#5
#6
Par-5, 576 yards
Previously a par-4, this right-to-left dogleg is now a risk-reward par-5 thanks to four new tee boxes. Every player who hits the fairway should have a chance of getting up in two, but they will face a difficult second shot due to the downhill-sidehill tilt of the fairway to perhaps the hardest green to hit and hold on the entire course. For right-handers this means the ball will be significantly above their feet. Those who spurn the risk can lay up between two bunkers, 80-90 yards short of the green which is also protected by bunkers and run-offs left and right.
Par-3, 219 yards
This hole has undergone only modest changes—the fewest on the golf course, in fact. A mid or long iron will be the choice at this challenging par-3 and club selection is crucial because the ball needs to be hit high in order to hold the green on the fly. The tee shot, usually played into the prevailing wind, must carry a pronounced false front and a deep, enlarged bunker that eats into the front-left side. However, a shot that carries too far to the back will leave an extremely fast putt back down the slope.
#7
Par-4, 424 yards
This is the sharpest dogleg on the course (left to right) but not a long hole, even with a new championship tee. However, two good shots are needed with a fade being the preferred ball flight, usually with a fairway metal or long iron, off the tee to follow the shape of the dogleg. Sandy rough lurks down the entire right side of the fairway and a cluster of bunkers has been shifted to the right corner. A deep bunker guards the right side of a green that slopes from back to front and also features a plateau abutted by two smaller traps on the left. Approaches that stray long will be engulfed in a new mound complex.
#8
Par-4, 502 yards
A par-5 for the members, this will be played as a long par-4. The fairway slopes dramatically in different directions: first downhill, from left to right, then uphill, from right to left. A fade off the tee is the recommended shape into the right-to-left slope to hold the short grass and eliminate the risk of running into wiregrass mounds down the left. However, a new fairway bunker on the right at about 270 yards will capture shots that leak too far. The approach must avoid going long or left down a steep collection area that can carry a ball as much as 20 yards off the putting surface. The green is dramatically sloped from back to front, so its heart should be the target.
#9
#10
Par-3, 191 yards
Even though this is the shortest hole on the course and it looks deceptively easy from the tee, shots hit long or left will make recovery for par highly problematic. A restored bunker complex on the left, reminiscent of how the hole looked in the 1930s, is penal. A bunker also protects the right front while a steep slope and two more traps lie in wait beyond a wide, shallow, two-tiered green. Undulations in the green give it two distinct sections with the back-left area fairly flat and the front-right possessing enough movement to steer some shots off the green. Picking the right club, therefore, is of the essence.
090
the majors 2014
Par-5, 617 yards
Only the longest players in the field can think about trying to get up in two. The tee shots must stay somewhere in the right half of a sloping fairway, but to do that a fade is in order because a large mound on the right side will kick balls back to the left. Trees and a bunker, about 110 yards from an elevated green, protect the left side as the hole turns in that direction and uphill. This makes going for the green in two a very risky option. Opting to layup will leave a shot of 100 yards or less and perhaps a better chance of making a birdie. The green, subtly sloped from left to right and protected by two bunkers, falls off dramatically at the back into a collection area.