Here’s another hole where the tee shot is crucial, and it can be really easy to really tough depending on your tee box placement.  You have to get the ball at least to the middle of the neck of the fairway to have a shot at the green in two, and being in the fairway is the most important thing.  Sometimes you can just carry down past the neck and be fine, but other times you’ll be on the back left of the box where you have to shape a C3 right through the neck — this shot is tough because there’s no room for error.  If you catch the tall grass, you’ll have to lay up and hope for birdie.

The approach shot is downhill but not too scary — just make sure you give yourself a putt to work with.  It’s guarded on 4 corners by pot bunkers, so stay away from those!

EXAMPLE HOLE-OUT 1
EXAMPLE HOLE-OUT 2
AMAZING CUT-SHOT!

This par 4 is usually really tough to eagle.  If you’re tucked off to the right and close to the hill, don’t worry about trying to drive the green — you’ll just end up in the water.  Lay out in the fairway and take your shot at eagle.

From anywhere else, you’ll have somewhere from a pretty straight shot to an A1.  If you have to play the A1-type shot, it’s very tough to hold the green — you have to barely carry the lake to the left side of the green and hope that backspin doesn’t continue to pull your ball back and to the right, right off the green.  If you miss anywhere, you’ll catch a bunker or be off the green, so it’s pretty common to be chipping for eagle here.  Long is safe on the beach, as long as you’re not TOO long in the ocean!

EXAMPLE HOLE-OUT 1
CRAZY BOUNCE-BACK!
INCREDIBLE 5-WOOD RAMMED INTO THE HILL!
EVEN BETTER THAN THE LAST
SOME WILD SPIN!
CHECK OUT THE SERIES OF CRAZY HOPS HERE!

In rare cases, this green can be driven with a huge C3 drive from the front-right of the box…check out this incredible ace!

Otherwise, just pick a fat part in the fairway and tee off with backspin to hold this spot.  Don’t go too far or the tall grass will inhibit your approach.  The key is just to have a safe tee shot, because the approach is not too tough from anywhere — just don’t flirt too much with the edges of the green because it slopes off and can leave you in another pot bunker!

EXAMPLE HOLE-OUT

This par 4 will set you up anywhere along a very wide tee box and have you shoot into 1 of 2 different greens.  The difficulty depends on how much you have to hook around the hill on the way to the green.  If you’re in the middle of the tee box, you’ll have to play quite a bit of hook to get around the hill and back to the green.  Or, if you’re on the far right for example, you could have a straight shot into that green.

One green forces you to hit directly over the water, and one is in between sand traps with less water trouble.  Both force you to be accurate, because a miss is either wet or sand most of the time.  Be careful if you decide to use backspin — it can help you from carrying off the green, but it can also suck your ball off the green if you happen to land in the middle instead of the edge!

HOLE-OUT TO THE RIGHT GREEN
HOLE-OUT TO THE LEFT GREEN

This hole has a big-time shortcut you should be using every time.  Rotate left of the green and aim directly at the big hill on the left — you’re going to want to put your drive at the top of this hill either with a 3-wood or driver with roll.  Approaching the green from here gives you a couple big advantages; first, you’ll be shooting downhill, which makes it easier to fly over sand and tall grass, and secondly, you won’t have to shoot directly over a pot bunker.  Here’s a hole-out from there.

If you take the fairway out to the right, it’s almost impossible to hit the green in two, because you have to both shoot uphill and carry a pot bunker while holding the green.  You have to use a driver to get the distance, but it doesn’t have the loft you need.  If you approach from the top of the hill to the left, you can often float a 5-wood nicely onto the green for an eagle putt!

Rumor has it that a couple pros have even driven this hole with the front-right tee box, a great wind, and a huge C3 shot!

The green on this par 3 has the most severe slope ever seen in Golden Tee — usually 12 degrees and sometimes even 13!  Tee boxes are spread all around this green, so you’ll see lots of looks into this crazy hard green.  My advice is to let the slope do the work for you and don’t worry about putting roll on the ball.  For example, if you’re on the tee box that shows the green sloping to the right 12 degrees, just land the ball on the left of the green and let the slope carry it towards the pin!  It’s hard to successfully play enough slope, so exaggerate it a bit, as if playing more wind on a downhill shot.

Getting close to the pin is crucial here.  Longer putts are devastating and sometimes impossible.  Remember to play more break on uphill putts and less on downhill putts, and be gentle with downhill putts so they don’t roll over!

EXAMPLE HOLE-OUT 1
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Multiple tee boxes give you many different looks, but they’ll all be from a similar distance — anywhere from a driver to a 5-wood.  If you can avoid using a driver, you’ll want the extra loft here, since you have to carry water and an elevated cliff into this green.

Notice where the pin is located, and then locate the fattest part of the green that will give you a clear putt for eagle.  You’ll usually be shooting directly at this green, so make sure you execute a clean 180-degree shot aimed at this fat part of the green.  Use backspin to hold it and you’ve got your eagle putt!

Be careful putting on this green, because it’s tough as well!

EXAMPLE HOLE-OUT 1
EXAMPLE HOLE-OUT 2
UNBELIEVABLE BOUNCE-BACK!
INCREDIBLY LUCKY BOUNCE HERE!
ANOTHER CRAZY BOUNCE!

You can have a couple different tee boxes here, and you should think about your tee shot before just punching it out there.  Because the approach shot here is so tough (you have to shoot uphill and over tall grass into this green), you’re going to want as much loft as you can use.  In many cases, that means leaving a 5-wood from around 250 yards into the green, so figure out where you should place your drive to leave you 250 into the green.

If you have the tee box where you’re lined up with the green, you have another option to take the tall grass out of play.  You’ll notice that the grass guards the front-right part of the green, so if you can get your tee shot far enough left, you can take the tall grass out of play!  This may even mean driving up into the rough all the way through the fairway, because that will be an easier shot into the green than having to worry about more carry.

If you have the other tee box where the green is on the right, then you probably can’t drive it far enough to take the tall grass out of play, so lay back for the 5-wood especially if there’s a front pin!  If the pin is in back, you’ll probably be fine carrying a less-lofted club up (down to a 4-iron) into the green.

With a front pin, always err long!  It’s very easy to come up short and then be chipping out of tall grass, where it’s much harder to predict distance!

EXAMPLE HOLE-OUT 1
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This is a fun par 5 that will almost always challenge your ability to maximize distance!  About half the time you’ll be able to carry down to the second fairway with a huge A1 or C3 off the tee, and then you’ll have a great shot at eagle after your approach.

If you can’t carry that far, you have a couple options.  First, you can try to carry as far down into the rough left of the fairway as you can, where there’s no bunker trouble.  If you’re lucky, you may be able to carry a big B2 straight shot down into the green.  Another option is to carry as far as you can down the first fairway without rolling into one of the pot bunkers at the end.  This will give you a chance of hitting the green in two with a big A1 shot from here!

This approach shot can be tough.  The green slopes down quite a bit and has big drop-offs and trouble surrounding it.  You’ll definitely have to earn your eagle here!

FANTASTIC HOLE-OUT

Here’s a really tough par 3 that can easily put a damper in your round.  You’ll have looks from both sides into this green such that it might slope right 10 degrees or left 10 degrees, and you’ll often have to maneuver a small hook against the slope to give you a birdie putt.  Water and tall grass protect the green, and they can really be a hassle if the pin is tucked up against some tall grass that you have to clear!  Make sure to compensate enough for the wind, which can appear to affect the ball more than it should here — this is really a tough birdie to get!

Here’s a short one from the right side.  You can also use the hill and grass to deaden the ball and let it roll onto the green, like this!

EXAMPLE HOLE-OUT 1
EXAMPLE HOLE-OUT 2
EXAMPLE HOLE-OUT 3

Bonnie Moor finishes with a really fun and creative par 4 that’s always drivable but sometimes really tough!  The ideal setup is one where you can float a 5-wood or 3-wood straight towards the green, over the final concrete wall, and backspin to hold the green.  You don’t always have the privilege of this shot though.

Often times you’ll have to take the alternate route around the final wall, hooking some type of A1 shot with backspin around the wall into the green.  There are some strategically-placed bunkers that can grab this shot on its way though!  Be sure to try this shot if you don’t think you can clear the wall straight over, because if you get stuck in the backyard, it’s OB and you have to tee off again!

There are some lucky breaks you can get though if you end up short.  First, the umbrella can offer a friendly bounce over the wall!  Also, if you catch the concrete in front of the final wall, you can bounce over and onto the green this way!  You won’t “plan” to do this, but it’s a break that can come your way occasionally!

If you play it safe, you should at worst have an eagle chip that you can get close enough to tap in for birdie!  I have had a down 6 degrees putt roll over, so be gentle again on downhill putts here!

VERY NICE HOLE-OUT
A HIGHLY-SKILLED 4-IRON!
OFF THE UMBRELLA, OFF THE WALL, OFF THE OTHER WALL, NOTHING BUT NET!
ANOTHER AMAZING UMBRELLA SHOT!
SLAM DUNK!
NICE BOUNCE!
ANOTHER FRIENDLY BOUNCE!
THIS ONE’S WET FOR SURE…NOPE!
WHY NOT BANK OFF THE ROOF!
RIDING THE RAIL — UNBELIEVABLE
ANOTHER WAY TO BOUNCE OVER!

This section breaks down how to play each hole at Golden Tee’s Sunny Wood, in Duquesne, Pennsylvania.  Check back soon to see how this course and specific holes rates difficulty-wise among all the 2009 courses!

Check back here and learn even more tips and tricks, and how to play from each of the tee boxes on the course!

So what’s the best set of clubs to use when playing Golden Tee 2009’s Sunny Wood?  Well, I got feedback from 25 pros on their choices, and here’s what I found!

The most votes went to the old hybrids that were offered in 2005 Golden Tee.  This set has always been a favorite among pros and amateurs, and they play well on this course.  If you don’t have this set, the hybrid set sold in 2009 Golden Tee is also a great option!

Coming in second is the low-loft clubs, which feature a 310 driver that many players feel comes in handy on a few holes.  And, the elevation change is much less on this course.

For consistency, some players use the Big Bertha set or the forged clubs, but only because these guys don’t like to change clubs each round.  A couple players have also found the 0 Hybrid in the 2007 Hybrid set to help out on 4 or 5 holes, but your best bet is still probably one of the two sets above!  Oh, and the D2 balls are the most popular choice, followed closely by the Gamers, and then the Freaks!

Here’s what the players are saying early on about Golden Tee’s new 2009 course Sunny Wood!

AMJ — GT Par is -27.

Jeff S — Didn’t shoot too well here either. There are some shortcuts. If you hit right….which I…..did not.

AMJ — First round was with the new woods and the second round was with…. Can’t remember. Interesting course. Maybe it was just the setup, but that first round we spent a lot of time trying to figure out good places to lay up, just so you could get a look at the green. As you can see the second time through I played a little better (or maybe it was just a much easier setup). GT Par looks to be -27

You can always cut the corner through the sand and rough with a nice big C3 with roll, but you also don’t want to mess that up and be shooting out of tougher terrain on the first hole!  If you get a nice pin placement and are within 100 yards or so, you might be able to practice your “chush” shot here too!

EXAMPLE HOLE-OUT

You can be on any of 3 tee boxes here and will have some sand to negotiate, but it’s not bad.  Err towards the middle of the green if you’re in between clubs!

EXAMPLE HOLE-OUT

There are two ways to attack this hole, depending on where you’re at on the tee box and your level of comfort with each!

If you’re on the right, your best shot is usually a C3 with backspin around the tree into the green.  It can also be a B3 shot if you’re far enough right, which is easier to control.  Try to angle in between the traps if possible.  Short is better than long, because long is water!  Remember that a full-out C3 will add some distance to your shot, so adjust accordingly if you’re doing it.

If you’re on the left side of the tee box, line yourself up directly with the flag and take a look.  There are some significant gaps in the trees on the hill in front of the green, and it’s not too difficult to navigate through them!  Most often you can hit about a 3/4 driver with backspin that will stay low enough under the trees without hitting any leaves, and this should also give you enough distance to hold the green with your backspin.  You should definitely be thinking eagle here!  Again, don’t assume that your drive will hit the tree leaves and slow down, or you might be long in the water!

SMALL CUT SHOT TO THE LEFT
STRAIGHT THROUGH A GAP

I always play my drive to the middle-left side of the fairway, about even with the middle of the pond on the left.  Even if you’re in the middle of the fairway, you’ll be fine, so just don’t get too aggressive with that water off the tee!  From this area, you’ll have anything from a 2-iron to a driver, hitting an A1 or B1 into this green.  The approach shot is always difficult — you need to be right on with the amount of cut you put on it.  I often end up in the rough to the right of the green because I’m scared of not hooking it enough, which would leave it in the water!  You don’t necessary want backspin on this shot, especially if the pin is on the right, or else you can leave too long a putt.  This hole is great to practice your distance and accuracy.  If you’re planning a B1 type shot, remember that you might need to pull back a bit towards A if you’re going out towards 1 on the follow-through so that it cuts back enough.

It also appears as if you might be able to play the right side of the fairway, hitting a C3 through the amusement park into the green!  However, that looks too risky, and you can always get to the green going around the left side of the tree anyway!

EXAMPLE HOLE-OUT
ENJOY THE SCENERY ON THIS ONE!

Here’s a slightly more challenging par 3 that may force you to deal with a hill on an elevated green.  You can be on any of 4 tee boxes, so you’ll get lots of looks here.  Remember to account for that slight rise in elevation, and err towards the middle of the green if the pin placement makes it hard to attack!

EXAMPLE HOLE-OUT

Here’s a cleverly-designed hole that can get you in trouble if you’re not careful!  You’ll notice that the second fairway is elevated and guarded by a cliff.  If you blindly select your driver and hit an A1 towards the second fairway, the cliff might catch your ball and shoot it into the water!  Instead, select a 3-wood off the tee.  This club will always have enough elevation to clear that cliff with an A1, and you’ll have enough distance also.  Any spot in the second fairway will offer you a nice approach shot for eagle, so the most important thing is hitting that fairway!

Putting the right amount of cut on this shot can also be challenging, and you might find yourself in the sand or, even worse, the water on the right!  I recommend NOT using backspin if the wind is blowing to the right, since you don’t want the ball being pulled more towards the water.  And, if the wind is blowing left, you might want to hit a softer shot with backspin so you don’t carry into the left rough.  Just do your best to land in the middle of that second fairway, and an easy eagle should be your reward!

EXAMPLE HOLE-OUT

You’ll be using a vast array of clubs on this hole depending on your tee box placement and the wind!  This green is always drivable, and you’ll usually use backspin to hold the green.

The biggest danger here is the water if you go long, and it is pretty easy to miss long here too!  Be most careful when the wind is blowing straight ahead or to the left, because these winds will carry an A1 shot out more towards that water than you would expect.  In these cases, club down and play slightly more cut, using backspin to hold the green.  Overwhelming consensus here is to aim right at the green and play a B1-type shot — much easier to control distance and accuracy both.  Since this is a par 4, you should be happy with any kind of putt for eagle!

EXAMPLE HOLE-OUT 1
EXAMPLE HOLE-OUT 2

Your first decision here will be whether or not you can clear the water, creating a shortcut to the green!  Keep in mind that a really sharp cutting shot will skip off the water, so you can use that to your advantage if needed.

If you have doubts about cutting the corner, then you should probably play an A1 driver with roll in order to get as far down the fairway as you can.  The farther you go, the less you’ll have to deal with the tree guarding the left side of your approach shot.  There will be cases where you will have to play a B3 or mini C3-type shot to get around that tree guarding the approach, and if this is necessary, make sure you play enough “3” to get around the tree and its leaves!  This is a tough par 4, so birdie is a great score here!

I had to hit driver-driver on this hole, but this great shot got the job done!

EXAMPLE HOLE-OUT

Whether you like it or not, you’re going to have to do some math here.  Take your distance to the hole and subtract 240 from it — that’s where you want your drive to end up.  So let’s say it’s 410 to the hole.  You want to hit your drive 170 yards and stick it there in the fairway.  If you do so, you’re have 240 yards into this greatly-elevated green, and a 5-wood will be the perfect club for you!

If you use the Big Berthas, you’ll have more flexibility if you want, because you can drive it farther and hit 7-wood into the green instead.

The worst thing you can do on your approach shot is leave it short, and this will happen if you have to use a low-lofted club or don’t hit it hard enough.  Now, you don’t have to hit it a lot harder on your approach — just a little bit.  And if you’re 240 yards away, hitting a 250-yard 5-wood should be about perfect.  Missing short will add at least 2 strokes to your score, since you’ll have to hit backwards again!

The one exception to this could be if the pin is on the front edge of the green and the wind is in your face.  In this case, I recommend leaving 230 yards in for your approach shot, because you’re going to want to aim for the back of the green with backspin that will really pull back towards that pin!

Finally — this hole is sometimes drivable straight-on! With a good spot on the closest tee box and a tailwind, you can pound a B2 drive that should carry right up onto the green!  Keep in mind that a low-loft driver might not work, but most 300-yard drivers can do it.  Also keep in mind that backspin adds a slight bit more loft, so use that too if you can!

DUNK FROM THE FAIRWAY
AN ACE FROM THE TEE!

I’m not sure, but it looks like this hole has 1 tee box and 6 possible greens into which to shoot!  Almost all of these greens have water and sand surrounding them, so it makes for a tough little par 3!  Be careful with your low-lofted club here — you don’t want to end up short!  You may need to play a small curve shot into the green to get the best results during a tough setup!

EXAMPLE HOLE-OUT 1
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Here’s another creative par 4 that’s tougher than it seems!  There are lots of tee boxes to keep you just unfamiliar enough that you’re guessing what to do your next time out.

The ideal shot carries the lip of sand and lands right on the green, holding with backspin.  This isn’t always so easy though, because that lip can block a low-lofted driver.  If you can carry it with a 3-wood, you’re in good shape, but if not, you’ll have to decide if you want to try to carry it with a driver OR if you want to try to one-hop over the sand lip and hold the green!  Obviously, the second option is hard to pull off, but sometimes it’s your only option.  Of course, be very careful not to go long, as that’s wet!  You’ll need practice getting the feel for when a driver can carry over and when it might not.

This green is also tough to putt on, and be very careful if you have to putt downhill towards the water!

FLYING THE HILL

From the back right tees, there’s a nice shortcut over the lake if you play a C3 shot!  It’s not always there and is tricky — you have to make sure you miss the tree right in front of you, and you have to make sure you’ve got enough power to clear the lake and bounce up towards the green.

If you’re pinned on the left side, you can cut the corner by ramming a driver through the trees, which will trickle into the fairway.  Usually, it’s not worth this risk.  Instead, just play it out in the fairway, but be long enough to avoid the tree guarding the right side of your pending approach shot!

EXAMPLE HOLE-OUT 1
EXAMPLE HOLE-OUT 2

This par 5 offers multiple shortcut options!  If you’re back and left, you’ll notice a landing area just over the lake that’s about 200 yards from the hole.  The problem is that you won’t be able to take dead aim at this spot.  Instead, you’ll have to hit an A1 around some trees and over the lake, and then it’s hard to get the ball to stop, especially if you may need to skip across the water.  The ideal spot on this patch is as far back as you can get, because a 5-wood will clear the trees from the back.  If you’re too far up, you’ll have to do your best to punch a shot through the trees instead.  Another time to consider this landing area is from the front tee box with a wind in your face, so you’ll play a C3-type shot with backspin and curve into the landing spot that way.  This gives you a much better chance to stay far back enough to pop the 5-wood over the trees.

Most of the time, you’ll want to play a big A1 with roll across the lake straight ahead.  The farther down the fairway you get, the better, because that’s where the gaps in the trees open up!  If you don’t get very far down the fairway over the water, you can take a low-lofted club and hit a 1/2 to 3/4 shot under the trees to the green.  If you do get really far down and really close to the trees, you might find yourself in a spot where you actually have a clear 7-iron under the trees into the green!  It’s a fun hole that can reward you with an eagle putt if you can work a shot through the trees on your approach!

RAM IT THROUGH THE TREES
THROUGH THE GAP

This hole is really tough.  You can rarely clear the lake to the fairway on the other side — you need a great wind and a big A1 with roll, and probably a skip, to pull it off.

Instead, you’re probably going to be laying up in the fairway right in front of the sand.  From here, you should have about 250 yards and a 5-wood into the green, but it still won’t be a clear shot.  You’ll have to play a small C3-type hook into this green, and keep in mind that this will cut a bit of distance off your shot too.  Whether or not you use backspin will be up to the wind and pin placement, but make sure you aren’t short, because that’s wet!

GREAT HOLE-OUT 1
AMAZING HOLE-OUT 2

If you’re too far back on the tee box, you can pretty much forget about hitting the green in one.  Depending on the wind, you can either hit it long and straight, or cut the corner to the right of the trees on the other side of the lake, leaving you a shorter shot into the green in two.  The approach shot from here is still really tough, because the wind is going to blow a wedge a LOT, and there’s no room for error with water surrounding this green.  Pin placement can be awful too.

If you’re in the middle or front of the box, you can test your bravery by playing an A2 or A1-type shot around the trees into the green!  The type of shot depends on the loft of your club and the wind.  If you’re finessing a 5-wood, you’re probably planning to carry the green and use backspin, but you still need to hug the trees close without nipping a leaf.  If you’re playing a low-lofted club, you have the option of landing short in the rough and letting the ball roll up onto the green.  Finally, sometimes there’s a tee box with a bit of an opening in the trees that allows you to pound a driver straight at the green.  All of these shots are really difficult and require a lot of practice to pull off, but give it a try if it’s not going to kill a great round for you!

LOW-LOFTED SHOT AROUND THE CORNER
RAMMING A DRIVER AROUND AND THROUGH THE TREES

Think it’s got to get easier?  Think again!  Here’s a really tough par 3 that can burn you in a bunch of ways.  Your attack plan depends on the wind, but you’ll always be shooting into a green that slopes 10 degrees towards the water in back.  If the wind is in your face, it’s a bit easier, because then you can plan to carry the green and stick it with backspin.

If the wind is at your back, you might have to get creative.  Often times the best shot is a low-lofted iron with backspin that lands short of the green but hops up onto it.  If you try to carry this club, the wind may push it all the way to the water, or backspin might not be enough to hold the green either.  Still, landing short and bouncing up is really tough too, as you’ll notice the different slopes and angles as the rough rises up to the elevated green.

If you’re short, you’ll have a tough chip depending on the pin placement, and you have to be careful.  Even when you’re on the green, a downhill putt is incredibly dangerous since, if you miss, you’re in the water there too!

EXAMPLE HOLE-OUT 1
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