Hole #4 - par 4 - Hog's Back
Back tee - 504 yards
Middle tee - 472 yards
This hole was a beast on Opening Day. I would imagine that one would feel like there was a realistic chance at par on typical summer wind day. When the wind is coming at you, the conditions our group faced on June 1st, expectations change. Let's just say that our group walked off the hole tickled to death with two pars and two bogeys in the morning round. There were no pars in the afternoon.
The good news is that it is very realistic to expect to play this hole without being in the sand and a lost ball is highly unlikely. There are a few sand pits around to catch a stray ball, but the average player without sufficient distance to reach in two focuses on striking solid shots and treats this as a par 5, then a one putt "birdie" 4 becomes a possibility. The primary challenges here are the distance and the movement of the ground.
The hog's back runs diagonally from the tee, so the play to the left provides for the easiest carry but the also the longest approach to the green. The diagonal runs at least as much north south as it does east west, creating a wide array of carry distances from the tee. Just a guess but I'd imagine from the same set of tees the carry to the extreme left line of the fairway is 100 yards shorter than the carry on the extreme right line of the fairway. The teeing ground is another fabulous one of the "just walk off the previous green" variety.
Once the first challenge of carrying the hog's back is accomplished, there's still a lot of work remaining. The good news is that the fairway has a little bit of a bowl effect so stray shots will funnel a bit back toward the middle. The bad news is that the fairway has a little bit of a bowl effect so an uneven lie for a long-iron or hybrid approach is a distinct possibility.
The fairway provides a few more humps and bumps along the way, and there is a nicely placed small bunker in the middle-right portion of the fairway short enough from the green that you need to think about whether your low running approach will find it. One final deep swale leading up to the green, and then another massive putting surface awaits.
A view from the tee - the carry to the right side looks forever long
A zoomed in view from the tee
Walking from the tee to the fairway, a shot of a bunker that shouldn't be a problem from the tee. If you find yourself in it, then your problems have only just begun!
First look at the full fairway and green from the left side
From just on top of the mound you see in the previous picture
A look at the bunker in the middle of the fairway. Still a long way to go to the green. As firm as the fairways are playing and given the amount of club the golfer will be hitting on the approach I think there is still a good chance that a well struck second shot can land here.
The green from short and left. You can see the 5th green in the background.
Looking back on the hole from the right side of the green. Running shots will feed into this bunker.
A look at the expansive green from behind
The beautiful 4th green site as seen from the 10th green
