Golden Tee Fan zCOURSES Archives - Page 49 of 101 - Golden Tee Fan

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Archives for the ‘zCOURSES’ Category

Winding Pines — Hole #7: Par 4

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From the back-right box, this low-teed driver stayed under the trees and found the cup. This 4-wood curved nicely through for another ace.

From the left box, this high-teed 6-wood was a nice play over the top to a right pin. And this 5-wood went straight through for the dunk!

Another option from the left box with a left pin and a right wind is to play a wood around the left side of the trees and curve it back right into the green.

Winding Pines — Hole #8: Par 5

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From the left box, you can always ram a drive far out in the fairway semi-close to the stream to give yourself a good approach into the green.

From the right box, your tee shot may depend on the wind. It’s still usually best if you can get your drive out to the left fairway for an easier approach.

Many times from this box you’ll need to rotate right and play to the layup island. Find the wood that works best for you here — I really like a high-teed 4-wood when I have to play out here. You’ll then have a 3W or driver into the green, potentially needing to avoid some trees on the approach.

Also know that the fringe slopes off the green on this hole, so if you find yourself there, you’ll want to chip rather than putt.

Winding Pines — Hole #9: Par 3

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Winding Pines — Hole #10: Par 4

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From the back left box, this is a very tough eagle. You’ll need to turn right and play a fairly big right-to-left cut into the green. This is most consistently available with a low-teed driver, but it requires a level of precision difficult to replicate. Here is the best recommended approach — play a bit straighter with a low-teed driver, using a smaller and lower cut to bounce into the green — check out this great ace. From another click right, a low-teed driver can work as well. The most common mistake is clipping the leaves by not having enough “3” or too much “C”.

Other ways to reach the hole, especially with a front pin on this box — you can hope to catch the top of the hill between the sand and the green to drop down onto the green…here’s a great example with a 3-wood that trickled down into the hole! Here’s another nice one with a 4-wood. Finally, check out this driver punched through a gap in the trees that bounces off the wall to the cup! Even if you stick on top of the hill, you could have a putt down to the green!

From the front box, you can high-tee a driver and punch it through any gap in the trees — here’s an example that finds the green. With a front pin, you can use a medium-teed driver with backspin to stick the front of the green after it clears the leaves. Another good option is a 0-hybrid cut through the trees to find the green for an ace.

Winding Pines — Hole #11: Par 5

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Several options here, some good and some bad.

Perhaps the best option is to cut through the trees into the area straight ahead towards the green, landing in the rough for hopefully an open shot at the green…as long as you clear through the trees there is open rough area in front of it before the water. This option is there unless you have a strong headwind and bad tee box. Here’s a hole-out from there. Here’s another one from a bit farther up.

Next, you can cut something like a 3-4-wood around the left to the other fairway shortcut spot, which leaves a much straighter approach into the green.

Also, you can land the shortcut fairway spot straight ahead, but it always leaves a challenging approach shot because of the tricky curve around and through the sets of trees.

Finally, you can sometimes carry the main fairway out right to bring a long approach around for eagle. Here’s a driver through the gap to a back pin.

Winding Pines — Hole #12: Par 3

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From the front box, here’s a SW ace to a back pin. And here’s a lob wedge to a front pin.

Winding Pines — Hole #13: Par 4

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The left tee box right behind the trees is always the most difficult here, and your approach depends on the wind and pin…you can go either left or right depending on what works best.

From the middle box, here’s a medium-teed driver to a back pin. And here’s a low-teed driver to a right pin. Just remember to have enough loft to carry the green but not so much loft to clip any leaves on your way in!

Winding Pines — Hole #14: Par 5

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Believe it or not, you can always carry around to the second fairway…but from the back-left box, you’ll likely play a high-teed A1 driver after rotating left once that bounces off the bridge to the fairway. With a left-blowing wind, a low-teed driver can help cut the wind and get to the bridge for the desired hops. With all other winds, a high-teed driver is the way to go.

From the back-right box, a better option is sometimes a C3 drive around the right side to the fairway.

After a long drive, here’s a hole-out from the middle of the fairway. But from the rough just over the water, here’s a driver through the trees into the cup.

Winding Pines — Hole #15: Par 4

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Popular advice for amateurs is not to try to go for the green on this one. There’s a tiny gap on the left you can go over, but there’s also a gap over the bench and under the trees with a 0-hybrid that takes a lot of practice.

If you do try the high side, a right-blowing wind is best, and a high-teed 5-wood or 6-wood will likely be the club. Here is an amazing high-teed 5-wood that bounces around the tree by the green and settles in the cup!

The consistently-available shot here is the low-teed 0-hybrid. Line up so you are one-click left of the green (some prefer two-clicks left). Use a tee and put your golfer in a position by the bench but far enough to get over the bench and close enough to get under the trees (this is where practice comes in). Your ideal shot goes around the left edge of the trees with a firm A1-type shot and backspins through the trees by the green, up over the hill, and settles for a putt. Here is a great 0-hybrid punched through the left side to find a back pin! Here’s another amazing 0-bird backspun to a front pin.

Also, you may find a chance with an outwind by ramming a driver through the trees, which can land by the green for a chip.

Winding Pines — Hole #16: Par 3

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From the front box, this hole can get trickier with a headwind because of the uphill slope and your need to loft a club into the green…you may have to get creative with low tees and some curve. Here’s a 9-iron hole-out to a back-center pin.

Winding Pines — Hole #17: Par 5

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With the better looks, you can clear all the sand to the fairway opening out to the left.

With tougher looks, you have to land in the narrow fairway somewhere close to the sand so that you have a chance to reach in two. Check out this impressive driver hole-out to a right pin.

Winding Pines — Hole #18: Par 4

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This is a great finishing hole with all kinds of options, high and low. You’ll need to read the situation to know what’s best to use with the various setups.

With a left pin, you can go over the top with a headwind, or even around left with a right wind. Other times it’s a low-teed shot from right to left with backspin to hold the green for a putt.

Same thing in reverse for a right pin.

Back center pins are the easiest, as you just need to stick the center of the green for a chance…this can be straight through with a low shot or over the top with a high shot, but there’s more green to work with. From the center box, this 0-hybrid punched through and one-hopped into the hole!

From the front-left box, this high-teed 7-wood cleared the trees and bounced up nicely for an ace!

Pumping Up for Golden Tee 2016

By Golden Tee Fan • Category: 2015 -- Golden Tee LIVE 2016, Features • • Leave a Comment (0)

We’re into September, and that means Golden Tee 2016 is less than a month away! Click here to watch the preview trailer for the new release. Here’s everything you need to know about it, starting with the courses (possibly more scorable than 2015)! Click each link below to read an overview of each course and find links to video demos of each hole taken from the beta version in August!

Volcano Palms in Hawaii
Antelope Pass in South Dakota
Elkhorn Ridge in Canada
Hawthorne Manor in England
Winding Pines in South Carolina

One of the first things you’ll notice with the new 2016 cabinets is an updated control panel — see below and click here to read more about its design. This correlates with a new menu system, including a Back button and a Random button for course selection, making it easier to navigate around and begin any game mode. Also notice how the course length is shown at the bottom, another cool new feature!

In addition, Golden Tee is installing a keypad for cardless entry on the back of the panel. Here’s how to get registered for the change prior to the release.

Next, there are two sets of new balls Click here to read about the interesting new Barrage and Stout ball sets. We’ll check back after a few weeks into the new release to see how well this new equipment fits into the 2016 version as compared to what you may already own. New clubs sets may be released at a later point, but you can find new clubs in the Build-A-Bag feature (see below).

Perhaps the biggest enhancement this year is the installment of Build-A-Bag, which gives players the chance to purchase and assemble a bag including any clubs (and spin options) they wish! The feature will initially be available only on the GT Caddy app when GT 2016 launches. Six new clubs are offered this year to include in your custom set! Bags will cost $5 each, and standard or custom bags can now be defaulted to a particular course…no more forgetting to change clubs on different courses! Here’s how the creation experience will look. Even better, here’s a video tutorial of how you can create your own bag!

In addition, there is a big new game feature with this release called Money Shot. It’s like Closest-to-the-Pin, but there is no cup…only a flag. Your goal is to finesse your shot as close as possible to the base of the flag. You get 3 shots with the same tee box and pin placement, but the wind changes each shot to mix things up. You can play multiple times, but your next game will have a different tee box and pin placement for the same hole. Click here to read more about it! Here’s another follow-up article detailing the payout structure.

Another popular request was to add Golden Tees to Closest-to-the-Pin, and now we have it! CTTP will also be available in Casual or Offline mode so you can play with your buddies without having to play for prize money.

As always, you’ll have the chance to win new headwear, shirts, pants, and FOOTWEAR to add to your virtual wardrobe…this year’s additions really look great! Here’s more info and pictures of what’s available from the GT Caddy app.

That’s it — we’re always ready for new courses and new features, so the rest of the year should be a great time to be a Golden Tee Fan! Check back for the course write-ups on each hole to continue to learn how to navigate your way to lower scores!

Getting Ready for Golden Tee 2015!

By Golden Tee Fan • Category: 2014 -- Golden Tee LIVE 2015, Lead Story • • Leave a Comment (3)

We’re into September, and that means Golden Tee 2015 is less than a month away! Click here to watch the preview trailer for the new release. Here’s everything you need to know about it, starting with the courses (touted as the most scorable ever – read more here)! Click each link below to read an overview of each course and find links to video demos of each hole taken from the beta version in August!

Sparkling Waters in Minnesota
Desert Valley in Vegas
Celtic Shores in Ireland
The Pearl Lagoon in Thailand
Rocky Hollow in Utah

Next, there are two sets each of new virtual clubs and balls! Click here to read about the Vulture and Detonator club sets, but note that the Vultures do not have a 7W as the picture indicates. Click here to read about the Grabbers and Javelins. We’ll check back after a few weeks into the new release to see how well this new equipment fits into the 2015 version as compared to what you may already own.

In addition, there are two new game features with this release. First, Golden Tee has introduced a Daily Contest where you can play a 2015 course with locked conditions over that 24-hour period as many times as you like to put up your best score. The top 100 at contest closing win money back, with first place winning at least $50. The prize payouts increase as contest entries increase, so this will be interesting to watch! Here is more information about the daily contest, posted at the start of the 2015 season. And they just upped the payouts as well — read more here! And it has been upped yet again!

Next, there’s a fun new game mode in Casual Play only called King of the Hill, where you try to become the king of any 2015 course on that specific machine during that week of play. The current king’s score is shown when selecting a course to play:

Then it’s as if you have another virtual golfer playing alongside you during the round. If you have honors, you tee off first. If the king has honors, you get to watch the king tee off first. A visual in the lower-right will show you the angle of each shot by the king, although the king’s shot happens rather quickly, and you are left to guess how hard the shot was actually hit. In any case, this should be an attractive game mode for casual players who want to be tops on their machine or learn from better players who have gone before them!

As always, you’ll have the chance to win new hats, shirts and pants to add to your virtual wardrobe.

Finally, coming in 2015, a different classic course will be featured each week as available for prize play! Players have asked for this feature for some time, and it will be nice to get to play a rotating course for prizes in addition to the new 2015 courses.

That’s it — we’re always ready for new courses and new features, so the rest of the year should be a great time to be a Golden Tee Fan! Check back for the course write-ups on each hole to continue to learn how to navigate your way to lower scores!

Rocky Hollow — Golden Tee 2015

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Here is a description of this new course for Golden Tee 2015:
“One part Rockies, a dash of Grand Canyon and a solid serving of desert, Rocky Hollow is a buffet of life out west. Centered in Moah, Utah, just 18 miles from the Colorado border, your 18-hole expedition will showcase the various traits this area has to offer. The water is scarce, but it can be found in the places you tend to visit without purpose. And the hard rock surfaces scattered throughout can be your worst enemy, and on occasion, your best friend. Explore with caution.”

Here is the official preview of the new 2015 Moah, Utah course, and this article breaks down the course even further.

Here is a playlist with YouTube demo videos of all 18 holes from the beta version!

This post contains tips, tricks, and information related to the 2015 Golden Tee course Rocky Hollow! Check out the hole-by-hole breakdowns and example hole-outs as I partner up with the Golden Tee community to give you the edge you need to beat your friends!

The most popular club/ball combo on this course, as with all 2015 courses, is Vultures/Grabbers.

Rocky Hollow — Hole #1: Par 4

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Some setups allow you to get fairly close to the green for a chip shot.

Otherwise just put it anywhere in the fairway — here’s a dunk to start off the round.

Rocky Hollow — Hole #2: Par 4

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The second hole offers a great chance at eagle as long as you can avoid the rocky overhang on the left during your approach. That shouldn’t be a problem if you use anything loftier than a driver. Here’s a 3-wood ace straight at a right pin.

A driver (especially low-teed) can get under the overhang and may be a play especially if the pin is on the left and there is a headwind. This driver caught a couple incredible deflections to find a center cup! This one curved around left and under and got a nice little hop into the hole.

Or, with a front pin, you can curve it right-to-left with backspin — check out this great 3-wood ace.

This 3-wood is just ridiculous — follow all the bounces and deflections into the cup! And this driver takes an incredible ride along the rocky road before finding the cup!

Rocky Hollow — Hole #3: Par 3

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Multiple tee boxes offer different approaches into depressed green. The back-right box can require as much as a driver — here’s a nice ace.

From the middle-left box, here’s a 4-hybrid ace.

Rocky Hollow — Hole #4: Par 5

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This par 5 has multiple levels – there’s a lower fairway, an upper fairway, and then the green is on the lower level at the end again.

First off, if you get the front tee box, you can high-tee a driver and blast onto the rocks to the left. You can settle in there and bring in your approach for eagle — here’s an example hole-out.

Otherwise, you will lay up towards the end of the first, lower fairway, towards the right. Being right is important because the hill tapers off that way, but being a bit short is also important so you have loft to get over the hill. This allows you to curve a wood over that corner into the green. Don’t be afraid to take advantage of the rocky dropoff, which will carry the ball down onto the green. This 5-wood was far enough back to go straight at the green and bounce down to the hole. A drive laid back in the center of the fairway gives a 4-wood plenty of loft and distance straight at it. And this 4-wood carried to the fringe and backspun into the cup.

You can also curve a C3 shot to avoid the height of the center of the hill. Check out this 5-wood that was curved around and trickled down into the cup. This 3-wood was a bit farther back but also had enough to bounce down into the hole.

In addition, this 4-wood played an A1-type shot to curve around the left side into a right pin.

Another option is laying up short and left to give yourself a 3-wood into the green — this one caught a nice bounce off the rock on the way down to find the hole! This one curved around left-to-right and bounced into a right pin.

If you happen to miss out to the right of the second fairway, you can catch a view of a crashed rocket ship:

Rocky Hollow — Hole #5: Par 4

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Play as much loft as you can to clear the hill in front of the green. This means you should favor a high-teed 3-wood over a driver, for instance. From the back-right box, this high-teed 3-wood had plenty to clear the hill and got a nice bounce into a right pin. This high-teed 4-wood was perfect. And here’s a high-teed 3-wood straight at a left pin.

A medium-teed 3-wood can also clear if hit hard, unlike this shot, which bounced off the front hill and still found a back pin!

With a left pin, this driver strayed right but caught a perfect deflection off the hill to bounce into the cup.

Rocky Hollow — Hole #6: Par 3

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A straight, downhill par 3 that should be a great birdie opportunity. From the back-right box, here’s a 6-wood ace.

From the front-left box, this shot was long but got a perfect little ricochet off the back rock for an ace.

Rocky Hollow — Hole #7: Par 5

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A good option here is to lay up just over to the right, and the ideal spot is to land the flat fairway just over the rocks…check out this ideal setup for a 3-wood hole-out. Often, you will trickle down a ways into the fairway off the tee, and that’s fine too — you can still arch a 5-wood over and into the green — here’s a nice dunk from that area. Here’s another one from a little more towards the center with a 4-wood. Finally, this 3-wood also had enough loft to carry and find the hole.

Another fine option is to lay up at the back center of the left fairway, which gives you enough room to loft a 5 or 6-wood over the rocks into the green. Here’s a 6-wood hole-out from the middle of that left fairway. However, you’ll more often run into loft issues from this spot, sometimes needing to bounce over the front rock into a front pin. A 9-wood in the bag can alleviate some of those concerns.

Yet a third option is to turn left and play a high-teed driver (if needed) onto the rocks, which will leave you an iron with the necessary loft to get over the hill and onto this green in two.

Rocky Hollow — Hole #8: Par 4

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From the left box, a skilled shot up, around, and down to the green behind the hill should be required to give you a chance at eagle on this drivable par 4. However, the hill is often accommodating to harder-hit shots that can bounce up, over, and down to the green.

Here’s a 4-wood curved around the left but then off the top of the hill to find the hole.

If you don’t want to mess with curves and angles, just play the wind and hit a 3-wood into the appropriate spot on the hill to let it bounce up and over. This actually works pretty well. Check out this 3-wood shot straight at the hill that bounces all the way up, over and down into the cup!

Finally, here’s a 5-wood straight over the right side to a right pin. This 5-wood caught the mountain but shot straight up and down for the deflection dunk!

There is a bit of room around the right side too, especially with a left-blowing wind…see how this 3-wood went around the right side to backspin into the cup.

From the back center box, there’s not much issue clearing the mountain if you hit it firmly. Here’s a high-teed over the top that finds the hole. And here’s a nice 3-wood ace with the UFO providing scenery!

Rocky Hollow — Hole #9: Par 3

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A short par 3 with different tee boxes to offer some variety when closing out the front 9. From the right box, here’s a 9-iron ace to a right pin.

From the left box, this 9-iron found a back pin.

There’s also a look from the other side where you shoot over the hill first – here’s a short ace from there.

Rocky Hollow — Hole #10: Par 5

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A good option here is to lay back to the left in the main fairway, just over the rocks, for a 5-wood over the top — check out this dunk! Here’s another 5-wood curved around the left side that spun into the hole. If you have a more lofted club, you can even go right over the top — check out this hole-out with the 7-wood.

Here’s a funny shot curved right into the mountain, but fate decided to project it into the hole instead.

Other options include laying up to the far right side of the fairway instead to go over or around the right side of the rock into the green.

You can even go right over the middle of it — check out this 6-wood that bounced off the top and found the hole!

Rocky Hollow — Hole #11: Par 4

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This hole is drivable with an optimal setup! Check out this huge high-teed C3 driver that caught the rock in front of the green and bounced on for an eagle putt. Here’s another one that almost finds the hole!

Otherwise, you can lay up just about anywhere. One nice spot is the first fairway jutting out left to give yourself a fine look for your approach — here’s a hole-out from there. Here’s another one with the 3-wood from the right side of the fairway.

Rocky Hollow — Hole #12: Par 3

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Here’s a nice 3-wood dunk from the back-left box.

From the middle-right box, this one hopped into a back pin.

And from the front-right box, this 6-iron finds the hole.

Rocky Hollow — Hole #13: Par 5

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A great, consistent option here is to play a 3/4-hybrid out to the end of the left fairway, which will leave a driver straight into the green in two. Here’s a hole-out from there. This layup spot is only problematic if you’ll be left with a strong headwind into the green, where your driver approach may fall short in the water. However, in this case, you could still try an A1 or C3 driver to get the distance you need — here’s an example.

The next option is to play the lower fairway one of three ways. First, you can look at the far end of the right fairway, which offers a fairly straight approach with a 3-wood or driver, depending on how far you can get your drive.

With a good setup, you can blast a drive as far down the left fairway as possible and then curve a controlled iron/hybrid around the corner left-to-right to the green while avoiding the water.

Or, with other setups, the play is to lay up at the very front of the bottom left fairway and curve a shot right-to-left around the rocky hill into the green. This is NOT how you do it, but this one curved into the rock, stayed under with the curve, and somehow found the hole! This 3-wood also got a fortunate bounce aided by wind and backspin to find the hole. Finally, this 5-wood almost settled on top but trickled back down into a right pin! And perhaps craziest of all is the path this 3-wood took to the cup after getting denied on the first attempt.

Finally, if you get way off track, you’ll see how the moon landing (or something fishy) was staged!

Rocky Hollow — Hole #14: Par 4

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This drivable par 4 with a fairly small green will test your accuracy and distance control, but more importantly your knowledge of the required loft. There are a few options.

From the front-right of the box, this low-teed 3-wood got under the first and over the second overhang to find the hole. Medium-teed 3-woods should clear this gap as well if you play a little right-to-left cut. Most common mistake is hitting too far right off the club, which will catch the underside of the first overhang. Here’s another look at it. If you rotate right once, you may be able to better visualize an angle through.

Also, if you slide back and right, a high-teed 5-wood should get over the first overhang by playing it out right to left. A high-teed 4-wood can work for this approach as well!

However, up and over the left side is also a great option for your approach, such as with a high-teed 5-wood — check out this shot from the back of the box.

A high-teed 6W lets you go more directly over the top from the back of the box, as seen with this ace.

Finally, a thumbed low-teed driver can sometimes get under both overhangs on its way towards the green. Another way to take loft off the low-teed driver is to play a small cut under that gap.

Rocky Hollow — Hole #15: Par 4

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This long par 4 forces you to choose a path up the fairway while trying to avoid the rocky barriers. You’ll then have to carry and stick the slightly-elevated green on your approach.

Here’s a hole-out from the center fairway. And here’s a runner from the right fairway that finds the cup.