Rustic Canyon (Hanse / Shackelford / Wagner) - A Photo Tour!! - Hole 18 Posted

[DMoriarty]

Mark,

The summer wind is usually your back on this hole but there isn't much wind in this corner, the winter wind is in your face.

The big advantage of challenging the gunch on the right off the tee is that it leaves a much easier second shot over the next batch of gunch.  Playing well left off the tee leaves a tough shot over gunch to a semi blind fairway.   Longer hitters, though, can get a bit closer to the green by driving long and left, but their second shot is a scary one.

The green is a masterpiece.  There is a slight ridge along the right edge of the green, so that those who bail out right as you suggest are faced with a very deceptive and difficult chip or pitch to a green sloping away, and with the abrupt falloff on the left awaiting the play that is too aggressive.  You'd never think it at first glance, but because of the slope of the green it might be better to miss the green left than right.  

[Dan Grossman]

The green is a masterpiece.  There is a slight ridge along the right edge of the green, so that those who bail out right as you suggest are faced with a very deceptive and difficult chip or pitch to a green sloping away, and with the abrupt falloff on the left awaiting the play that is too aggressive.  You'd never think it at first glance, but because of the slope of the green it might be better to miss the green left than right.  

This is absolutely correct and so important to understand. I believe this is one of the hardest holes on the entire golf course. The green is extremely difficult and very easy to three putt. Unless you are LEFT Of the pin, it s almost impossible to one putt. It's pretty scary to aim left of the hole with the slope, however. I had an 8 foot birdie putt today from the right that was virtually unmake able.

[Joe Perches]

You'd never think it at first glance, but because of the slope of the green it might be better to miss the green left than right.  

I don't think so and at at best, that depends on the player's skill level.  Missing left can be death for the higher handicappers.  It's pretty common to see multiple attempts to either chip or putt up that slope onto the green.  I saw one poor guy take I think it was 6 shots to go from the back bunker left just to get to the putting surface.  He didn't think Rustic Canyon was a fun golf course.

The new back tee location makes it a 3 shot hole for even pretty long and straight players.

5 is one of my favorites on the front side.  All in all, it's probably the hardest par 5 on the course.

The flooding did change the channel location and width a bit.  It's still a good hole, but maybe, like 4, it was a better hole before the flood damage.

[Alex Miller]

Joe,

I think it does depend on skill level, but like David and Dan mention I've taken to "missing" left when playing the hole. Or rather my strategy as of late has been to get 3 wood as close as possible while making sure that I don't go beyond the "y-axis" of the green (front right to back left). The left fairway is very generous and if you have Rustic's bump and run practices down or a good wedge game the I agree it's definitely preferable.

[DMoriarty]

I understand what Joe means.  The recovery from the left side wreaks havoc on many golfers. The short grass ledge drop-off may be my favorite feature on the course.  It is a perfect example of how short grass and ground slope can create more trouble than most golfers can handle, and oftentimes attempts to navigate the feature lead to comic and tragic results, whether the golfer has high or low handicap.  

I am no low handicap but, personally, I think my chances of getting up and down are better after a miss left because (through way too much repetition) I am somewhat comfortable blasting a putter up and over the steep, angled bank.  But I readily concede that this shot is not one that golfers ever face except at a course like Rustic.  It terrifies many and sometimes the result is that the ball will end up right back at the golfers feet. Repeatedly. The left bank is a great feature, and maybe the best on a course full of great features.

My point above was just that while the other side looks more benign, missing right introduces its own set of less obvious problems and these can spiral out of hand pretty quickly.  It is fairly common for golfers to bail out out into the 2nd fairway right, then fail to hold the green on their recovery, thus ending up down the left slope anyway.

The beauty this hole (and of Rustic in general) is that there is not necessarily only one "correct" way to play.  Each option produces its own set of advantages and disadvantages, and the correct option will largely be dependent upon the skills of the golfer and the circumstances presented that day.  

(Joe mentions the back left bunker.  It is little visited and a truly horrible place to end up.) 

[Joe Perches]

The left fairway is very generous

What left fairway are you talking about?  Left of the green is pretty constricted.

[Alex Miller]

The left fairway is very generous

What left fairway are you talking about?  Left of the green is pretty constricted.

I mean left of the small center bunker. There is twice as much fairway left and it all funnels over there. And because of the slope if hit well enough the ball will end up in a spot that is either close enough for a putt up the hill or a pitch over it. Again, this is not the play for everyone, but I've found it preferable to trying to fit a layup between the bunkers or blasting the ball right of the green. I make sure to get it up the hill on my 3rd and 6 is truly out of the equation on a hole where it's actually easy to make a big number.

[Mark Saltzman]

A slight jog in the routing, as the 5th through 11th holes all run in the same general direction, with the exception of the 6th.  At over 200 yards and with wash and native that blocks the view of the area short of the green, a first-time golfer at Rustic Canyon will surely be intimidated.






As the golfer nears the green, he sees there is ample room to miss short and right.  This swale short of the green makes the tee shot considerably more interesting.  Surely the play is to land the ball short of the swale and have it run onto the green.  But, mis-hit the tee shot slightly and fail to get through the swale, and the golfer is faced with an extremely difficult recovery to a green that tilts away.

[Thomas Dai]

We normally only see green and lush courses on TV tournament coverage so it's always nice to see a course that takes an alternative approach by not being overly green and with modest collars around the fringes of the greens and slightly shaggy looking bunker/hazard edges. Although I believe I can spot a few sprinkler heads in the fairways I guess they must be used relatively sparingly. Looks like you can play ground ball into and around the greens if you wish, which is a nice variety. Is this really the case? Interesting dry ditch/trench on the 1st hole, rather nice 'go for glory' short par-4 3rd and the angle across the wash on the par-3 6th is pleasing. Looks like the short of course I'd very much enjoying playing.

I'm enjoying this photo tour and look forward to seeing the rest of the holes so thank you Mark for posting it.

All the best.

[Joe Perches]

The front pin position is surprisingly difficult.

For a fairly large green, the pin seems rarely positioned in the right side.
There are a lot of double breaking putts to be had too.  Fun...

There's a big kick plate just right of the green, so generally, the play
is to land on the green past the swale or aim right and have the
kick plate move the ball down.

If the pin is in the far back bowl, there's a backstop that can be used.
That's one of the pretty shots to watch too as the ball can be seen to
run for quite awhile before it curls around the pin.

An observant player when walking up 5 can see how much usable
grass exists before 6 green.

I'm told when it's crowded on weekends, it's the slowest point on the course.

[J Sadowsky]

The third hole, at 315 yards, is likely out of reach for most, but playing downwind there is sufficient temptation to 'go for the glory'!  The golfer is given the opportunity to play a safe tee shot to the right, but for the preferred angle of approach into the green the golfer must challenge a diagonal ridge that crosses the fairway.






The approach as seen from the left:




And the principle's nose bunker complex guarding the area 40 yards short-right of the green.  The golfer who bails out after trying to drive the green will be left with the dreaded long bunker shot:




One of the hole's primary defences is this deep bunker long and left of the green.  Playing an approach from the right carries with it the greater risk of finding this menacing hazard:

Even though I didn't play this hole from the tips, it was marked 330 when I played it.  Downwind is an understatement.  I hit my drive to the back of the green; my playing partner hit his 3 wood OB behind the green, and hit a 5w second shot to just right of the green.

[Joe Perches]

The third hole, at 315 yards, is likely out of reach for most, but playing downwind there is sufficient temptation to 'go for the glory'!

my playing partner hit his 3 wood OB behind the green, and hit a 5w second shot to just right of the green.

I think it might be fun to have either a tiny alternate green or extend the current green to a rotated L shape behind the triplex of bunkers right of the green.  I'd like to see if people can get close enough to eagle the hole when the pin is behind those bunkers...

[Alex Miller]

Seeing too many eagles now, Joe? 

[Dan Herrmann]

Someday, I need to get out there.

[Joe Perches]

Seeing too many eagles now, Joe? 

I've seen a lot more zone-tailed hawks than golden eagles.  I think I've only spotted one of those.  They're huge.

Oh, golf...  Maybe I've played there too many times.  I've seen maybe a dozen.  I had 3 of those and I stink.

[Alex Miller]

Seeing too many eagles now, Joe? 

I've seen a lot more zone-tailed hawks than golden eagles.  I think I've only spotted one of those.  They're huge.

Oh, golf...  Maybe I've played there too many times.  I've seen maybe a dozen.  I had 3 of those and I stink.

I think you just have that hole dialed in then!

It could be talked about later, but I love the way Rustic flows in that you really have a chance to come out of the gates hot (holes 1-5), and there are places to continue to take it low or just try to hold on as you make it all the way up the canyon to 13. You can make birdies on 7,8,9,10,12,13, but also throw away chances or strokes especially on 6 and 11. From there in though, you really have to play good golf as it's 3 long par 4's and two tricky par 3's before you get in.

[Charlie_Bell]

It'll be a long time before I make it to the left side of the continent, Alex, but it will be several lifetimes before I look at any stretch of holes (let alone 7,8,9,10,12,13) as ones that I can birdie.   Still, RC looks like fun even for a player like me.

[Alex Miller]

It'll be a long time before I make it to the left side of the continent, Alex, but it will be several lifetimes before I look at any stretch of holes (let alone 7,8,9,10,12,13) as ones that I can birdie.   Still, RC looks like fun even for a player like me.

I'm just saying it's possible, but 7 and 8 are both tricky even with wedge in hand on approach. Otherwise that's 3 par 5's and a short par 4. There are opportunities...

[Dan Grossman]

Agree with Alex. The run from 7 to 13 can be had if you are hitting it well and, more importantly, putting well. It also depends on pin positions. If 7 is in the trough and 8 / 9 are in the bowl, you can birdie all three. On the flip side, if 7 is back right, 8 is left and 9 is back left, you can bogey all three or worse without blinking. 10 and 11 are tough birdies (or even pars), but the others are very birdieable.

[DMoriarty]

With five par fives, three short par fours, and a couple of shortish par threes, holes 1-13 ought to present plenty of birdie chances.  For most, though, there are many more birdie holes on the card than on the course.   Getting to the green in regulation is barely half the battle.

Except with the pin placement in the very back, No. 6 is not a birdie hole.  It is tough to get close and tough to putt.

[Mark Saltzman]

The 7th hole is another that has been changed as a result of the flood / mudslide in 2005.  Ran called this hole a Channel hole, where the golfer had the option of playing a bold tee shot carrying at least 220 yards over wash to leave a pitch into the green, or to lay up to the left leaving a difficult angle of approach over the hazard.  In 2004, the hole looked like this:




And in 2005, it looked like this:




By 2006 the hole was back in play, but the driving options that made the hole so great had been eliminated:




In 2011, the right fairway was extended to once again tempt the golfer to take-on the carry from the tee -- the carry today measures a minimum of 255 yards and, as a result, will not be taken on by many.




That is not to say the tee shot is wholly uninteresting as the golfer still must challenge the right side for the preferred angle and longer approach, or can play left for a wedge approach:




The wash crosses the hole at an angle:




I've written quite a bit thus far, but that is not to take focus away from the green complex, which must be the most controversial on the course.  High 'wings' left and right on the green are separated by a deep swale, or half-pipe, that runs down the green's centre:








As always, I will now step aside to find out what I've got wrong!...

[DMoriarty]

One more flood pic.  The old seventh pin is visible sticking up from the mud short of the 8th green.

[Jim Sherma]

One more flood pic.  The old seventh pin is visible sticking up from the mud short of the 8th green.

Cool picture, thanks.

[Joe Perches]

the green complex, which must be the most controversial on the course.  High 'wings' left and right on the green are separated by a deep swale, or half-pipe, that runs down the green's centre:

Delicately stated Mark.

It's taken the place of the 15th green as the most "out of character" green on the course.  It's also last on my favorite's list.

I think the back left bunker (now close to the newish 9th tee) is the last remnant of the original green surrounds.  Has anyone ever been in that bunker since the rebuild?

[Mark Saltzman]

The 8th is just a wedge par-3, and is one of those holes where you're thinking birdie on the tee, but a slight mistake will result in bogey (and some head-shaking).  The raised green is wide and shallow, and the overt hazards (bunkers short and left of the green) should not be in play.








The green slopes sharply from back-to-front making for many tough pin positions and requiring decision making from the tee.  In all cases the golfer will want to keep his ball short of the pin as a miss over the green is a sure bogey.




A shelf on the left 1/4 of the green adds an excellent and challenging pin position: