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18 Things To Do: The Top Nine -- Every area course has special holes

July 12, 2008|KENT BROWN

My mom's maiden name is Bass, which may explain why sports editor Larry Vaught was able to hook me with such ease with his suggestion that I do a column about my favorite nine holes in the area.

Larry barely had time to offer up his idea before I leapt out of the water and snatched it, realizing too late this probably would have been a good time to keep my big mouth shut.

There are six golf courses in The Advocate-Messenger's coverage area: Old Bridge Golf Club, Danville Country Club, Bright Leaf Golf Resort, Peninsula Golf Resort, Dix River Country Club and Hickory Hills Country Club. Four of these have 18 holes, one has nine holes and one has 27 holes.

This means I have 108 holes from which to choose nine - quite a task for someone who takes 10 minutes to decide between sausage and pepperoni for his one-topping pizza.

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To make matters worse, in addition to Bass, I also have some chicken in me, requiring me to include at least one hole from each course.

But I told Larry I would do this, so here goes.

The first hole on my list is probably the most infamous hole in the area: No. 1 at Old Bridge.

I've said many an unkind word about this hole, especially after drowning yet another golf ball on it, but no other hole around here gets the blood going (and the grip tightening) like this one.

Because the green is guarded by water on three sides, the second shot gets all of the attention, but the tee shot on this short par-4 is the real key.

If you put yourself in the fairway with about 100 to 125 yards for your second, you've got a decent chance at hitting the green.

No. 2 on my list is No. 2 at Peninsula, a 538-yard par 5. This hole only requires five good shots to make a par.

You have to hit your tee shot down the right side of the fairway, your second shot onto a plateau and your third shot onto the tier of the green where the flagstick is. There are bunkers, water and high grass to make things interesting along the way.

Off the beaten path

I'm going a little off the beaten path and taking a trip back in time for my next hole, the par-4 fourth hole on Bright Leaf's nine-hole course.

As a kid, I played the nine-hole course over and over again (on occasion five times in a day), and No. 4 wrecked many a good round.

If you hit your drive down the right side of the fairway, the hole plays shorter, but this strategy brings the out-of-bounds stakes all the way down the right side of the hole into play. You either have a blind shot or downhill shot to a green with a severe downhill slope behind it.

I need a par-3 to balance my list, so I'll head back to Peninsula for the 211-yard 15th hole.

This hole seems to play into the wind a lot, meaning it takes a hybrid or fairway wood to reach it. A deep bunker to the right of it and a two-tiered green add to the fun.

It's time to begin the uphill climb to the closing hole of my nine-hole track, starting with No. 11 at Danville.

Besides being tough on walkers like me, this hole requires your drive to finish in the right half of the fairway so that you don't have to work your second shot around a large tree in front of the left side of the green.

If the pin is in the front portion of the green, it is real easy to have your downhill putt roll and roll and roll past the cup.

If you aren't out of breath yet, I'll throw in No. 5 at Hickory Hills to leave you gasping for air.

It's been a few years since I played Hickory Hills, but I sure remember this hole, primarily because it has a tree on the left side of the fairway that my drives always seemed to like a lot and a green that sits atop a mountain (OK, knob).

Short par 4s are always a favorite of mine, and there are several good ones in the area, but I've chosen No. 17 at Dix River.

You can drive this green, but you take the chance of hitting your tee shot into one of the bunkers just short of it, leaving you with an extremely tough, uphill sand shot.

I also like short par 3s, so the 150-yard ninth hole at Danville makes my list, as it probably registers more holes-in-one and three-putts than any other in the area.

My ninth hole is No. 17 at Peninsula, a 568-yard par 5 with bunkers on both sides of the fairway that you must avoid with your second shot.

I like having a par 5 as my finishing hole because you have a chance make up a lot of shots (though, luckily, no one I play with can reach this green in two from the back tee).

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Readers' favorite golf holes

Readers were asked to pick their favorite area golf holes. Here are their responses:

Charlie Perry, No. 1 at Old Bridge - "One early morning I was on the tee box at No. 1 and golf pro Bruce Brown was sitting in a golf cart to right side of the box. I took my approach to the golf ball very slow and thoughtfully drew the club back and with the force of a Shetland pony and power of a snail in a skillet, I hit the dang ball - a slice that hit the golf cart that Bruce was in and almost hit him. To this day, Brown says that was the worst golf drive he has ever seen."

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