Excuse me if Mr. Whitten already mentions this.
Golf Digest's site is too slow for me to deal with right now.
Pros love to beat up on par-5 holes. Since Poppy Hills has five of these, most players look at the course on paper and figure it is a par-67 before they even tee it up.
The par-5s at Poppy Hills are very easy par holes, but can lead to disaster when trying to get to them in two. They all require a precise tee shot followed by a shot to a green with a lot of trouble around it.
Even when I used to be longer, I learned to play all five of them as three-shot holes. They are all reasonably easy with a wedge in your hand. Ends up I had a lot more birdies this way than when I used to go for them in two. The pros will
never learn this lesson because they just aren't all that bright. Most of them believe a par-5 less than 600 yards should be reached in two. They don't take into account anything but the yardage. By going for them in two they will birdie three, maybe four of them, but usually they will also bogie or double bogie one or two.
Take a look at the screcards, you'll see there is a patern to how they play the par-5s at Poppy. There are many more bogies and doubles than there should be for such push-over holes.
"Even the men's room has a double dogleg."
--Dave Stockton (on the Poppy Hills course in Pebble Beach)