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. 7

Hole 7 on Celtic Shores is the kind of links-ish par-3 that will steal your four-iron and run off into the distance if you aren’t careful. It’s not a catastrophic design, but rather, a place that you can easily drop a shot if you aren’t careful.

There are no hazards to be concerned with (unless you go way left and if that’s the case you have bigger problems). The green is circular, large and gives you ample room to move the ball.

The difficulty here lies with two very distinct traits: elevation and wind.

Combined they can cause you issues, and they do here. You don’t have to be off by a wide margin to be off on Hole 7; the long fall and the heavy gusts can take you places that you don’t want to go. Still, you’re likely looking at par at the very worst, which is a nice change of pace.

How you approach this hole will depend on how comfortable you are with dealing with the variables above along with pin placement and club in hand. Hitting 6 or 7 woods into this hole can be a challenge simply because the loft tends to be batted around by the wind. Having a hybrid on the other hand can battle the winds a little bit better on certain setups.

You may also have to hit a 5-wood—or something more—in order to get there. That was the case in the shot below, which was a difficult pin placement to get at with the wind.

Just as important as distance control is spin control. Although it is in our nature to spin the ball aggressively toward the cup, be careful. The elevation and wind can make backspin much more violent. There are certainly instances where it’s warranted but there are also plenty of setups where it’s not.

Deciding when and when not to use backspin is something that will take time and reps. Ultimately your approach should be about getting it close enough for a makeable birdie putt. This is not the place to play hero. This is about walking away a two.