COURSE CADDIES :: Celtic Shores :: Hole 9 :: PAR 4

This year’s breakdowns now include video of each hole being played, although your feedback is most appreciated on these designs. How do you play? Share your strategy or Golden Tee Great Shots in the comments below.

All holes will then be available for reference on the Course Caddies page—a bookmark must for the entire encyclopedia! Enjoy, and stay tuned for plenty more.

 

Celtic Shores No. 9


Let’s address the weird, irregular and awesome out of the gate. Hole 10 on Celtic Shores has been driven before. It doesn’t happen often—and you probably need a golf ball that can travel great distances to get there—although it has been done.

Here’s proof.

 

Now, that won’t likely be the case often. You need a GREAT wind and a close tee box for the possibility to even enter your mind, but it is possible. And perhaps more significant to this hole in a general sense is that you don’t have a ton of disasters to worry about here.

If you don’t drive the green, playing for the sand trap nestled below and directly in front of the putting surface is possible. It helps to have an L-wedge if you decide this route, as you’ll likely be hitting well below the green. It works, though, although you do lose spin control and on occasion may find yourself in a sticky situation in the sand.

Unless you truly believe you can reach the green, laying back in the fairway a bit is not the worst idea. You can adjust your distance based off your club set and also the wind. By doing this, you can essentially play the hole to your strengths.

You can also have full control of bite, backspin and roll for attacking the pin, wherever it might be located. Although backspin is somewhat risky given the slope of the green and the danger of coming up short, there are certain setups where it will work.

More times than not, however, bite should work just fine.

Set yourself up for your approach. Although statistically you will hole out far more from shorter distances, the wind and potential gaps between clubs don’t always make a close shot an easy shot. This is where you have flexibility to play around and figure out the shots that suit you.

How do you play?