Getting your session to drop after doing all this loading sure blows...
Take two on this.
So what do you do when the full course is tied up in some tournament and you're got a few hours on your hands? Well of course you play the Challenge short course.
I got a chance to do just that at Monarch Dunes last week in some pretty brutal conditions. It definitely earned its Challenge name that day. Santa Ana winds were up and this little course showed some teeth.
I thought it was a refreshing 12 holes and good test of the short game in general but especially the putting. Some wild greens. I guess some might feel the greens could be considered Mikey Mouse (like the 12th that has a monster 2-3 drop from the top right plateau tier to the bottom left), but I had a fun time giving the putter a workout.
Lots of eye candy on this "dunesy" layout with the many fescued mounds, but worth a go.
Very good green conditons. Very afforbable as well.
Enjoy.
P.S. Tom, hows' that little 9 hole short course coming along in Napa?
1st - 165 yards: Innocent enough from the tee, but don't go right or short. Tough up and down awaits from well below the hole. The green has some "wake up" call movement going on and signals what's ahead. I wish more courses had divot repair on the tee boxes like here at Monarch Dunes.
2nd - 171 yards: The green looks huge from the tee and most of the holes are pretty wide open like this. So rather forgiving I'd say. Add the wind though and things get tricky fast. Many of the greens had a three tier theme going on with one of the tiers being a plateau green.
3rd - 82 yards: LW hole here, but the sucker pin to the lower left forced a right plateau shot. Then it's a roller coaster of a putt. Good luck on this day...
Check out the movement from the right plateau green that starts from the right of the picture.
4th - 152 yards: Another sucker pin placement here to the lower left. With that lower left bunker looming, I went right. But I got on that upper tier and it was a real mess going downhill from there for that first putt. That left bunker might have actually been the best place to be... Bottom line is getting on the green was no assurance of a two putt. The greens are so big, you can easily three putt if your tee shot wasn't close enough.
5th - 242 yards: This thing was just shy of 250 and downhill but with a 4-5 clubwind going ... I took out driver and tried a punch shot. I somehow got on for a birdie. The two fellas I played with got wet. In retrospect, this hole appears unforgiving, but there's plenty of bail out to the left. That would have been the sensible play that day. I think the wind was going to my head.
H2O bad...
6th - 158 yards: Mass grande bunker here to the left. I wasn't quite sure what to make of this big bunker. In the end, it became a distraction and maybe that's the idea because ... the short front side green bunker appears tight to the green but it's not. MacKenzie camouflage inspiration going on? You decide... This green was probably the easier of the lot. Flattish when compared to the others I felt. However, if you landed well left of the green ... it was a monster putt across the green to the pin.
Can you say huge?
Not so front side green bunker...
7th - 152 yards: This one reminded me of the second from the tee. However, I think the green is even bigger and deeper to the back left. Go anywhere but on the green and it's likely to hit one of those mounds or the bunkers. I totally misjudged the wind and took out 7i. Got stuck in the back left and ... 3 putted. Check out the drop from the upper to the lower.
Big right green side bunker
Contours? You can't handle contours...
8th - 137 yards: Gee I was hoping for a left Cape hole here, but we get the ho hum diagonal cross hazard carry. On this day, I had my hands full. I smacked a flushed 7i and I barely got on. One of the fellas hit a knockdown and it didn't hold the green. Dicey hole today.
9th - 133 yards: Why why why do we keep seeing this same old RTJ kind of par 3? I wish more had been done here. Anyway, the green was plenty to deal with.
10th - 163 yards: Not too much to report here except you better get on. Normally a solid 7i for me, but went with a soft 5i. Anywhere off is a tough lie and deep rough. The front bunker is actually not a bad place to be.
11th - 101 yards: Normally an LW/SW hole like on the 3rd, but had to go with my 9i. Don't land short here. That left hand bunker was not easy to get out of. One of the fellas was faced with a downhill lie in packed sand and couldn't get his out to hold the green.
12th - 202 yards: aka "The Bruiser". At least that's what I'm calling it. Uphill all the way. Sort of pseudo blind Alps par 3 actually. Trouble right and left, so I took out 3W into the wind. Punched it short and just bumped her on. The green however is just brutal from the upper right plateau to the lower left. I'd say a good 2-3 foot drop. I guess I was so mesmerized by it that I forgot to take a pic! One of the fellas got his tee ball onto that right hand plateau and his first putt went bye bye off the green. Pretty tough for such a good tee shot. I heard a bunch of 4 letter words from the guy as he lost the match...
Local wildlife:
Playground to a neighborhood that won't be coming anytime soon:
