Here is a manageable eagle opportunity on a par 5.  You have to get long, but more importantly to the right, off the tee, and many times rotating left and hitting an A1 will be the shot for you to get far out to the right side of the fairway.  However, you can also really cut the corner with a successful C3 if conditions are right, then you’ll just have a little iron shot in for eagle!  With a good tee box and drive, you can have a clear approach shot into the green in two.  If you do have to hit a C3-type shot around the tree, be wary of the sand in front of the green!  The loftier club you can use, the better.

EXAMPLE HOLE-OUT 1
INCREDIBLE HOLE-OUT 2!

The safe play is to lay up out to the right, far enough where you have a clear shot into the green.  But what fun is that?

There’s usually room to play a small C3-type shot with a 5-wood over the trees, if the 5-wood looks like it offers the right distance to get to the green.

If you’re feeling daring, there are tiny gaps in the trees to finesse a driver into the green. It helps if your tee box lines up with the largest gap, because then it’s actually manageable to hook a driver with backspin onto the green. It’s certainly a risk, but with enough practice you can really gain a stroke on your competition here by being able to pull it off!  Something like a 0-hybrid can fit through here.

OVER THE TREES
THROUGH THE TREES
REALLY THROUGH THE TREES!

Pin placement can make this shot difficult sometimes, as can the fact that you don’t know whether the green will have slope of up 7, down 7, or left 7, because of all the different tee boxes! Use the strategies you already know to attack this green based on the slope.

Be warned on downhill putts here — I had a Down 7 putt roll over!  So pull back to A or C and putt it more gently to ensure the same never happens to you!

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

From the right tee box on this par 5, there is a fairly big landing area along the river that offers you a shortcut into the green in two, but it is REALLY tough to stick!  It’s very hard to get around the trees and carry the landing area without getting caught up in the trees or the river.  Take it out wider than you may expect, because those trees really poke out to the right.

In all actuality, you don’t really need to try for this spot anyway, because you can always get there in two by going around the left.

From the left tee box, just stay long and left, whether that’s a straight B2 shot or a C3 shot to create a bit more angle.  Above all else, keep it in the fairway, where you’ll have anywhere from a B2 5-wood to an A1 driver that you can bring into the green in two.

This hole offers a lot of looks from two tee boxes set up perpendicular to each other.  If you’re closer to the barn, a 5-wood does not always clear the silo rising up in the middle, so work around that if you can.  From the front right tee box, a 3-wood clears the bar just fine if you aim at the green.  And from the back of the back tee box, a loftier driver can clear the barn if aiming at the green.  So, you’ll probably have a club that can at least clear the barn, if not the silo as well.

If you’re way back on the box and unsure, you can also try to work a C3 with backspin around the tree into the green.  It’s a par 4, so even if you don’t end up on the green, you should still have a chip and a putt for birdie!

EXAMPLE HOLE-OUT 1
CUTTING A 3-WOOD OVER THE TREES
A FRIENDLY KICK
INCREDIBLE TRICK SHOT
OFF THE PIG — CRAZY!
CHIP OFF THE COW AND IN — AMAZING!
ANOTHER AMAZING TRICK SHOT
YET ANOTHER FORTUITOUS BOUNCE OFF AN OBJECT

Yikes.  Golden Tee sometimes likes to punish you coming out of the clubhouse for the back 9, and this hole certainly fits that bill.  If you choose to hit a long drive, you’re almost certain to have a tree blocking your approach shot into the green.

Instead, I sometimes like to lay up short into the little peninsula jutting out into the river, which you see is around 160-180 yards out.  Get as far left as you can without clipping a tree or rolling into the river.  Remember, you can always work an A1 type shot around the tree for your approach shot if you’re too far right, but if you’re too far left, it’s hazard time.  If you can execute your tee shot well enough, you can usually hit a 5-wood straight into the green, which is ideal here!

If you’d rather take your chances with a little hook shot into the green, that’s fine too — odds are, you’ll have to be shaping one shot or another here in order to have a decent birdie putt!

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

On this par 3, you’ll be on any one of 5 different tee boxes, hitting into a well-guarded green.  If conditions are tough, just aim for the middle of the green and deal with your putt, rather than ending up in the water or sand!

EXAMPLE HOLE-OUT 1
EXAMPLE HOLE-OUT 2

From the left tee box on this crazy par 5, you can usually play a big A1 with roll and get your ball to either carry, skip, or bounce down to the lower-level fairway to the right.  If there’s a big wind at your back, you may consider laying up at the top of the left fairway, but it’s very difficult to get there in two from here unless you have this type of wind at your back.

From the left side of the right box, hit a big C3 with roll into the middle of the fairway.  You’ll still have a long way into the green, but this is your best shot to set up an approach that might get there in 2.  You can also cut the corner over the trees a bit by using a 5-wood C3 shot!

From the right side of the right box, you can usually hammer a B2 right down central that will leave you within striking distance of the green!

Depending on the distance of your approach shot in, you might have to play a C3 or A1 here also.  It’s uphill, so if you try to hit a B2 with roll and it gets caught up in the elevated fairway, it may not go more than 300 yards!  This green is well-guarded, so you may have to try to skip it over the sand and hope it holds the green or fringe!

EXAMPLE HOLE-OUT 1
EXAMPLE HOLE-OUT 2

From the left fairway, check out this huge driver hole-out!

This par 4 with an island green is usually driveable but very tough!  There are 4 tee boxes, and sometimes you’re on the back of one and simply can’t get there with your driver.  If this is the case, you at least have a lot of fairway to work with so you can line up your approach shot with the wind.

As with most driveable par 4s, you’ll see an offset look into the flag, meaning you won’t be able to take dead aim with a B2 shot.  This of course adds to the difficulty of the shot!  As expected, use the most lofted club you have that will get there, and to improve your chances, aim for the fattest part of the green.  If you can stick it here with backspin, you’ve got your eagle putt, and you can’t complain about that!  Remember too that if you plan to play a small curve into the wind, you’ll lose just a bit of distance over a 180-degree shot!

EXAMPLE HOLE-OUT 1
FLIRTING WITH WATER — TWICE!
I DARE YOU TO TRY THIS AT HOME!
A LAY-UP GONE WONDERFULLY WRONG!
ANOTHER SICK SHOT

This hole has several looks among 3 tee boxes, but you should always check out the small gap in the trees leading towards the pin.  Most of the time, you’ll have a look with anything from a low-iron to a 5-wood to a driver that has the proper trajectory to fit right in that gap!  It will usually be a finesse shot that rarely will have a clean angle into the green.  More than often, the tree to the left of the green will catch your drive if you get through.  If you anticipate this, you can aim to land a bit long and left, and when it catches the tree, your ball will trickle down onto the green for an eagle putt!

If the shot through the gap in the trees is not there, pick a point in the fairway that gives you a clear approach shot at the flag, and stick it there.  It’s very tough to get eagle anyway on this hole, so it’s not terrible to play it safe and take your birdie this way too!

One final note — if you are on the far-right tee box, look for a gap OVER the trees that a lofted wood can clear, floating your shot down onto the green instead!

CLEANLY THROUGH THE GAP
CLIPPING THE TREES BY PLAN
RAMMING IT THROUGH!
UP AND AROUND THE TREES!

On this hole, you’ll usually be laying up in the circle fairway, although sometimes you can clear the river to the next fairway.  If you’re laying up in the circle, be careful, because it slopes down and can leak into the water if you hit it too far!

With this elevated green, loft becomes important again.  If you have to hit a low-lofted iron because of the distance you have left, it’ll be harder to get your shot safely on the green.  The Big Bertha clubs offer a big advantage on this hole because of the 7-wood and 9-wood, but you can still get a 3-iron or 3-hybrid high enough on the approach too — it’s just more difficult.

The pin is usually on the right, and the green slopes that way, so make sure you land your approach high and left and let the ball trickle down that way towards the flag!  The fattest part is also in the middle, so it makes a good landing area.

EXAMPLE HOLE-OUT
CRAZY LUCKY HOLE-OUT!

The easiest shortcut here is to a grassy hill just over the river — if you are on the left tee box, you can line up with the green and you’ll see it straight ahead.  Pull out your 3-wood (you’ll need the loft) and crank it straight ahead on top of this hill!  From here, you’ll have a good look at eagle, but there’s sand guarding the front (as usual) and backspin won’t work as well from this rough.

It’s hard to find, but there is another decent shortcut here if you’re on the right tee boxes.  If you rotate to the right several times, lining yourself up with a tree out in the rough, you can play a big C3 out this direction.  It should end up in a patch of small trees in the rough, if not beyond them all!  From here, you’ll usually have a pretty clean look into the green in two (and if not, you can usually chip onto the green in 3 anyway for your birdie putt).

I’ve also found that if you take your drive straight out to the fairway, you can sometimes get there in two with a big A1 approach.  With sand on the lower side, it’s still tough to stick the green with this shot, but you should at least have an eagle chip with this route.

EXAMPLE HOLE-OUT 1
EXAMPLE HOLE-OUT 2

Another par 3 with drastically different looks from multiple tee boxes.  If you’re got the wind and the slope going the same direction, it’s extremely difficult to hold this green, and if you don’t, it might be wet.  You can pray that the wind is blowing opposite the slope so that you can play a straight shot into the green, but in all other cases, expect to be working a small curve against the slope with backspin to give yourself a chance at birdie.

EXAMPLE HOLE-OUT 1
EXAMPLE HOLE-OUT 2
EXAMPLE HOLE-OUT 3
EXAMPLE HOLE-OUT 4

Woodland Farm finishes with a driveable par 4, but you’re going to have to maneuver one of the most difficult greens in the game, both in terms of shape and slope.  If your drive is short, it’s wet.  If it’s long, it might bounce back down and be wet.  If you hold the green, you might not even have a line at the pin because of the shape.  If you’re above the hole and chipping, you can’t stop it, and it may very well roll all the way down to the water.  Downhill putts roll over, or if you miss, it’ll roll into the lake.

So what do you do?  This is the ultimate skill shot off the tee and offers a fun challenge for pros, but for amateurs, it can just be hell.  It’s fun to go for it, and it’s worth the risk if the pin is in the vicinity of some fatter green.  Otherwise, the rough to the side of the green can actually be the next-best place to be.  From here, you can lob a chip to the high part of the green and let it trickle down to the pin, where you tap in for birdie.  Play it safe here, and your birdie may very well get a stroke or more up on your competition!

EXAMPLE HOLE-OUT 1
EXAMPLE HOLE-OUT 2
EXAMPLE HOLE-OUT 3
CRANK UP THE VOLUME ON THIS ONE!
BIG HOP!
LIKE THROWING DARTS
USING THE ROOF PERFECTLY!
ANOTHER CRAZY HOP
BEAUTIFUL DUNK

This section contains an overview of all the 2008 Golden Tee Live courses, including tips and tricks for each 2008 course. View the video clip below for an overview of the 2008 courses!

This section breaks down how to play each hole at Golden Tee’s Grand Savannah, by the Mara River in Tanzania.  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 Grand Savannah?  Well, I got feedback from 25 pros on their choices, and here’s what I found!

The most votes went to the new Big Bertha set available in 2009.  Players like the combination of the 310-yard driver and the loft that the woods offer, since this course is a lot about carry!  Players also like the Attack Wedge in this set for hole #17, which is already being deemed one of the most difficult holes ever created (and I concur).

Coming in second is the old hybrids, still a favorite among amateurs and pros on any course.

There were also votes for four other sets of clubs, but these 2 seem like the best bet for scoring well on Grand Savannah!  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 Grand Savannah!

AMJ — GT Par is -26.

Jeff S — MUD, MUD, MUD!! The ball does not travel well out of the mud…enough said.

AMJ — Played the new woods (310,3W,5W,7W,9W) the first round and old school low loft the second round. I think I’ll stick with the low lofts for now. Not many obstacles you need to go over and not enough elevation change to justify the new woods. Like Whodat said, it’s tough to tell what is water and what is land on a few holes. The front is fairly plain, and if I remember right, the back has some brutal par 5s. Looking at my two rounds, it’s at least -25 GT par (14 was an eagle hole for sure), but it’s probably -26 and maybe -27.

kevinb77 — not a bad course at all… just dont like a nearly 800 yard hole…

bpharri1 — i was doing ok thru 6 (pretty easy first few holes), then missed like a 12 yard chip (that i would’ve made on 2008, but for some reason that same chip on 2009 went about 54% as far)…and then another hole apparently plays about 1 club short (like a few of those on 2008–you know who you are!), i miss a putt, etc….. then i par everything, it seems, but then i still think i can shoot a 20 on my first round, which was my goal (that i only acheived tonight on bonnie moor, which is cake) and then…..
……17——–ouch!!!
basically impossible.
there was like a 16mph wind going at about 4:39 and the pin was on the left of the green that is about 25 feet deep, with water short, and junk everywhere else. Oh yeah, and it’s up 10. up 10 and 2 right or something. the distance was the club right between a 9i and pw (a 10i, i’ll call it?). i attempt to hit-cut the ball with a 9i into the tree that is just left of the green so i’d drop down right next to and maybe on the green (the only shot i could really think of). it goes through the leaves, and ends up about 20 yards long in the shit. oh, ok, not bad, i’ll just chip it on…NOPE!! there is a big speedbump right before the green, that is down 10 from me now, and again, the green is like 20-25 feet deep! I lw bs it up, it hits the very front edge of the green, tries to check, doesn’t, and gets wet–and it would’ve been wet if the green was 40 yards deep. drops me in the same place. i then use sw bs it and chip it off the top of the upslope of the speedbump, takes a few bounces on the speedbump top and downslope, tries to check up on the green for like 20 feet, doesn’t, and then again is wet. they drop me in a really tough place with a severe breaking chip and of course i miss.

just ridiculous

Just try to place your drive out there where the wind and sand traps will least inhibit your approach.

EXAMPLE HOLE-OUT

This is about as easy as par 4s get.  It’s always driveable, but you’ll have an “offset” look, meaning you won’t be lined up directly at the flag.  So, you’ll get more practice with your aim!  Do NOT be short, though…if you land in that dirt stuff short of the green, the ball will not bounce out of there, and you’ll have to chip!

EXAMPLE HOLE-OUT

A couple things to consider here — you’re shooting downhill, so the wind will affect the ball a bit more.  Once again though, do NOT be short, or else you’ll stick in that dirt and have to chip again!  Try to carry the green and stick it, because rolling it up onto the green won’t work.

EXAMPLE HOLE-OUT

You might be enticed by the mud on the left that leads towards the pin, but don’t do it — you won’t be able to get your approach shot there in 2.  Moreover, you’ll need a couple more shots just to get back out of the mud to the fairway!

Instead, try to carry or curve your tee shot into the fairway peninsula stretching out to the left if you are looking down the middle of the fairway.  From here, you can reach the green in two.  Ideally, you’ll be hitting a 5-wood, because you’ll want the loft! It’s becoming a common theme, but you can’t be short here on your approach either!  Not only will that dirt kill the shot, but the green is elevated up from this area, so it will have to carry on and stick!

EXAMPLE HOLE-OUT 1
EXAMPLE HOLE-OUT 2

A par 3 with several different looks and a couple different greens — you may have to play a slight curve into the flag if it’s on the high side of the green.

EXAMPLE HOLE-OUT

First, take a look at the pin placement. If it’s on the left, especially far left, the ideal placement of your tee shot is as far left as you can get it — the small peninsula of fairway stretching out left.  This will leave you with anywhere from a straight B2 to a small A1 into the green.  Try to picture the path of this shot in your head, though — if it looks like you might have to try to skip through dirt to get to the green, consider using roll to help out.  If you can stay above this area, or if you have a fairly straight shot, it’s ideal — then use backspin to hold the green, or else just bounce it up to the pin.

Depending on the wind and pin placement, you might be better off driving down the right side of the fairway.  You can also hit a C3 around the trees into the green this way.  So, again, before you tee off, size up your best option!

EXAMPLE HOLE-OUT 1
EXAMPLE HOLE-OUT 2

If you’re using the Big Bertha clubs, the 7-wood is a great club here.  It clears the trees easily and is usually the right distance for you to float the shot into the green.

However, the 3-hybrid and 4-iron have enough loft to carry the trees too! You still might have to play a mini-C3 into the green if the trees or wind are obstructing your path to the pin, but you can usually take an iron right over the top of these trees still, even though it doesn’t look like you can!

EXAMPLE HOLE-OUT 1
EXAMPLE HOLE-OUT 2

Here you want to put your tee shot on the right edge of the fairway, about 80% of the way to the end of it.  Here, you’ll have a clear shot into the green in two with a 5-wood most times.  If you are too short or too far, you may have a tree obstructing your path to the green, but it’s a big window of area still.  The approach shot is not easy — you have to clear a mound in front of the green that slopes down into water.  A 3-wood can stick it too, but the extra loft of the 5-wood makes this shot manageable with backspin!

EXAMPLE HOLE-OUT

No tricks here — find a distance and approach direction you’re most comfortable with, and bring it in for birdie!  Make sure to account for the upslope on the green with the approach.

EXAMPLE HOLE-OUT

You’ll need to find the best way to get as far down the fairway as possible, because you don’t want the trees blocking your approach shot.  Your approach is uphill and upslope, so make sure you club up and/or use roll!

If you can’t clear the water very easily and/or can’t get past the tree line, there’s another option — you can lay back to the left behind the trees and leave yourself about 250 yards into the green.  From there, a 5-wood will clear the trees and provide you some nice loft into the elevated green!

EXAMPLE HOLE-OUT

Don’t get too cute with your drive — just make sure you keep it in the fairway.  You’ve got an uphill, upslope approach shot again, but sometimes the pin placement can be tough here.  If in doubt, find the middle of the green!

EXAMPLE HOLE-OUT

Your first step here is to check the pin placement and wind, because this should determine where you put your drive.

With a front tee box and a wind blowing towards the green, you actually have a chance to drive this green!  Play a big C3 with roll and you might actually get it there.  At worst, you should clear the mud and have a chip and a putt for eagle.

That setup is rare, so there are two equally good options left for you.  One involves rotating left and hitting a driver or 3-wood to the grassy landing area out there.  Try to place your drive as close to the right/front of that patch as you can (closest to the green).  Also take note of the pin and wind, because it’s a long patch of grassy stuff and you should position yourself as best you can for your approach.  You still might have to bounce through sand and rough on the way to the pin, so this approach is sometimes challenging.

The other option, sometimes overlooked since you’re usually looking for a shortcut on a par 5, is to play the fairway!  Straight ahead, the fairway juts towards the green, and the best layup spot is as close to the mud and the flag as you can get.  Again, wind and pin placement is a key here, and this shot is easier when the wind and pin cooperate with this angle into the green.  You can still get a driver, sometimes less, to the green from here with a well-positioned drive!

EXAMPLE HOLE-OUT
HERE IT IS — SUPER ALBATROSS!