Click on the thumb nail images to see a large picture.
This hole was named as one of the Top 100 Golf Holes in the world by Golf Magazine and is my favorite hole on the course. I think that Dr. Mackenzie may have been inspired by the "lone cypress tree" out in California because there are a couple of holes that have singular trees in play. They can be quite intimidating. For some reason I always end up playing this hole very well. I've never missed the fairway (knock on wood) and never scored anything worse than bogey.
The Tee
A 345 yard par four. The hole requires a very accurate drive to get a good score. You have to go around or over that tree and make sure that you do not go off to the right as the fairway slants off that way. It is vital to get a ball in the fairway to get a shot at the green. The area below and to the left of the tree is basically dead as you can see from the picture below.
Down and Left
From here all you can do is hit a short iron up over the bunkers to get a clear shot of the green. This correct line on this shot is deceiving however. The line to the pin is actually at the tops of the trees. You need to aim just a little bit to the right of that (over the left hand bunker) to hit the fairway. If you go too far right your ball will roll off the fairway and into the rough.
From the Fairway back to the Tee
This looks back at the tee from my drive right smack in the middle of the fairway (applause please). You can see in this picture how much mounding there is in the fairway. BTW - I hit a gorgeous 5-iron to about 15 feet from this spot.
The Green
This is a view from the left side of the green (the fairway runs up to the right). The entire green slopes off to a front right section of the green. If you have a downhill putt to the front right pin location you can easily putt into the bunkers. The bottom of the bunkers are a good 5-7 feet below the level of the green.