Course Breakdown: Kingsley #13
Short par 4’s are probably my favorite type of golf hole. They usually offer a good amount of risk/reward, and with our ability to diagnose a hole and play to our strengths, they provide a great opportunity to gain an edge over the competition. The 13th at Kingsley takes this philosophy and cranks it up to 100. There are two different tee boxes, and the hole plays anywhere between 220 and 290 yards, depending on tee and pin locations. It plays about 20 yards longer due to the typical hurtful wind and the uphill approach shot.
The first step on this hole is deciphering where the pin is located, as this totally changes the strategy for the proper tee shot. This green complex is as complicated as it gets, and if you miss in the wrong spot, disaster is right around the corner. In simple terms: when the pin is on the left half of the green, the better angle is from the left, but any angle can work. When the pin is on the right half of the green, the ideal angle is from the right, and the left side is very problematic. I'll break this down further, but this is the general philosophy.
The fairway has a bunker up the left side that can be avoided as long as the ball carries 170+ yards. There are two bunkers up the right side that come into play for those not attempting to hit the ball greenside. The fairway slopes left to right, but these bunkers can be cleared with a shot that travels 220 yards. Right of the bunkers is the giant hillside that was discussed when breaking down the 12th hole. Golf balls hit from the 13th tee box onto this hillside tend to take a big bounce toward the 12th fairway. This is not a good place to be, with one caveat that will be discussed when considering angles to pin locations.
You'll see five different pin locations on the overhead view of the green. These five spots drastically change my strategy for the tee shot, and I’ll do my best to elaborate on why. As mentioned, this green is tricky. Pin locations 1 and 5 are on the same tier and sit a few feet higher than the other pin locations. The ridge that drops to pin locations 2, 3, and 4 is at least 2 feet lower toward the front of the green and gets pretty steep as you move toward location 4. This slope can be as much as 6 feet, and any ball that rolls over this ridge has a high chance of rolling off the green. The ridge is the main reason we have to be so careful with our angle to these pins. There is a low area left of the green that must be avoided at all costs, no matter the pin location. Keep this in mind when choosing your club!
Location 1:
This is the most straightforward pin location. The major thing you must do is keep the ball short of the hole. Long left is the low area mentioned above. From here, you're 8 feet below the green surface, and if your shot doesn’t reach the green, it rolls right back to your feet. A perfect shot should keep you on the correct tier, but anything other than perfect has a chance of rolling down the ridge to a bunker. Long left is in the back bowl or off the green. A putt that requires a grunt or shoulder turn can get you back on the correct tier, but it's far from an easy two-putt. This location gives you 20 yards from the back lip of the bunker to the fall-off ridge. The ideal position to this pin is highlighted in its matching color, but as mentioned, anything short of pin-high is doable. I usually hit my 240-yard club in hopes of being short and left of the green.
Location 2:
The front-right location is the smallest landing zone but offers some relief depending on where your tee shot lands. Like the first location, you do not want to be long for this pin placement. A putt from long is difficult and usually leads to needing a wedge on your next shot. Following our general logic: since the pin is on the right side of the green, we want the angle of approach from the right. This means we’re aiming for the highlighted green area on the overhead, which gives us a backboard to use and a chance to get the ball close. The front bunker is also a decent spot.
The rest of the highlighted light blue area leaves a very fast chip or putt. If you find yourself in this area, your mission is to barely sneak a ball onto the green and let it roll down toward the hole. A two-putt par is a great score here if you don’t find yourself in the perfect position after your tee shot. I usually hit my 220-yard club when the pin is in this location.
Location 3:
This middle-right pin is one of the toughest on the entire course. If you’re out of position, the hole shows no mercy. You must be at or right of the middle bunker. Anything left of this bunker is an impossible angle, and even the best shots aimed toward the flag will probably roll off into the greenside bunker or native grass. The best spot is the right greenside bunker (highlighted in dark blue). From here, you’ve got a 4-foot backboard to use behind the hole. Really, any place with a decent lie right of that center bunker can work for this pin.
The 13th is such a clever short par 4 because it forces you to take a risk with either your first or second shot. To this pin, you must take the risk on the tee shot to try and find a decent position. If you don’t want to take the risk on the tee shot, I suggest laying up into the pink-highlighted area. You'll have less than a full-swing wedge, but this play is best for those who don’t trust their short game as much as a full swing. Personally, I trust my short game, so I take the risk on the tee shot and try to get pin-high right with my 240-yard club.
Location 4:
The "bowl," as we call it, should be the easiest pin, but it certainly has its challenges. The "bowl" isn’t the most accurate name, as it has a massive leak out the back-right corner. My strategy here keeps changing with every bogey I make, but I’ll leave that decision up to you. The ridge is very steep in this part of the green, and anything that doesn’t land on the flat part of this section will roll down the slope and off the green. This means that anything short/left of the green is a bad angle because you can’t keep the ball from rolling off once you reach the ridge. From the tee box, most people think they should hit their ball here. If you do manage to find this spot, the worst thing you can do is not hit your shot hard enough, as the ball will stay on top of location 1, wasting a shot.
In actuality, your choices are to either try to drive the green (240-yard carry) or lay up to the fat part of the fairway and wedge one close. If laying up sounds like the best move, hit a club that stays short of the first right bunker. This might be a 160-yard shot, but if we’re laying up, we might as well eliminate as much trouble as possible. From there, you need to hit a club that carries to the back bowl or slightly past/left to avoid landing on the downslope. If I have 100 yards, I’ll add another 5 yards for the uphill, then another 5 yards for the backboard, as long as I’m slightly left. Before even factoring the wind, I add an additional 10 yards to my distance.
The bigger hitters can take a bomb-and-gouge option, hitting driver with a miss of right or long. You can see from the overhead that this is a fantastic angle to the back bowl. The risk is that you might not find your ball in the native grass, but if you do, you’ve got a relatively easy chip shot. The 12th fairway provides a sneaky good angle to this pin location. You have to hammer the ball way right, but it leaves a ~70-yard shot that plays ~90 yards uphill to the green, to a perfect catcher’s mitt.
Location 5:
This is a novelty pin and isn’t used for everyday play. However, it is used in tournaments and is hilariously hard. One year, I was caddying in the Member/Member tournament, and one of our competitors hit a great tee shot onto the green in position 1. He then putted it off the green into a bunker, played ping pong by himself between the bad area and the back bunkers a few times, and finally managed to get one to stay on the green. He gingerly three-putted for a 10. It was hard to watch because his partner had hit a terrible tee shot and abandoned the search, since his partner was sitting on the green with a putt for an eagle.
When the pin is here, you either need to hit driver into the “bad spot” and rely on your short game or lay up short of the front bunker. This leaves a 70-yard shot, with long being your best miss.
This is arguably my favorite hole on the course because of how brutal it can be. Tread lightly, and make sure your strategy aligns with each distinct pin!
