Barwon Heads

The course's links land and great links conditioning are evident in this shot across the 3rd, 5th and 6th holes back towards the clubhouse

At the par three 4th, a bold greensite reminiscent of Rye is paired with the low coastal vegetation that brings Le Touquet to mind, and it's a wonderful product with the distinctive green featuring a sizeable tier in its centre

I'm torn between the 11th greens great playability and the fact it's quite out of character with what comes before it

The smart bunkering of the 15th helps to raise it into the top handful of holes on the course

The 9th green of the par three course is indicative of what's to be found on the pitch-and-putt

Course name: Barwon Heads
Location: Barwon Heads, Victoria, Australia
Four Word Course Review: High highs, but inconsistent

Barwon Heads comes charging out of the gate like few other courses, the 1st hole featuring wild fairway contours and a wonderful green that uses a false front in perhaps the most effective way, set above the golfer's head as he approaches and paired with a skyline greensite -- the fear of going long meaning many will stand disappointed in the fairway and watch their ball roll back towards them.

At just a touch over 300 metres, the hole encapsulates why the course length of 5500 metres is in no way representative of what you're in for.

A natural hardpan area is well used at the dogleg right 3rd - setting up a tempting diagonal drive before the fairway climbs to a high green, while the 4th is a par three reminiscent of Rye in its character and bold greensite.

The 6th is the final hole on the eastern paddock, another short par four over large undulations that is perhaps one of the best two or three holes on the course, the green well-defended at its flanks and set at an angle to favour the hard-to-hold higher right-hand-side.

As you cross the road, the most consistent and stirring stretch of golf is behind you, and though there are several undeniable highlights to come, the joy of Barwon Heads is never greater than in that first third of the course.

The 8th's valley setting and broken ground make for a wonderful par three where hidden land short of the green means it looks more imposing from the tee than is the reality, but it is bookended by two weaker mid-length par fours with somewhat forced lay-up drives and uninspiring greens.

The raised 11th green is quite different from what has come before, but extremely demanding in its domed shape. The green is the first major break in the course's character and is followed in that vein by the likes of the 14th, 16th green and par three 17th -- all of which detract from the whole, in both quality and cohesion.

But the final third is then lifted by the delicate drop-shot wedge that is the 13th, a smartly-bunkered par four over flat ground at the 15th and the lion's share of the 16th until the new green. The 18th isn't a magical hole to rival the course's best, but the green has some interest around it and the land and setting are both good, making it a worthy close, finishing by the beautiful near-century-old clubhouse.

There's a joy to be found at Barwon Heads that is driven by the low-key links architecture where the land is king, the greens a great example of simple slopes that aren't busy to the eye, but that are fascinating to play.

In significant amounts Barwon Heads reminds me of both Rye in southern England and, across the English Channel near Boulogne, Le Touquet's La Mer course. The land is undeniably linksy and ranges from bold to extremely subtle, and the large frontal ridge that separates the course from the coast is also a common feature. The larger vegetation than is found on most links is another feature that unites Barwon Heads and Le Touquet.

Also worthy of mention are the club's fantastic practice area and par three course. Though it's unfortunate the par three course's holes are almost all in the 70 to 80-metre range with little variety, the greens are a fun set and it's a great way to warm up or cool down from a round on the big course.

The Coast

A rise short of the 3rd green obscures the putting surface from the approach area and creates the first really interesting shot of the round

Playing over an ocean inlet, the 4th could be even better hole if the green were shifted even closer to the cliffside

The 14th is the overall highlight of the course, a par four varying between 385m and 285m, and just as interesting and enjoyable from either length, thanks to the coastline guarding the prime angle in to the green, which is set behind the rocky, bush-covered rise down the right

Course name: The Coast
Location: Sydney, Australia
Four Word Course Review: Fantastic value, regular highlights

There's nothing better than being surprised by a golf course that you weren't expecting much from.

I'd never made The Coast a priority, perhaps because discussion of the course among those who knew it always seemed to centre on the bizarre lay-up 90-degree dogleg at the 11th hole, and that left me feeling that this was a course I didn't need to play.

But in looking for a cheap and cheerful midweek afternoon round that wouldn't break the bank ($30 after 1pm), I decided to give The Coast a go, not least of all because of its seaside locale and the fact that I'd played the other three courses that neighbour each other along the cliffs between Malabar and La Perouse (Randwick, St Michael's and New South Wales), so I figured I may as well complete the set.

As with most courses on the seaside, many of the best holes were those that flanked the water.

It's at the 3rd green that you first reach the coastline and it's also where The Coast's occasional quirk first comes into play, the green completely blind on the approach but far easier to hit that it appears thanks to a downslope short of the green - though that slope can easily help your ball run to the back of the green, leaving a tough downhill putt if the pin is cut at the front.

The mid iron par three 4th is another highlight, playing over a rocky inlet, though it's disappointing the green isn't set closer to the cliff, making as wonderful architecturally as it is aesthetically. And with a good 60 metres of unused land behind the back tees, there is an opportunity to create a heroic long par three or short par four where you're torn as to whether you take on the carry or play safely around it. But to be fair to the club, that would mean significant change to the 3rd hole and the loss of its wonderful greensite.

Away from the water, the 7th is an interesting and elastic par four whereby the back tees are set to make the most of a diagonal creek through the driving zone, before a mid or short iron to a green set beyond a pond that eats in from the right. But from the front tees, the hole is driveable and the greenfront pond becomes a factor on the tee shot. It would be fantastic to see more holes that can play so different from day to day and are genuinely interesting from either set of tees.

After a couple of forgettable par threes and an unfortunate lengthy walk enforced by the awkward shape of the property, the development of land for housing might actually have helped the course, as the lamented hard-left dogleg at the 11th is gone, the old tee area set to become someone's living room. An alternate tee that crosses the 10th fairway is now in use permanently (it was always there but rarely used due to the perceived safety issues of playing across another hole) and from there the 11th is a genuine highlight of the round, with the drive across an areaof native vegetation that shortens the approach the further left you play, before the fairway rises steeply to a green set at the highest point on the course.

Highlights are fewer on the back nine, and it's also where the land is used in some interesting ways to make the course work. In that way and in terms of the setting and style of holes, The Coast did remind be somewhat of Crail (Balcomie) in Fife, Scotland. Holes such as the short par four 10th, mid-length "ski jump" 16th and seaside 17th could all be described as awkward or forced, but they do create some fun and interesting shots in the process.

But in the middle of the closing stretch, the 14th is probably the best hole on the course, a par four that utilises wonderfully both the coastline and a rocky rise down the right covered in native scrub. With the green tucked in behind that rocky area, there is tremendous benefit to a drive that flirts with the cliffs, and as you reach the green that becomes even more evident, as the back of the green is not too far from another steep drop and distance control is crucial -- far easier with a clear view than when playing blind over the native bushes. And like the 7th, this hole is a different prospect from 385 metres than from 285 metres at the front tees, but a brilliant hole from either distance.

There are flat spots throughout the round, but very few glaring flaws that upset the flow, other than the walk from the 9th to 10th and the regrettable home hole, which plays through a deep valley and up a steep ridge before turning hard right at a rough-choked neck towards a green set behind a dam, and with internal out of bounds mandating that you have to play through that severe valley.

This isn't world class golf like you'll find a kilometre or so down the coast at NSWGC, but with the same money buying you five or six rounds at The Coast or a single loop of NSWGC the value here is undeniably fantastic, and the course's shortcomings are more than worth putting up with for the likes of the 3rd through 5th, 7th, 11th, 12th and 14th.

Pymble

Approaching the par five 7th from the right is preferable, but even here on the less claustrophobia-inducing area of the course, the trees are plentiful and never far from the fairway

You gain a better angle to the 13th from the right, but the dead ground behind the bunkers plays with your depth perception

Course name: Pymble
Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia
Four Word Course Review: Needs 30 more acres

Pymble is fairly representative of northern Sydney golf courses in that it's on some fairly good land - maybe tending towards too steep in places - but suffering from having 30 acres or so less than would be ideal.

The result is a lot of fairways side-by-side and too close together, several bending around one another, with trees the obvious and necessary but unfortunate solution to the safety issues presented by such an arrangement.

It's not surprising that the best holes are concentrated around the more spacious eastern and central areas of the course. The 7th through 11th and 13th are the stars of the show.

The 7th is a downhill par five with offset drive bunkers either side of the fairway that ask for a draw between them, or for a drive that nestles against the further right-hand trap for a better angle to the green. If laying up, a bunker just short and right of the green needs to be considered.

Next is a long par three playing from ridge to ridge over a deep depression, and offering some assistance to bounce one in from the right, followed by two par fours featuring drives in opposite directions over a diagonal ridge, with the 9th then playing uphill to a benched green and the 10th downhill for the second shot to a green that's surprisingly steep.

After the short-one shot 11th  -- made interesting by the bunkering and green-front slope -- the final standout hole is the 13th, a pick your poison short par four where a better angle in from the right is offset by a partly obscured green and dead ground that foreshortens the view, while the easier drive to the left means encountering a deep trap short of the green, but visability is far better. It's far from perfect, but given the boundary issues present it's a fairly smart, playable compromise.

The 16th has the potential to be a highlight, but the temptation of driving down the right and threatening the fairway bunker is destroyed by the tall gum tree that overhangs. On a course choked with trees, that's definitely one that needs to go.

The neighbouring 5th and 17th holes are good examples of the frustrations found elsewhere, doglegging awkwardly about 150m from the tee necessitating a snap cut from a right-hander who wants to hit the fairway without hitting a six iron off the tee.

The 14th also is overly narrow for any land, let along the downhill/sidehill is occupies, while the 4th is a long, narrow slog without any real interest.

Once you're at the green on such holes as the 1st, 2nd, 6th, 16th and 17th there is some fun to be had, but those holes present little else from tee to green.

There's also some awkwardness in the routing, with a walk of about 200 metres from the 14th to 15th that involves walking around the 8th hole and passing within about 50m of the 15th green before doubling back another 130m to the tee.

All things considered, there just isn't enough land here for an 18-hole, 6000-metre golf course, though the better holes are worth seeing.

Yale

The 2nd green introduced the boldness and grand scale, the putting surface set about 20 feet below the green

I love the way the 4th green slides naturally off the hillside

A look at the brilliant 8th from the tee

The Biarritz is every bit as amazing as you hope it will be - unfortunate about the front pin

Looking back from behind the green at the Alps hole

Far from a pure Redan, but the 13th is a great hole nonetheless

The Principal's Nose and Double Plateau unite at the 17th

Course name: Yale
Location: New Haven, Connecticut, USA
Four Word Course Review: The boldest you'll encounter

One of the downsides of the "family" of template holes Macdonald and Raynor built -- particularly their quartet of par threes -- is the ease with which those like holes are compared.

As a result, the discussion of some fantastic holes will be framed negatively because of a direct comparison to the Redan at National, Short at Fishers Island or Biarritz at Yale, whereas the same hole were it not a template would be discussed only in terms of its own merits.

An example of that is an analysis of Yale's par threes such as this from Darius Oliver's fantastic "Planet Golf USA" book:

"Interestingly, the par threes here are the same foursome found at the nearby Fishers Island Club, and again they show the limits of imitation versus creation. Although the Short, Redan and Eden holes are quite good, they are not among Raynor’s best and these replicas do get less interesting the more of them you see."

Were the Short 5th, Redan 13th and Eden 15th three unnamed holes by another architect, they would be discussed for their many strengths instead of compared to some of the best holes in golf.

When talk turns to underrated and underappreciated golf courses, Yale deserves to be the first topic of conversation. The course is filled with unique and memorable holes and features, and set on an enormous scale.

The two-tiered front right down to back left green at the 1st introduces you to the bold features that dominate the course and while the opening six holes might not contain the highlights of the round, the approach shot to an angled green flanked by extremely deep bunkers at the 2nd, steep and well-bunkered green at the 4th and small, elevated green at the Short 5th are other highlights of the stretch.

The gorgeous 7th presents a testing uphill approach to a ski slope of a green from a low valley fairway, before one of the best 1-2 punches in golf at the 8th and 9th.

The 8th bends left somewhat in the manner of a Cape hole and the second shot can be shortened by taking the risky left-hand line -- which also gives best use of the green's kickpad, but by driving down the right you can place your ball behind a channel (they call it Raynor's Notch) cut in a ridge that runs across the fairway, giving you a precious look at the green where otherwise the approach is blind.

The greenside bunkering is an even more muscular taste of what was presented at the 2nd hole. Undoubtedly one of the best par fours in golf.

And then comes the Biarritz 9th.

When I was about 13 years old and had just fallen for the game of golf in a big way my grandad had a book called "How To Play Par Threes". It featured 18 of the world's best one-shotters and the author played them with the club pro, who detailed the smart way to play the hole for different levels of player. I immediately noticed there was something cool about this hole and -- 10,000 miles away in country Australia -- lamented the fact I would never play it.

But then one thing led to another and lo and behold I was standing on the tee here with a club in hand and butterflies in my stomach. There's not much to say that hasn't already been said, but I will say there is no way a photo can do this setting or the green justice. It's a marvellous hole, with immense "butt pucker" factor.

Golf doesn't come more dramatic than the mid-length par four 10th. A drive over a ridge to a blind landing area, an approach 40ft or so uphill, a green with a steep slope between tiers. One I'd have described as "a love/hate hole" if I had ever met a single person who doesn't love it! One thing it certainly is is one of the most hard-earned pars on the course.

The quirk continues at the uphill par four 12th -- Alps -- two more blind shots and another green with a steep tier, but this time sideways, putting a premium on accuracy with what's likely to be a short iron.

The 13th might be called Redan, but played downhill and with a false front to the green it's no purebreed, but it's certainly a great one-shotter, with the green shifting the ball to the left as any Redan should.

The 14th (Knoll) and 15th (Eden) each ask for fun shots to the green, the former testing short iron accuracy like the 5th, but this time from an almost certain downhill/sidehill lie -- a great shot to be asked to hit as you enter the business end of the round.

The 16th is a regrettable low point after the incredible run from the 7th to 15th, but the final two holes return to the bold design that makes Yale such fun and such a sensory overload, the 17th teaming a Double Plateau green with a Principal's Nose bunker complex and the 18th a super long par five over the most dramatic terrain on the course.

I defy you to play Yale and not enjoy yourself. At the very least you'll get a handful of the best holes in the game and a heap of memorable shots that you just won't encounter elsewhere.

National Golf Links of America

Course name: National Golf Links of America
Location: Southampton, New York, United States of America
Four Word Course Review: The original and best

Charles Blair Macdonald's masterpiece. America's first great golf course. The birthplace of template holes. National Golf Links of America is among the most important golf courses in the world for a number of reasons.

Most importantly, National is as packed with thrilling and fun shots as any course I have played, is home to maybe the best set of greens I've seen, is built on fantastic land for golf in a beautiful location, is playable for any standard of golfer and is far from a pushover despite modest length.

That is a remarkable list of attributes.

And where criticism of the Macdonald/Raynor style often includes the words "unnatural" and "engineered", National is a perfect example of the fact that the two need not be mutually exclusive.

This really is golf at its absolute best. Disregarding the history, the exclusivity, the lobsters and the Southsides, the golf course is everything you could want. The rest is just extremely welcome window dressing!

The routing: The course begins in the bottom right of the above picture and heads towards the top of the frame, staying on the right of the course, before the back nine begins at the middle of the picture and snakes its way back to the 18th, seen sitting beside the water at the bottom.

Significant changes of direction come at the 2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 13th, 14th and 18th -- showing once more that an out and back routing needn't mean that the wind will be hitting you from the same predictable directions all day.

At the top centre-left of the picture is Shinnecock Hills and Sebonack Golf Club now occupies the wooded area on the right.

1st - Valley - 315 yards All yardages from the green "regular" tees, which measure 6505 yards. The "championship" course is 6935 yards and the "short" course is 5771 yards. From all three tees the course plays to a par of 72.
The opening drive may be the most unnerving on the course. It looks more narrow than it plays, but at such a modest length an iron is a definite option. The temptation is to drive down the left to avoid a blind second over the centre-right fairway bunker to maybe the most complex, wild green on the course, though that requires a longer carry over rough and blind bunkers. The yardage screams "birdie", but there can't be too many golfers who are disappointed to write down "4" as they walk to the 2nd tee.

2nd - Sahara - 290 yards
The first of several blind drives, with but ample room right for a safer tee shot. The green can be reached, but doing so requires a brave line roughly half-way between the sand and windmill in the picture below. Those trying their luck at reaching the green can't afford to err to the right, where the fairway falls away dramatically, feeding the ball towards rough, or at best an uphill half wedge from a sidehill lie to a slightly domed green that's largely sloping away from you! As with many holes to come, your potential for distance is only as good as your likelihood of successfully executing the shot, because while there are great benefits for bravery at NGLA, there is also tremendous punishment for a misguided display of brawn.

3rd - Alps - 407 yards
The first of the iconic holes. The drive is all about trying to get as far up the right-hand side as possible to reduce the blindness, or so it seemed to me. There was a little flat saucer in the right of the fairway about 270 from the tee (see second pic), leaving about 140 yards in from a level lie (rare in this fairway) -- about as ideal as you could want. About 250 yards off the tee is a little bunker to catch a ball that either doesn't fade or is drawn too strongly, and of course short and left of that is plenty of fairway for even the meekest bail-out. The boldness of the green surprised me, and unfortunately I didn't get a photo that did it justice, so you'll just have to look at the drama that leads to that green and imagine a surface in keeping with that!

4th - Redan - 181 yards
All the fantastic features of the original Redan hole at North Berwick, with the added feature of seeing your well-executed draw land at the front right and release towards the hole. While pictures of greens rarely convey a true sense of slope, I think the below image shows how the green is the perfect combination of sufficient tilt to do what a Redan should and flat areas to provide pin positions. And to those who categorise MacRaynor design as unnatural, just look how the hole sits on the the hillside as comfortably as you could want. I can understand why this hole is held as the ideal Redan.

5th - Hog's Back - 451 yards
Formerly a par five, this hole is now considered a two-shotter on the scorecard. Having avoided the central trench bunker off the tee, your long approach has every chance of running onto the green, which feeds nicely with an open front and right-hand (high) side. For me, the lion's share of the challenge is in picking and committing to the right line on the blind tee shot, with the braver line left of the bunker to a narrower finger of fairway improving the angle to the green.

6th - Short - 123 yards
Short has one of the most interesting greens on the course, with front right, front left and rear segments connected by a central bowl, where you see the pin cut below. With a wedge in hand, the demand is for precise execution. The green edges feed into bunkers in several areas, reducing the actual green area to aim at. The wind is also likely to be a factor, blowing across as you play down from the elevated tee. A great example of challenge being created without reliance on length and without stopping a golfer earning a birdie with strong play.

7th - St. Andrews - 467 yards
One thing the best courses I have played -- Royal Melbourne, Pine Valley, NGLA -- have in common is great tee shot interest courtesy of diagonal hazards that offer incremental reward for the golfer who knows his limitations, but is willing to demand all of his ability -- or savvy enough to shape a drive that turns along the length of the hazard to steal precious extra distance. They also have wonderful greens that combine artfully with tee shot strategy. Nowhere is that combination more successfully achieved than on this hole, with a natural rise providing the blindness created by the tram sheds on the original Road hole, with bunkers and tall fescue replacing the out of bounds on the 17th at The Old Course. The green is a perfect recreation of the Road Hole green's features -- severe front pot bunker, steep rise, dastardly hazard at the back of the green (a 10ft-deep bunker in this case) to demand that even if your brave drive down the right brings you in range of the green, you need to be absolutely precise to be putting for eagle. It's an ideal "par 4.5" hole with modern technology.

8th - Bottle - 385 yards
Do you thread your tee shot down the tree line on the right and come in from an angle? Do you take on the diagonal bunkers entering from the left for a flatter approach to the green? Do you split the difference and cosy up next to the central hazards? It seems to me that this is as much of a "pick your poison" tee shot as you can get and the daily conditions will contribute to your decision as much as what's on the ground. The approach is pure fear, playing over the deep front cross-bunkers to a green with a gigantic false front that is all you can see of the putting surface from even 80 yards short. With the slight uphill nature of the hole it's likely you'll have a mid iron at least for what appeared to me as one of the two or three most fearsome shots on the entire course, though putting is generally easier than elsewhere on the course once you've found the green. On a hole many will fail to reach in regulation, I also enjoyed the downslope from 60 yards and in that creates an awkward half-wedge and rewards the player who lays up smartly further back.

9th - Long - 534 yards
Another great question off the tee courtesy of the diagonal bunker that allows the player who drives down the right to avoid having to fly "Hell" bunker on the second shot. Though technology allows us to get past that deep expanse of sand more easily than in years gone by, it is still a hazard best bypassed. From the elevated tee you also see the varity of bunker styles employed at National: the deep, narrow trench bunker to carry; steep-faced expanse of sand on the left and, cutting off the fairway up the right, grade-level areas of exposed sand. All three are used well throughout the course. The approach is one of the easier wedges on the course provided your first two strikes were true, though as the sedate green slopes slightly away from you, distance control becomes tricky to a back pin.

10th - Shinnecock - 420 yards
And so, having snaked to the far reaches of the property with changes in direction after the 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 8th, we turn for home and find the hole's namesake course through a narrow grove of trees to the right. The drive is to a wide fairway with a carry bunker easily flown to set up an approach to an enormous two-tiered green, its high back platform occupying perhaps just 20 per cent of the surface and that epic front portion blind from many points in the fairway. We are on the flatter land of the course from here until the 12th and to hold the golfer's interest, Macdonald built three of the most fascinating greens on the course. Making that small back section easier to hold, there is a steep backboard that keeps balls from running long if they are struck slightly too hard.

11th - Plateau - 418 yards
A brilliant Double Plateau green here on a flat piece of land, obviously built by man, but when it creates such interesting shots you'd be a hard marker to complain. Adding to the approach shot interest is that the target will be blocked by the mounds that protect the road crossing the fairway (which you also hit across with your drive at the 8th). The entire near side of the green is free of bunkers, so you can choose an approach -- aerial or running -- to suit the distance, pin and daily conditions.

12th - Sebonac - 427 yards
The final hole in the trio of lengthy two-shotters that begins the back nine asks for a drive over a gentle slope with a greater kick forward provided to balls that flirt with the bunkers up the left. The green is domed, with a ferocious deep bunker long and a false front short, while the golfer's approach view is unbroken until the far side of Bullhead Bay, making depth perception tricky. Like the 5th, 8th and 15th greens, there is little internal contour, but the steady slope ensures anything left above the hole will be far from a comfortable two-putt. False fronts feature on a good number of holes on the course, perhaps best at the 8th, here and the 15th -- in all three cases you feel you have far less target area than you do in reality.

13th - Eden - 159 yards
A fantastic recreation of the original hole at TOC -- a steep green, well-placed Hill and Strath bunkers, a deep trench bunker behind the green substituting for the Eden estuary and ample space on the right to cut the pin behind Strath. You can even see Shell bunker just over the maintenance road. As with the other two par threes at National, this hole turns perpendicular to the general out and back direction and plays in a prevailing crosswind. The back bunker wraps right around the right-hand side of the green.

14th - Cape - 341 yards
The major challenge here lies in choosing a line off the tee that is neither too far left, where it will find leavy rough, nor too far right, where water lurks along with sand. The fairway is the most "linksy" on the course, almost certainly making for an uneven lie and/or stance on the delicate approach. The built-up green juts out into the hazard that wraps around its right-hand side, but an open front allows for a running approach, something thankfully provided for by the conditioning.

15th - Narrows - 368 yards
The name doesn't lie. After playing to generous fairways for most of the round, this one -- still not narrow by modern standards -- feels like a single carriageway and the severity of the green means you're keen to cover every possible yard of the journey on the tee shot. The green looks like it is 90% false front, though in reality there is more room up top than it seems. But playing on your mind is a 10ft-deep bunker at the back, with the green sloping away from it -- a shot you don't ever want to leave yourself. The result is a shot like those at the 8th and 12th where both long and short are bad results and you're just trying to gentle one to any part of the green that will hold the ball.

16th - Punchbowl - 394 yards
A chance to open the shoulders, though accuracy is paramount if you want to tread the tightrope of the high ground in the centre of the fairway that separates deep bowls both left and right. The greensite, set down low over a dune as the name suggests, is subtle and understated and with the windmill set above it on the hillside it might be one of the most idyllic spots on the entire course. Of course it also provides that great thrill of hitting a solid approach and then cresting the dune in front of the green minutes later to find out where your ball settled. A great example of Macdonald (and Raynor) using the natural movement of the land in siting their templates.

17th - Peconic - 342 yards
From a high tee with an expansive view over the bay, you have to decide whether you can carry the partially-obscured trench that runs down the left at a diagonal, or if you're going to veer right and navigate over or between the central bunkers in the fairway. Either flank will afford you a view of the green, but by splitting the difference you're left behind a dune of exposed sand with just the top of the flagstick in view. With the deep bunker that sits behind the green, it's really a shot -- although only a wedge or even a pitch -- that you'd like to undertake with a clear view of the target. And with no shelter from whichever wind is blowing, your tee shot line is as dependent on the day's conditions as any shot on the course.

18th - Home - 483 yards
The drive is exciting, with two cavernous bunkers on the left and a steep drop on the right-hand bay side of the fairway, leaving an uphill, blind second to an area that is wide, but dotted with sand -- though it is more visible if you have successfully challenged the bunkers off the tee. The green provides a stern test for your final full shot of the day, running to a cliff on the right and far deeper than it might seem. To make the back pins even tougher, the green narrows at its rear and a miss to the "safe" left-hand side is no picnic either. This and the penultimate hole pair well with the opening two to create a start and finish that play far tougher than the card distance indicates.