8th Hole - 367 Yards Par 4The wonderful short two-shot 8th is played back toward the clubhouse and in the opposite direction to the previous hole. Obviously, the ever-changing wind patterns at Sand Hills allow this to be a hole that can be driven under the right circumstances if you're playing from the appropriate tee deck, as it's only 293 yards from the 'Square' tees and 236 yards from the 'Circle' tees.
Again, there is plenty of width off this tee and the smart and safe play is to aim well left of the cross bunkers and get the turbo kick off the kicker slopes down the left side of the fairway. This will open up shots played to a left or back pin but obviously will be problematic for a pin cut on the right side, as it brings that little pot bunker that sits in the front middle of the horseshoe-shaped green into play.
And therein lies the absolute brilliance of this hole. The green design here in its amphitheater setting is particularly inspired, with the ability to utilize the ground game to roll the ball onto the putting surface and use the slopes to move the ball either from left to right or from right to left, depending on the side of the green you want to work with. Similar to the bunker on the 6th hole at Riviera, you can work your ball around it here on the ground, even from the fairway short of the green. The aerial game can also work here but be careful, as the severe back to front and right to left pitch of the putting surface can result in many balls spinning back up to 40 feet and into that deadly bunker.
Rob Rigg mentioned that he could spend 20 minutes on many of the greens at Ballyneal, trying many different types of shots and reasoned that he didn't get inspired to do the same at Sand Hills. I'd argue that the second and eighth greens at Sand Hills come close to matching up to any green that I've played for fun factor, including the awesome 7th at Ballyneal and I spent plenty of time at all three during my trip, with a smile never leaving my face the whole time.
The 7th and 8th are both world-class short fours but if I had the time to only play one over and over again at the club, I'd pick this hole purely because of the great fun that can be had around the green.
Tee Shot at Sunset
Tee Shot Mid-Day
Approach from Right Fairway Bunker
Approach from Middle of Fairway at Sunset
Harris Nepon hitting approach in mid-afternoon
Approach from Left Side of Fairway
Long View from Behind Green Looking Back down Fairway
Closeup View from Behind Green Looking Back down Fairway at Sunset