Course Breakdown: Kingsley #18

The final hole at Kingsley is a microcosm of what the entire golf course represents. Throughout this breakdown, we’ve had to work backwards from the pin location to formulate a plan to attack each specific area of the green. The 18th green complex can be very inviting from the right angle, but much less accessible from others. The hole faces west and is usually into the wind. This hole is truly special when you have an afternoon tee time, and you get to watch the sun setting in the background. A strong finish here, and you’ll be sailing off into the sunset with a big ol’ grin on your face.

The fairway on the 18th is as wide as any other at Kingsley. It slopes from right to left, and a ridge on the left half of the fairway creates two distinct zones where the ball will come to rest. There’s always more room left than it appears, and a miss left has a chance of kicking right, back into play. The left bunker, which looks like trouble, is only there for visual effect. This bunker is 330 yards from the blue tees. The fairway begins to pinch around 265 yards, and this number is crucial when we think about which side of the fairway we want to be on for our approach shot.

The right side of the fairway continues to climb uphill until it reaches its apex at about 250 yards. After this apex, another steep ridge feeds golf balls forward and to the left. I’ve had plenty of golfers think they’ve hit a perfect tee shot, only for the slopes to push the ball hard left into the rough past the pinch point. A few bunkers to the right of the fairway are not a good place to be, and a miss left is almost always better than right.

The green feels like a trough, where it bowls nearly all the way around the surface. Generally speaking, the entire green feeds toward the middle. The bunker short right is a terrible place to be for most pin locations. The only exception is when the pin is in the front section. Behind this bunker is a hillside that drops about 8 feet to the green. This hillside is tightly mowed and can make shots pretty unpredictable if they land in this area. The back left bunker tends to catch any ball that is too far left or gets an unfortunate bounce off the hillside to the right of the green. Generally speaking, a miss left is more forgiving than a miss right.

Location 1
The front pin is the smallest target and is well defended by the short-right bunker and the front-left hillside. The left hillside, like the right hillside, is tightly mowed and can give golfers a much larger bounce than desired, sending the ball toward the middle of the green. When considering the best angle into this location, it’s certainly from the furthest right part of the fairway. From the left side of the fairway or rough, we’re left with an uphill shot where the only way to hit the ball close is to land it perfectly next to the pin to keep it there (which is hard to do). Too short, and it lands on the downslope of the left hillside; too far, and it releases toward the back of the green.

To get the desired right-side angle, we have two potential options. Option one is to bomb a driver up the right side and challenge the right bunkers, avoiding the ridges to the left. To do this, one must carry the ball 250+ yards to keep it from bouncing left. From here, the golfer has an uphill shot out of the fairway, with a slight backboard from the front-left hillside instead of dealing with the backside of it. The front bunker isn’t a terrible place to be, as you can use the left hillside as a backboard to make your sand shot easier.

The other option is to stay short of the second ridge on the top-right side. A ~230-yard shot shouldn’t release too far and gives you a level shot to the green instead of an uphill one. We can still use the front-left shoulder as a backstop. I usually try to hit driver, but if I need to make par, the 230-yard shot is safer and leaves 130-150 yards in.

Location 2
Because this green tends to feed the ball toward this spot, the angle of attack doesn’t matter as much, but I still have a preference. Since the right bunker and hillside are the worst places to miss to this pin, I try to use the angle from the bottom-left side of the fairway. I always make sure to take enough club to carry the right bunker, and I can live with the result from there. A golf shot that lands in the exact same spot on the right hillside will have a different result depending on the angle from which the shot came. The left (desired) angle will probably land softer because it’s landing into the hill, while the right (undesired) angle will cause the ball to kick harder due to the hill. When I’m in my desired spot, I don’t take extra club for the uphill and just hope to land the ball on the front part of the green, letting it gently release toward the center.

If you end up in the back-left bunker, don’t be afraid to play your sand shot long off the right hillside. It makes for a very exciting shot!

Location 3
As you probably guessed, the back pin is much more accessible from the left side of the fairway. The right hillside makes the right side of the fairway almost an impossible angle to access this back pin location without a wedge in hand. The hillside kicks the ball either left or forward. I’ve seen some pretty fun shots where players try to use the front-left hillside to send their ball toward the back of the green instead of challenging the hillside directly. Just make sure not to leave your ball short. Even from location 1, the right hillside is so severe from right to left that a putt can’t be aimed far enough right to account for the slope. If I’m out of position for this back flag, I make sure I have enough club and live with being on the back edge or somewhere left. The up-and-down is much easier than the alternatives.

This wraps up our breakdown of the Kingsley Club! It seems like a good time to share my general thoughts. I absolutely gush over this course and can easily say it’s my favorite to play and caddy. One of my weaknesses in life is that I get bored easily with routines. I’ve caddied here for 13 years and am still excited for the challenges each day brings. Going forward, we want to break down more public courses than private ones so our audience can use this information whenever they want, instead of just when they’re invited.