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.

Desert Valley No. 11

STOP. Do not just tee it high and let it fly. Before you unleash off the tee box on Hole 11 on Desert Valley, let’s talk this one out.

Sure, it’s a two-shot par-4 and there’s no shot of driving the green. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t strategy involved. In fact, Hole 11 is the kind of design that can destroy all momentum if you aren’t careful. So… let’s be careful.

The two major items to consider on this hole are related: Water and elevation will shape just how you play here, which is precisely why the tee shot is so important.

Although it is in our nature to get as far out in the fairway as we possibly can—chicks do in fact dig the long ball, as a great commercial once told us—don’t follow such meat-headed philosophies on this design. Being too close to the hole can actually be a bad thing. Depending on what clubs you’re using it could take all possibilities of using a fairway wood out of the equation.

This is NOT what you want. Hitting an iron into this green is an ominous scenario with water looming. It makes the elevation change difficult and elevates the difficulty of the shot a great deal. To avoid that, you should layback some.

Don’t hit it too far right on the fairway—you don’t want a driver, either—but place it far enough back where you’ll hit a wood into the green. This is ideal given the loft necessary.

How you approach your approach will then depend on the pin. You cannot miss right with the water, so avoid it all costs. You can, however, alter your spin depending on where the pin is situated.

If the pin is in the front or middle part of the green, backspin or bite should be your go-to.

If the pin is in the back part of the green, you can still approach it with spin depending on your club and comfort. You can also tackle this with no spin at all, allowing your ball to release and roll near the cup.

The green is large enough where you have room to maneuver and work with. If you don’t feel comfortable with this approach, applying bite and approaching the hole with a safer style will work just fine.

This is not a hole you want to exercise aggression. Stay dry, play smart and play for birdie.

How do you play?