Course Breakdown: Elmbrook holes 10-14
Hole 10: 300 yards
There’s a trend at Elmbrook: most of the par 4s don’t require much more than a wedge for your second shot, but you’d better be darn good with that wedge because there’s trouble around most of these greens. The 10th hole is a perfect example of this. At only 300 yards, with minimal trouble off the tee, you might think it’s a birdie hole. But the incredibly sloped, elevated green will make you rethink that quickly.
From the tee, a large hill blocks your view of the fairway. Be sure to use the elevated tree mirror to check if there are any golfers ahead that you can’t see. The ideal line off the tee is up the left edge of the cart path. The fairway rises to its peak before sloping forward and towards the right. This slope is dramatic, making it tough to keep the ball on the fairway. You’d prefer to miss right rather than left, as there’s long grass on the left and the 18th fairway on the right. As long as you miss right, using driver is perfectly fine. With that in mind, I aim for the right side of the fairway. If I end up in the rough, at least I’ll still have a good angle into the green.
The green complex slopes steeply from the back left corner to the front left, with a false front on the front part of the green. The left half slopes so sharply that there are no pin positions there. I like to aim my approach shot just left of center and let the ball feed back to the right. Both long and right of the green drop off severely into rough, making for tough up-and-downs. Long is the absolute worst miss.
When I play this hole, I either hit driver to try and get close to the green or I’ll hit my 5-wood if the hole is into the wind. This leaves me with nearly a full wedge shot, which I try to hit toward the left center of the green.
Hole 11: 470 yards
The 470-yard par 5 almost always plays into the wind and is gently uphill the entire way to the green. The hole is lined with trees on both sides of the fairway, and there are definitely areas you’ll want to avoid. I’m notorious for missing left on this hole, which often leaves me completely blocked out on my second shot. Even if I have a chance to work around the large tree on the left, a steep hillside rises quickly behind it, making it impossible to hit a punch shot under the branches. Take it from me: don’t miss left. Aim to miss right instead.
Even if you hit a great drive, going for the green in two is a risky proposition. I recommend laying up somewhere between 85 and 50 yards out. This part of the fairway has the least trouble and still offers a great view of the green. From this position, the uphill plays an additional 5 yards and could be into the wind. Keep in mind that there’s a large tree and hillside behind the green that might block the wind, making it harder to judge how much the wind is affecting your shot.
The green is elevated, with a false front on the front half. Both the left and right sides slope toward the center, and the back half of the green slopes sharply from back to front. There’s a flat spot just before the back fringe, which creates a tough back pin placement. Missing long is a big mistake here, as the tall grass behind the green is thick as oatmeal, and any shot that goes past the fringe will likely roll down into that thick rough.
Personally, I’m a bit greedy and try to hit driver as far as I can up the right side. If I were trying to protect a good score, though, I might consider hitting a club that keeps me short of the 250-yard mark to avoid the left tree.
Hole 12: 170 yards
The 12th is the toughest of the challenging par 3s at Elmbrook. Playing around 170 yards, the green falls off sharply on the back left and the front right. A shot that lands behind the front bunker can “trampoline” another 20 yards into thick, long grass. Missing short right doesn’t result in as much roll, but it leaves a tough, uphill chip shot to a green that slopes away toward the left drop-off I mentioned earlier. I don’t want to point fingers at anyone in particular, but I play a lot with a guy named Greg who tends to bounce between those two trouble spots.
The wind usually blows left to right, which, as a lefty, makes this hole a little less penalizing for me than it is for right-handed players. Here’s a little “next-level” insight on why: A shot that misses left for me typically travels shorter than it normally would. This happens because an open clubface causes a higher loft at impact, turning my 7-iron into something closer to an 8-iron. Conversely, when I pull a shot, it tends to travel further because a closed clubface relative to the target reduces loft. So, if I’m dead center of the green, I’ve either made a solid shot, pushed it short of the left trouble, or pulled it and flown past the short right trouble.
For all the right-handed players out there, there are two places you absolutely cannot miss here. My advice? Consider hitting this tee shot left-handed, just to keep things interesting.
On a serious note, though, left is definitely the worst miss here. So, be sure to choose a club that’s more likely to leave you short rather than long.
The green slopes from right to left, and the back half tends to roll toward the back of the green. If you manage to make par or better here, you’ll be gaining significant ground on the field.
Standing on the 13th tee box and looking out at the fairway is one of the scariest golf shots I can imagine in my career. This dogleg-right par 5 is short and downhill, but it’s target golf at its finest. OB lines the entire left side of the hole, and at its shortest point, you can reach OB with a shot that only travels 180 yards. The right side is more forgiving, not OB, but it’s lined with trees and waist-high long grass. I remember my high school coach, Dr. Derr, telling me and my teammates that if we hit a driver during tournament play on this hole, we’d be benched for the next event.
For the tee shot, the safest club is one that goes about 190 yards. This shot gives you enough room to avoid the OB on the left and get past the big tree on the right side. If you manage to clear that tree, the ground slopes steeply from right to left, and you might even get a generous kick left back toward the fairway. Any further and you’ll be in a cluster of trees that will completely block your shot to advance up the fairway. The goal here is to make your landing zone as large as possible. I know it’s frustrating hitting a sub-200 yard shot off the tee on a par 5, but this hole is all about survival.
Personally, I tend to be a little more aggressive off the tee, but that’s because I hit a natural left-to-right shot with my 5 wood. I’ll aim for the middle OB line (around 235 yards) and let the shot shape take over. After breaking down the hole, though, I’m thinking about clubbing down to ensure I keep the ball in play.
As tough as the tee shot is, the second shot doesn’t get any easier. The OB continues all the way to the green, but to make matters worse, the trees on the left overhang and love to swat golf balls in all directions if your shot drifts that way. You might think bailing out to the right is the answer, but that leaves you with a poor angle into the green, with a front bunker and overhanging trees to navigate.
My suggestion is to hit a 190-yard tee shot followed by a 170-yard lay-up. This leaves you around 80 yards for your approach, which is the most forgiving area into the green. Even if you miss a little right, you can still hit a shot over the bunker with a decent chance of stopping on the green.
The green complex has a ridge running from the front to the back. The left side of the ridge slopes down toward the rough, while the rest of the green slopes left to right. Most pin placements are located to the right of this ridge. The best place to miss is short and left of the front bunker. Anywhere else around the green, and you’re in trouble.
I’ve made eagle here, but I’ve also given up on the hole before even reaching the green. As I’ve said before, this hole is one of the toughest I play, and I respect it enough to play cautiously and accept par. I suggest you do the same.
The shortest and arguably easiest par 3 at Elmbrook plays around 140 yards to a very steeply sloped green. This green is pitched from the back left corner to the front right corner and, surprisingly, is almost always into the wind.
The main thing to keep in mind here is that it’s always better to miss short than long, as an uphill chip shot is far more manageable than a downhill one. I’d also recommend missing to the right rather than the left for the same reason. If you do find yourself with a downhill putt, just know that it’s likely to be faster than you expect!
