First time poster here. I’ve lurked here a lot, but this is the first time I’ve felt I could add something to a thread. I hope the following post isn’t too long.
One of my favorite par 4’s is on the under-maintained Cardinal 9 at Southern Pines GC in NC. I grew up playing on this course and after being gone from the area for about 12 years (I’m 30 now), I’ve moved back and can again enjoy this fun little Ross course whenever I want.
The hole is #6 and is the number 1 handicap hole on the course. From the back tees, the card says its 404. From the whites it’s 375. While the card yardages may make it sound like it’s not super short, it plays much shorter- it seems like maybe 300 to me. In fact it’s best played with a couple of mid-iron shots.
The layout is a sharp right dogleg with a decent elevation drop (maybe 30-40 feet) starting at the corner. The fairway has about 3-4 terraces leading down to a water hazard in front of a shallow, but very wide green. There is a bunker behind the right half of the green. Anything more than about 10-15 feet from the front, rear, or left of the green is either in the water(front) or in the weeds (rear and left).
Off the tee, you have a few choices and it’s important to choose wisely. The ideal shot, IMHO, is to hit the ball straight down the middle of the fairway and to stop it pretty much in the middle, keeping the ball on the upper level. Distance control is important, however, because a ball hit too far will go through the fairway or at least to a downhill lie. Hit too short or towards the right, even if past the inside of the corner, you get a good straight-line view at the green, but there’s a huge tree (oak I believe) that hangs over that side of the fairway about halfway between the corner and the green. It’s almost impossible to hit the ball over the tree yet far enough to reach the green, especially with the downhill lie you will likely get.
Those who feel the need to pull out a wood and shoot over the corner can cut the distance of the second shot, but they risk having to deal with that tree as well as some nasty downhill lies for their shot over the water.
If you stay up top and in the middle with your first shot, you get a great lie and a good look at the green. The only problem now is what club to use. The green is pretty shallow and anything long or short is unplayable. The elevation change obviously makes it play much shorter. You can either go for it or hit at the generous bail out area to the right of the green.
If you’re greedy and cut the corner, you might luck out and land on one of the terraces, but there’s more downhill than flat for your ball to stop on. Of course, if the fairway grass is pretty much dead due to the drought like it was last year, your ball will roll more and is more likely to stop on the flat part, but living grass will usually stop your ball in a bad place.
This hole is really great because if you play it “right” and can pick the right clubs, it’s a fairly fun and easy hole. If you misjudge, mishit or get greedy, you may have to end up laying up your second shot. A big hitter has almost no advantage on this hole. Overall, the whole course, if given a little more TLC and green restoration, would not give up much at all to it’s well-regarded 18-hole sister course at the same facility.