Hole #9 is the “short” par 5, but don’t let the scorecard fool you. The hole plays uphill into the wind. On top of that, the fairways is strongly sloped, and there is a slight dogleg, both of which make the green completely unreachable, except to the strongest golfer, so plan your approach carefully.

The tee shot is fairly straight forward, and plays to a fade. The only concerns should be keeping it straight if there is any wind, and landing the shot into the slope of the fairway. A shot moving left can kick further left and end up behind the large group of trees that the fairway wraps around.

The second shot strongly plays to a draw. The slight dogleg and and slope of the fairway will add significant distance to any shot carefully played around this curve.

If however, you end up in the trees on the left, it’s entirely to play through them. There is a large gap, and a low, running shot that gets through will allow for a reasonable, if less than ideal, shot to the green.

The approach shot is completely dominated by the enormous slope in the middle of this MacKenzie green. If the pin is back on the upper tier, you want to be long. If the pin is short on the lower tier, much more of the green is accessible. If you find yourself with the ball above your feet, you’ll have a significantly more challenging shot, as the trees to the right could block your path.

On this green, once again the most important aspect is the huge slope. Putting up the hill is safer, and it’s very common for the gallery here to cheer a successful attempt, but they will often heckle in good humor if the ball is short, as it will often roll farther down the hill than the player started from.

Putting down the hill is a nearly impossible task. Any attempt to go straight at the hole is futile here. The slope alone is strong enough to not only to roll the ball off the green, but down the hill as well. One strategy often employed, is to putt toward the sand trap next to the slope. If this putt is properly executed, the ball will accelerate into the fringe, which will slow the putt down as it turns back toward the green, and if successful, it will then trickle down to the center of the lower tier.