Crystal Downs - Hole 8, Par 5, 542 Yards

Click on the thumb nail images to see a large picture.

The Tee

This hole, along with No. 5, was named as one of the Top 100 Holes in the World. This unhill par five requires three shots to get home for just about everyone. You can't really see the green from the tee but it is just barely to the right of that lone tree. You need to kill a drive left of that tree to find some kind of flat spot for your second shot. Most likely, though, you are going to have some kind of uneven stance for your second shot.

The Fairway

This is a shot from the fairway back to the tee. The tree that you see is the sentinel tree in the first picture. This is about 270+ yards off the tee and the only way you will find a level lie.

The Approach, Part A

A bad drive like mine and a decent recovery shot will leave you this -- about 190 yards uphill to the green. I absolutely killed a 3-iron that ended up about 5 yards short of the green and rolled backward about another 30 yards or so. If you are going to go for the green you had better make sure that you can get there.

The Approach, Part B

A solid drive and a good second shot will leave you here -- about 100 yards out uphill to a green that slopes towards you.

The Green

Sorry, I did not get a picture of the green. I will remedy that next year.

Hole 9