (marked in white) as the tree line up the right. And not to be outdone... to prevent the left option, they staked off the left side as well! And as a final act, any shots getting just a glancing blow from the trees on the second shot would come down into a particularly nasty bunker about 100 yards from the green.
Also, the tee box was well positioned for any hooks off the 8th tee to come right in the direction of the tee box.... meaning this beauty of a hole interferes with the play of 3 other holes.
Just a mess of a hole from start to finish - only a lawyer could love this hole.