Hole 17 -- A Short But Interesting Par 5
Hills, trees, bunkers, twists and turns make this a fun hole

Posted October 9, 2008
© 2008, Herbert E. Lindberg

This hole is short enough that the blue and black tees are separated by only 55 yards.  The gentle dogleg right is apparent in this view from the white tees at 471 yards. Only drives severely off line cause difficulty for the second shot.  Most important is to hit it long, and preferably near the left edge of the fairway.


A decent tee shot leaves something like this for a second shot.  The fairway bunker on the left comes into play only for long hitters, some of whom can send their second shot beyond the bunker.  If you can't reach the bunker it's best to keep your second shot on the left half of the fairway.  The valley and trees on the right side can cause serious problems -- stay away from them.


The third shot for average golfers is a wood or mid iron to the green.  A pushed or faded shot gets you into the huge bunker on the right, so bias your approach shot to the left, but not too much because there are two bunkers on the left.


This photo was taken in 2003 and is included to show the beautiful evening light on the green and the beautiful tall oak behind the green.  The green has a gentle saddle shape.  You will notice that the oak is gone in the preceding more recent photo, another victim of overzealous golf planners.  There was fear that the trunk was rotting, but some say the stump had a healthy cross section.


On the same day, this photo of Lake Wildwood beauty was taken looking back from the green  to the fairway with low sun behind the camera.  This shows that the fairway bunker is well back from the green, about 80 yards, so long hitters have a comfortable margin of distance for a second shot over the bunker.


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