Course Breakdown: Kingsley #12
The 12th hole at Kingsley is certainly my favorite tee box view and sets the precedent for the awesome finishing stretch. The holes begin to wander through Northern Michigan hardwoods. The fairway lies in a ravine that moves right to left, with a giant hillside sloping hard right to left up the right side. This hillside separates the lower 12th fairway from the raised 13th fairway. One might think that this hillside is forgiving, but those who have had to hike up and down it to find their golf ball would set you straight real quick. I’ve lost more golf balls on this hillside than anywhere else on the property, and I hate losing golf balls. Since over 90% of golfers are right-handed, they will typically hit a slice into the hill. As the ball lands with left-to-right spin, it tends to stay right where it lands instead of bouncing down toward the fairway.
The major disguise on this hole is how forgiving the left side of the fairway actually is. Props to Mike Devries on this one, because most golfers will look from the tee and instantly think they should favor the right side, given the dramatic right-to-left slope. Your brain will automatically say, "aim right." There’s a bush up the right side that would make a perfect target line, giving your intuition confirmation bias. That bush, however, is actually 270 yards out from the tee box, and most golfers can only dream of reaching it.
The proper target line for most golfers is well left of the bush, and this still provides room to miss left. While there are obviously trees left that look intimidating, a golf ball landing in the first row of trees has a decent chance of rolling back onto the fairway, because the ground slopes hard right back toward the fairway and is incredibly firm. Many golfers will miss left, get disappointed, and act out—only for me to regain attention and watch a little white ball emerge from the trees back into the fairway. Knowing what the ball will do before it happens is one of the most satisfying parts of mastering a golf course.r it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
As you approach the green, the right hillside continues, but another hillside jets up the left side of the green. This hillside influences the left-to-right movement on the front two-thirds of the green. With a low spot right of the green, most off-target shots will end up here. From this location, you have a decent chance of getting up and down to any flag placement on the front two-thirds of the green. However, you need to avoid missing left when the pin is in this section. The ball will either get stuck in the second cut of rough up top, leaving you with an impossible downhill chip to a green running away from you, or it will kick hard right and race across the green to the low area. I usually aim just slightly left of center when playing this portion of the green, and if I’m between clubs, I prefer to miss short rather than long.
The back third of the green is influenced by the right hillside and offers a bit of a backboard long and right. When playing to a back pin, a miss long is slightly better than short. The low spot short-right of the green leaves a very tricky chip or putt.
Fun facts/quick tips:
This is the only hole at Kingsley without a bunker. Pretty neat!
The wind tends to not be as much of a factor because of how low it sits in the ravine. Your second shot, sneakily, plays a few yards uphill instead of downhill, as you might expect.
If you end up blasting one way right (it happens more often than you'd expect), make sure to bring options with you. A shot from the 13th fairway will play about 20 yards downhill.
