Oakhurst is one of several 21st Century Country Clubs built in the decade before the real estate bust in the US and this modern club has a golf course that is worthy of private membership. I would like to thank George Bowman
and his staff for allowing me to survey this outstanding course. In the past, playing Arthur Hills courses have been a treat as he uses many advanced golf strategy techniques to make players play to the edge of their abilities. Some of Hills major planning features are holes with very undulated greens, fairways where accurate tee shots on some strategic holes are just as important than crushing the ball down the middle. His use of runoff or collection areas behind greens or to the sides of them are important as many holes have long carries and balls can run just about anywhere. Those features are just for starters and I'm probably missing a few.
and his staff for allowing me to survey this outstanding course. In the past, playing Arthur Hills courses have been a treat as he uses many advanced golf strategy techniques to make players play to the edge of their abilities. Some of Hills major planning features are holes with very undulated greens, fairways where accurate tee shots on some strategic holes are just as important than crushing the ball down the middle. His use of runoff or collection areas behind greens or to the sides of them are important as many holes have long carries and balls can run just about anywhere. Those features are just for starters and I'm probably missing a few. I really enjoyed playing the 7054 yard layout from the tips and six sets of tees await golfers and you can play from as little as 5,110. I decided to test my game and played from the maximum distance and coming off of a lesson, I expected this golfing experience to be up and down and it proved to be true.
Hole number one is an elevated 421 yard par four and with the awesome practice facilities to the left (rivaled by only Katke Cousins for me this year) you get a super glimpse of the course and like many elevated holes you feel like you can really turn on the golf ball. While hitting the ball down the middle is always the best policy for golfers, the fairway is wide and a large bunker wait golfers who miss left of their target. To the right is a small area of woods that looks formidable from the tee right side but unless you hit a shank you can expect to find an open area to hit your second shot. There is a catch to that as a hill will give you a blind shot to the green from mid to high iron range. This is important as the green is surrounded by a couple of bunkers and the back slopes off to an area that quickly goes into the woods. This is one of the few holes without a collection area for longer shots but otherwise will let you know right away what you are to expect. The greens at Oakhurst roll fast. This is a huge local knowledge course and those used to putting on slower surfaces will realize that your best putts will leak one way or another and the subtle changes are not always noticeable from a golfers eyesight. I did earn a four here after putting my iron shot on the green from just over 150 yards out. My putt leaked and I felt fortunate to walk off even after one.
One of Arthur Hills best design strategies is to have a hole shaped nearly like the letter T. What is meant is you have your tee box, then a long carry over fescues and wetlands. I mention the T as an accurate drive could knock off 100 or more yards off the yardage of the hole. A drive that fades, hooks or is blocked right will make for a much different golfing experience. If you see the pin left side, you know that an accurate drive will give you most likely a short iron to the green and a drive that is missed right will be anywhere from a mid-iron to perhaps a five wood depending on where you hit it. If you hit it into the fescues, you are three off the tee. The third hole (is such an experience and is what I like to call Double Jeopardy. This (389 yard) hole is as described above and assuming you make it to the fairway (I did and not by much from the tips) you have a second set of fescues that guard the green. They are very deep and if you hit it over them, hitting the green is not a sure thing and there is room on both sides of the green and a sand bunker awaits you left side and that is where I hit it. The sand is deep and the lips of the bunkers are high at Oakhurst and blasting it out is only half of the battle. The recommendation is to hit it short of the pin if possible and take your chances on the ball rolling toward the hole and being within ten feet or less to the hole. Due to the slopes of the greens, you may think you have hit a superb shot but find out that the ball rolls into an undesirable place.
The fifth hole is really quite a dandy and this par five (569 yards) lives up to its billing as the number three handicapped hole at Oakhurst. This hole is one of several with a long carry of nearly 200 yards over the fescues and wetlands and has a wide fairway but trouble to the right side if you fade it into the trees. If you drive it down the left side of the fairway it is possible to be blocked out from shortening up the hole as a small cluster of trees does jut out and will give you a nasty little surprize. The trees spoke about on the right side run the length of the hole but even two nutted shots could put you in front of the green but there is plenty of fun as a large bunker sits about 100 yards in front of the green and a series of bunkers is placed to thwart the longer hitters from attempting to get on in two or chipping for eagle in three. Once again, if the sand doesn’t get you then perhaps the green will. It is very easy to put it past this hole on this slippery green. The hole is outstanding and once again local knowledge is important for golfers to escape the various gauntlet devices set up by Mr. Hills.
Talk about a counterpunch.
The very next hole is the number one handicapped hole on the course and it has a lot to do with it being a 463 yard par four. There is plenty of room to drive the ball on this hole and it does play as a slight dog leg right. Driving up the left side or left center works best. The trees that clipped errant golf shots on the fifth on the right side will do the same thing here. Dub your drive here and you are surely looking at a tough chance at par and most likely a five. My drive was solid but not great but did go up the left center of the fairway. When you only hit it about 230 you leave yourself with another metal wood and this time my five wood was hit very well but still about 15 yards short of the green. My chip was about 15 feet away and another missed putt left me with a five. In my mind the length of the hole is probably why it is the top handicap hole on the course. There are plenty of tough holes at the course and most likely one with a long carry could easily be number one but number six is a tough test of golf.
The very next hole is the number one handicapped hole on the course and it has a lot to do with it being a 463 yard par four. There is plenty of room to drive the ball on this hole and it does play as a slight dog leg right. Driving up the left side or left center works best. The trees that clipped errant golf shots on the fifth on the right side will do the same thing here. Dub your drive here and you are surely looking at a tough chance at par and most likely a five. My drive was solid but not great but did go up the left center of the fairway. When you only hit it about 230 you leave yourself with another metal wood and this time my five wood was hit very well but still about 15 yards short of the green. My chip was about 15 feet away and another missed putt left me with a five. In my mind the length of the hole is probably why it is the top handicap hole on the course. There are plenty of tough holes at the course and most likely one with a long carry could easily be number one but number six is a tough test of golf.
Number seven is another one of Hills long carry holes where driving it up the left side is your best bet as you will pull out a short to mid iron shot for a well placed and long tee shot. A huge tree guards the center of the fairway over the fescues and a large sand bunker guards the tree and collect what you thought was a good but not drive. This once again is where local knowledge comes in. If you drive it offline to the right, you will have to shoot over this huge tree and shooting around it to the right is almost a sure bet to find the woods. Drive it left and once again you have brought a series of sand bunkers into play. My drive went into the sand bunker and I used a five hybrid to hit it out and hit it into the woods. A drop into the woods with a penalty was my reward. I then hit what was thought to be a super chip shot but went into a right side bunker. I blasted it out and toward the pin but the ball rolled and rolled and rolled into the first cut of grass just off the green. A chip and one putt and what was a good tee shot became a nightmare as the fairway sand bunker got the best of me.
The back nine has just as many interesting holes and number 11 presents a real challenge from the gold tees as the fescues that jut out from the woods right side come into play. When I played this course earlier I played from the black tees and had no problem driving over the nasty stuff. My drive just cleared the natural hazard and I had only about 110 yards to the center of the green. Going left on this hole is not desirable as a huge bunker awaits drives that roll off the left side of the fairway. If you shank your second shot or hit it off line left or behind the green you will have to pay your scorecard a visit to the penalty box. This hole is another tricky one so watch yourself here.
To give you an idea of the difficulty of this golf course, the 197 yard par three is rated as the number 16 handicap hole on the course. Well fuey to that as this hole is all carry from the back tee boxes to about five yards short of the green. If you want to play smart on this hole, you might just club up one here if you are confident with your higher irons and the reason for this is to give you some insurance to take the nasty stuff out of play. This writer hit it into the woods in my first attempt before coming up just a few feet from landing on the green. The collar was high with a buried lie and my chip was chunked and left about 7-8’ of the pin where another two putt was a head shaker for me. In my mind, if this is the number 16 handicapped hole… well you finish the sentence.
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