Here’s an example hole-out. VIDEO DEMO

Here’s an example hole-out. VIDEO DEMO

Elevation is almost never an issue here if you hit your shot hard with the highest lofted club that you think can get there.  It can be anywhere from a 3-wood to a driver.  It carries well too, as the green is downhill from the tee box.  Long is water — you cannot be there, […]

This hole presents all kinds of opportunities!  The green can be driven most of the time, but you’ll have to control a deflection off one of a couple rocks while choosing the right club depending on the wind. If the wind is blowing between 3:00 and 6:00, play a high-teed 5-wood with backspin into the […]

First, take a look at your tee box and the wind.  A high-teed driver cut around the corner in the right conditions can reach the green!  A high-teed 3-wood can even cut over the far right trees but would require an exceptional look — still, the high-teed 3W gives your best chance of cutting around […]

This hole will likely require a couple of small cut shots to hit the green.  Don’t get too crazy off the tee — again, distance doesn’t much matter, just get it somewhere right of the sand, preferably short so you don’t bring it into play.  Here’s a nice hole-out from behind the sand.  There’s a […]

You’ll be cutting your tee shot around the right side to give yourself an eagle putt here.  Here’s a dunk with a 5-wood with a pretty straight look, and here’s a 3-wood with a small cut around the corner.  It’s usually not too bad unless the wind is blowing right.  If you miss anywhere, miss […]

This hole looks harder than it actually plays.  Rotate right a couple clicks and play a C2.5-type shot with a hard cut around the mountain, usually with backspin.  This helps the ball come back left and gives you a better angle at the green.  No matter where you end up off the tee, you should […]

Most of the time, you should be aiming at the fairway straight ahead, especially with a tailwind!  Take a high tee and see if you can get past, or at least stay left, of the sand traps there.  Here’s a hole-out from the fairway after a long drive straight ahead.  It’s not as far as you think […]

This is one of the toughest par 3s in the past several years, especially with a pin on the right.  Short = water.  Long = bank off the back = water.  There’s only a sliver of green to work with.  Here’s a dunk to a right pin, and here’s another great hole-out.  Pray for a […]

You CAN go left around the house to cut some distance off your approach shot, but it’s usually not worth the risk unless you’re sure it’s an easy shot.  Sometimes it is if your tee box puts you in line with that gap, so take advantage of it if it’s there.  Here’s a hole-out from […]

Most times you can curve a wood around the left side and plop it down on the green, sometimes using the back wall for a light deflection.  A high tee can help too.  Here’s a great 3-wood from the back center box.  And check out this 5-wood played off the top of the wall, around […]

The best shot here may be a C2ish driver with backspin.  You can skip if off the water (not preferred, but doable) and/or ram into the hill short of the green (preferred), rolling up and on.   Cutting into the hill kills the velocity — here’s a great hole-out using that approach!  Here’s another low-teed driver […]

This opening hole is drivable with a high tee from the front box — check out this nice little hop!  This hole-out didn’t even require a high tee because the look was so good — nice. Here’s an amazing hole-out from the middle box with a huge A1 high-teed driver!  Here’s another amazing ace with […]

Two options here off the tee — in the demo, he goes over the top of the right tower with a high-teed 3-wood.  I haven’t confirmed this still works, but if it does, there you go! Another option is to rotate right once or twice and play a big, high-teed C3 driver over the building […]

Gauge the wind here to determine the tee shot that will give you the best approach into the green.  First, you can rotate left and play a drive straight over to the second fairway.  You may sometimes want a high tee to ensure your distance is enough.  This gives you a clear shot at the […]

A high-teed driver straight at it can get there most of the time — here’s a long ace!  This one also went right over the yellow tree on the left and trickled all the way down and in, but you may also clip a leaf here if you mishit it, so stay right of this […]

Just aim for the end of the first fairway — you’ll have plenty of club to get there in two, and you won’t bring any danger into play.  Here’s a nice 5-wood hole-out to a front pin.  A 7 or 9-wood will be used often as well.  Make sure you carry the green, and better […]

The following grid breaks down the best and worst you should be able to shoot on Royal Cove relative to the possible setups you could get on each hole: Hole Par GT Par Total Min Max Min Max 1 4 3 3 -1 -1 2 4 2 3 -3 -2 3 3 2 2 -4 […]

There are two greens here — one has you coming straight into the downslope, and one has you hitting into the green sloped hard to the left.  From the front, you’ve got water long (can’t be there), and dirt and road short (the better place to miss).  Also be careful not to miss on the […]

This hole tests your elevation control, as the wind will play a big part on the way down.  You shouldn’t need to apply any spin here unless you have a tailwind, in which case you should use bite or backspin.  You may also use bite if a side-wind is blowing away from the flag.  Here’s […]

This hole is actually drivable in certain setups with a high-teed A1 driver, but almost never worth the risk.  There’s a very small margin of error in terms of the curve path and the distance, and it requires you to land in the sand strip short of the green to kill the ball and stop […]

Here you’ll need to curve a long wood, often high-teed, around the mountain and stick a fairly small area that includes the green.  Remember that if you choose a straight line and play a small cut around the mountain, it’s easier to control, but you’ll also lose distance vs. a bigger cut shot that will […]

Don’t hit your drive in the blacktop — it’s all out of bounds!  Instead, you’ll have to hit your drive straight out in the fairway, avoiding the sand.  Don’t get it too close to the fence either or your approach won’t clear it!  So the middle of the fairway, quite a ways down, is pretty […]

Here is a shorter par 3 that may test your skills curving a short iron into the wind.  There’s a lot of green to the right, and that’s the safe place to be.  Sometimes you’ll get a really favorable setup, so if you do, try to take advantage — here is a hole-out to a […]

From the back box, there’s no need to cut the corner much here — you don’t want to bring anything but fairway into play!  Poke it out right in a fat part of the fairway and hit a long wood into the green.  Here’s a nice driver hole-out. From the front box, you can curve […]

Lay up towards the end of the first fairway and bring it in for birdie.  Here’s an example 9-wood hole-out.  Don’t take this one for granted — you’ll need to nail your distance with sand short and long. VIDEO DEMO

Lots of tee boxes here create many different looks at this downhill par 3.  Account extra for the wind and recognize the presence of a big grassy hill on the right — it can help or hurt you depending on how you bring it into play.  Again, the best shot is to the center of […]

I haven’t seen a need yet to even consider the right fairway.  The left fairway is always reachable, usually without a high tee, but you might want a high tee to be safe.  Line up with the fairway that juts towards you and hit it straight and hard.  This should leave you a nice approach […]

This par 3 is where things start to get slightly tricky.  This usually isn’t the place to go pin-hunting either — do what you can to stick the middle of the green and give yourself a putt.  Don’t bring any trouble into play by being too aggressive, because this front 9 is very manageable and […]