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.

Pearl Lagoon No. 7

Let’s stop for a moment and assess the surroundings.

Here we have a par-5—Hole 6—with multiple fairways, multiple obstacles standing between you and the green and, of course, plenty of water. Power, while a tremendous asset in this game, won’t get you nearly as far—at least off the tee.

Although you can reach the further fairway on occasion and hit your approach to the green with a big C-3 around the furthest rock obstacle, this is not the path that consistently brews quality results. What you want to do here is approach your tee shot with care.

Ideally, you want to land near the end of the fairway directly ahead—not close enough to the rock just left of the landing area and not far enough away when you won’t have a shot. Too close to the left side and you’ll be left without a shot. You’ll be too close to the obstacle and unable to get your ball up and over.

Too far right on this hole and you’ll have to power a driver for your next shot or be left with no shot at all. It’s a “this porridge is jusssssssst right” scenario, and be sure that it is. Stay on the left side of the fairway and don’t hit it too far.

From the comfort of the fairway, your second shot to the green will be all about adjustments. You’ll always be in a slightly different place, playing with slightly different winds and going after slightly different pins. You will hit different shots in order to reach the green; because of the objects in your way, you’re going to have to.

On some rare occasions, when you’re set up perfectly and the pin is in your favor, you might be left with a straight shot.

In most instances, however, you’re going to have to hit an A-1-type shot to get there. Now, it will never be a full A or a full 1—doing either will collide with objects placed on both sides. Instead, it will take just the right amount of cut to get it through, and that’s the true difficulty of this shot.

You have to be perfect in the way you cut the ball. And, in some instances, you’ll have to apply a great deal of force to get there—most likely with a 3 or 4-wood.

The most important aspect of this shot is staying dry. Use birdie as your floor. Next priority is hitting the green, even if you have a long, unlikely putt to walk away with eagle. And last is learning the shot well enough to get close enough on most occasions.

The hole is repetitive, although it will change just enough each time through to require round-to-round adjustments. Manage distance, manage spin, avoid disaster… and you should be good to go.

How do you play?