File this in the category of "for what it's worth" --
#1 - the bunker off of the tee is easy to carry and is intended to be more of a visual imposition to your game rather than one that affects you from a playability standpoint. However, I accept that it impacts the first swing of the day -- given this, I think that its distance from the tee works well strategically. If you carry it, you are in position to attack the par 5 second from the best possible angle. Also, the two fairway bunkers are absolutely essential to the strategy, as they are on the line of charm. If you chicken out and bail to the right, not only will you have an awkward third shot approach to the green but you could potentially be dealing with a blind shot, as the shaping on the right side obscures visibility of the green -- this is one of the common themes throughout the course: strategy isn't always dictated by the common elements of bunkers & water. Instead, visibility or the lack thereof directly influences play on this hole and others at Sweetens. As far as the right hand bunker goes, I have never seen a high handicapper reach it off of the tee so I don't think that is a relevant point.
The third hole presents strategic challenges on every shot. If you notice the shaping in the landing area, you will realize that a small, difficult to reach plateau exists to the left of the central bunker. The goal is to get to this spot. If you hit a weak shot and fail to make it to this area, you may be pushed via the contours to an area to the right and short of the central bunker. From here, you have a blind approach to the green. From either spot, it is the golfer's responsibility to recognize the location of the flag. Choose your layup spot wisely based upon this information. If you fail to hit the desired spot, the game is not up, as the gathering or repelling contours of the green (depending on the quality of your approach) can either funnel the ball to the hole or make your life miserable. Further, the tree in front of the green is essential to the strategy as it forces players to hit around, underneath, over, or through it depending upon their angle of approach and the pin placement. One of our members told us the other day that he hit "one of the best shots of his life there" from 125 yards out. His playing partner didn't think he could clear the tree and get the ball to the pin. He didn't think he could clear the tree and get the ball to the pin. He thought about going to the left, he thought about going to the right and he eventually decided to go over. He struck the ball perfectly on a path that took his ball over the tree and he ended up 1' from the hole with an easy tap in for birdie that included a standing ovation from the group on 4. This is the precise scenario that I had in mind when we decided to leave the tree. Would he have this story if the hole lacked strategy or if the tree wasn't there? Obviously, the answer is 'no'
The fourth hole is one of my favorites as it has infinite variety built into it. It can play anywhere between 85 yards and visible or 215 yards and blind. The combination of tee and pin location makes it an enduring and fascinating challenge, in my opinion. As a low handicapper, I actually prefer the front portion of the green since the gathering contours allow for an abundance of creative shot making on both the tee & recovery shots.
On the fifth, the fairway is 100 yards wide, and only a horribly misplaced tee shot will find the hazard on the left. The width and extreme variety of pin locations v. green/fairway contour variety conspire to make it an extremely interesting and strategic short par 4.
The sixth hole was designed to be the toughest on the course and an important part of the "give & take" nature of the routing. It is sandwiched between two short par 4's and falls two holes after a potentially ball busting par 3...so, I don't know what to say other than "hit a better shot."
Hardly anybody knows this (until now), but the strategy of the 7th hole was inspired in large part by the 4th hole at Pebble Beach, which is one of my favorites on that course. At Pebble, you have a miniature putting surface that is flanked by bunkers left and right. In order to access the best angle of approach, you have to challenge the cliff along the right side of the fairway -- from here, the axis of the green is opened up and it is a simple approach. If you go too far left into the extremely wide fairway, you are playing across bunkers and against the axis of the green toward a cliff. If you replace the bunkers and cliff at Pebble with the violent greenside contours at Sweetens, you essentially have the same hole. As far as the big bunker is concerned, it is elemental to the strategy: squeeze it into the skinny portion of the fairway to the right and you are playing along the ideal axis...bring out the driver and pull it left or chicken out to the left (on a 150 yard wide fairway) and you have a hell of a tough approach...only this time you are dealing with contour and short grass rather than bunkers and cliffs. For my personal tastes, I prefer the former hazard because it doesn't dictate the type of recovery shot required to the golfer. There are at least four ways to play that approach and recovery, as there are on every other approach and recovery shot as Sweetens.
On the eighth, the worst angle of approach is the center of the fairway. Depending on the pin location and your skill set, the best angle of attack is the far left or far right side of the fairway. Also, the bunkers aren't technically on the left of the fairway given that the shared fairway with #7 is 150 yards wide. Personally, I've played the hole hundreds of times, and I'm still trying to decide which angle I like best. Also, the green isn't really a biarritz, nor was it ever intended to be. During construction, it just kind of turned out the way it did as things tend to do when you have an open and fluid construction process. I think of the green as being similar to the 16th at N. Berwick even though that was never the intention going in. I simply liked the way it was shaped and the strategies / angles that it presented to the golfer...so, we went with it. The most important thing about the eighth is that it has both repelling and gathering contours like every green on the golf course, the lone exception being the 7th, which is mostly repelling save a few micro "helping" contours. Whether or not the contours repel or accept your shot depends on the following: angle of attack, pin location, and strike of the ball. The meaning of all of this is that the functionality of the "biarritz" depends entirely on those three factors. Sometimes you may get helped, sometimes you may get kicked where it counts...its up to the golfer to deal with the consequences.
On the ninth, I have one minor change that I want to make to the hole. I intend to fill in about 500 square feet of the back bunker and convert that area to fairway ramp (on the right side facing the tee). My intention with the hole was for the far right run up shot to as viable as the "flying directly at it" shot. As it is now, I think the run up on the right side has a margin of error that is too small. It can be done -- I've done it as have many others, but its is a little out of "balance" for my tastes. However, I still think it is an uncommon and wonderful par 3 given the alternate routes and unique characteristics of the green and its surrounds. Currently, I think you have about a 20% chance of success playing far right...my intention was for it to be closer to 50/50 and we will eventually get there. I hope to make the change this Spring. It is worth noting, however, that we have had five (5) hole in ones on the hole since opening, most of which came from high handicappers who used the redan contours to funnel the ball toward the hole...so, its not that far off...but, I am a perfectionist when it comes to architecture so we will address that concern.