Hole 8

The main problem with our 8th hole is the severely sloped front of the green.  With our current green there is really only one pin location in the front and when it is windy or the greens are fast, that location is sometimes unfair and almost unplayable.   You may also notice all the cup marks that are nearly in the same spot.  This is due to the fact that there are almost no flat spots on the front of the green.

The other flaw in this hole is that it is yet another dead straight par 4 with no challenge or consequence from the tee.  Hole 8, 10, 12, 14 and 17 are all similar and our enhancement plan hopes to break some of that repetitiveness by making the bunker on the left more visible and consequential.

Here is the conceptual plan for the 8th hole.

In summary, the proposed changes are:

1. Rebuild current Green Tee and convert it into the White tee for a 268 yard hole as opposed to the 318 yards it is today.

2. Add a new Green Tee making a 225 yard par 4.

3. Move the cart path left to help make the hole feel more like a dogleg as the preferred angle into the green will be from the left side of the fairway.

4. Widening the fairway before the fairway bunker and by the green.  This will continue our efforts to try and add variety to the shape of our fairways and make the course play a bit easier for higher handicap players.

5. Move, reshape, and expand the fairway bunker towards the center of the fairway.  It should be around 270 yards to reach from the back tee and 295 yards to clear from the back tee.  From the white tees it will be around 160 yards to reach.

6. Rebuild and reshape the green so there are multiple pin locations in the front.  The inspiration for the new green is the 7th at Pasatiempo and the new shape will favor an approach from the left side of the fairway, near the fairway bunker.  This change in the orientation of the green will create a bit of a dogleg where none exists today.

7. Renovate the entire green to USGA specifications so it has proper drainage, gravel and sand layers which will help turf consistency and quality.

8. Renovate and reshape the left greenside bunker as it was not renovated in the bunker renovation project.

9. Remove the existing right greenside bunker.  As stated earlier, our course has a lot of holes with bunkers on both sides of the green.  This will help create some variety.

10. Add a new greenside bunker on the front right side of the green to help with raising the green.

11. There will be a lot of work done to the right side of the green, up to the tee on #11, to help address some drainage problems that we have in that area.

Here is a video showing how the proposed changes would appear.

And here is a virtual image of how things will look.

Click here for Hole 9