MEDIA CONTEST: Sinuous [Willow Lakes Golf Course series pt. 9]

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ACC MEDIA CONTEST --  By the time they reach this hole, most golfers probably suspect how their day is going to turn out. All is not lost, though, if you're starting to fall behind your peers - this final hole on the front half of the course gives you a chance to hit the clubhouse on a high note.

To help linksmen head into the back half with their heads held high, the Air Pulse again requested the advice of Lt. Col. Gary Obermeyer, a counterintelligence staff officer at United States Strategic Command.

Lt. Col. Obermeyer on the ninth hole:

The ninth hole at Willow Lakes is definitely a risk-reward hole. Measuring only 484 yards from the men's tee, this is the shortest par 5 on the course, but don't let its lack of length lull you into thinking par or better awaits. This double dogleg offers up elevation changes, trees lining both sides of the fairway, plenty of bunkers that can come into play on every shot, water and a green that presents its own challenges. The hole plays slightly uphill and doglegs right to left off the tee. The fairway then drops towards a creek that crosses the fairway before rising once again in a slight left to right dogleg towards the green. Play the ninth hole as a traditional, three shot par 5 and you should not have much difficulty making the turn with a par. Get aggressive and take some risks and you could pencil in anything from eagle to double bogey on your scorecard.

Lt. Col. Obermeyer on how to make par:

Many decisions face you as you stand on the tee box. Your first will be whether to play the hole straight, or get aggressive and attempt to cut the corner of the dogleg. The fairway is tree-lined along both sides and a large bunker sits just off the fairway on the left.

The most practical shot is a driver or 3-wood played just over the right edge of the bunker, which requires a shot of 180 yards to carry. Shots straying too far right will find the trees and likely result in a recovery shot back to the fairway. Shots struck too far left will also find the trees and deep grass, and could easily result in an unplayable lie or lost ball. Longer hitters may choose to cut the dogleg or play a draw around it with their drive, which should allow them to reach the green in two with either a long iron or fairway wood.

If your tee shot avoids the trees and bunker, your next decision will be whether to play your second shot across the creek that crosses the fairway or lay up short. For most golfers, clearing the creek should not be that difficult, requiring a carry of only 120 to 150 yards. Be sure to add a club since you will likely be playing the shot from a downhill lie. If you decide to go for it, be careful as the fairway narrows slightly as it doglegs left to right and back uphill towards the green and another large bunker is located just right of the fairway in your likely landing zone.

A well struck second that avoids all the trouble should leave you with only a wedge for your third shot. Those who decide to lay up short of the creek will have a third shot of between 170-185 yards to the green, which is protected by bunkers on the left and behind. Since the green slopes significantly from back to front, whatever approach shot you end up playing should be played below the hole, which will leave you with the best opportunity to two-putt. Shots finding either bunker or ending up above the hole will be very difficult to get close to the hole.

[Graphic text]

To and fro

Hole #9 is the first double dogleg golfers will encounter at Willow Lakes. Like the other doglegs on the course, it offers linksmen a simple choice - follow the path of the dogleg with two shots, or try to cut across it with a single high, powerful shot.

If you clear the dogleg in your first shot, you'll want to try and clear the stream with your second. If you took two shots to clear the dogleg, getting across the stream should be a simple matter, and you'll be able to lay-up onto the green or very close to it.

Regardless of whether you choose the aggressive strategy (outlined above in red) or the safe strategy (above in blue), this is considered one of the easier par 5s on the course. On the front nine, it is the second easiest hole (according to the course handicap), second only to hole #2.

Don't let the supposed ease of the hole fool you, though - this is a Robert Trent Jones-designed course, and an easy hole here can still leave you sweating.