It's got to be experienced to really be appreciated, but since I've played it quite a bit I'll try to describe what the first at Greywalls is like.
First off, it's the second highest point on the course - nearly the highest - and naturally provides a great panoramic view. That view is filled up on the horizon by Lake Superior and about 45 miles of coastline, stretching all the way to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, the colors of which can be seen quite well on a clear day. Beneath all that blue and opposite the distant coastline is the forest boundary beyond the first green and second tee. To your right is a 100 foot cliff that drops down to the last 150 yards of the 18th. As beautiful as all of that is, it's what transpires in the slight dogleg right from tee to green that makes it so much fun to play.
The tee shot is downhill and bisected by a deep marsh gully. The differences in tee lengths allows every player to choose a tee which provides them with excitement in trying to carry the gully (which looks a lot further than it plays), and the fairway on the other side is at the outset one of the widest on the course. The first 70 yards or so of fairway is also relatively level considering the rough-and-tumble undulations the player experiences for most of the rest of the round.
By contrast, the longer, more aggressive tee shots face a slight narrowing of the fairway which plays far narrower due to all of the rollercoaster mini-mountains which can funnel the aggressive first-timer's tee shot into any number of hellish lies - and still be in the mowed grass. I've seen many an aggressive Big Shot step onto the tee for the first time and boldly go for as much distance as humanly possible, attempting to cut off some of the right side, only to be spotted a few minutes later contorting themselves into a circus-like position as they try to Houdini their way back to safety. This is not to say there's no room for aggression - a smart aggressive route can be taken down the left side, against instinct, and give the player an outside chance of knocking it on in two.
The smart conservative tee shot can be hit with anything in which the player has confidence in carrying the gully, usually a 3-wood, and should favor the left side of the fairway but will not be severely penalized anywhere else on the short turf. A lay-up from there can again be hit with pretty much anything, but the shorter layup must be played down the left side as a rock cliff runs down the right-center for about 50 yards separating safe fairway from some more gnarly lies. A more aggressive layup gets some more room to work with, and is rewarded with less club into what I consider to be the toughest green to successfully hit and hold on the golf course.
The small green is a plateau sloping off on all sides, most severely on the front three, and rewards imaginative ground approaches as well as bombs from high above. What doesn't work most of the time is the mindless wedge, which quickly gets across the message (in case it hasn't yet been received), "Welcome to Greywalls, you're going to have to do some thinking today." Though the green is fairly small (narrow but longish), it still has room for some fun undulation, and, like the first at Crystal Downs, many a player has made the mistake of breathing too easily too soon. I've seen people putt off the green on all sides.
Bottom line: it's a thinking player's hole. If you play it conservatively but with some imagination, you can be very successful and escape with par or better. If you expect an easy, walk-in-the-park opener, bring plenty of Xanax and don't forget your wedge when you bring your putter up to the green. For those reasons it's a great introduction to a course which will over the next 17 holes continually reward imagination and punish apathy.
It's also drop-dead gorgeous when viewed from any angle, particularly in reverse back up the rough slopes. The undulations really make for a beautiful retrospective view, even if the journey was a bit arduous.
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Other favorite openers of mine are Crystal Downs, Kingsley Club, Tobacco Road, and, going for the more welcoming opener, Pine Needles.