The Creek Course

Hole 1

The opening hole, a gentle 342m dogleg, immediately introduces the visually striking bunkering, and offers heroic options off the tee depending on player ability.

Hole 2

A drive up the left hand side of the fairway will avoid a series of bunkers down the right side. Choosing to lay-up will leave a relatively simple pitch into a green protected by a sea of bunkers left short right and left. The strong player may wish to carry a large bunker short left of the green in an attempt to be rewarded with an eagle putt.

Hole 3

Exposed to the elements, the third typically plays with a left to right cross southerly wind. A wide, shallow two-tiered green demands accuracy from the tee shot to avoid a difficult putt.  Going long here is not an option, and definitely should be avoided.

Hole 4

The fourth hole is a tough 419m par 4 from the championship tee (386m from the blue medal tee) that doglegs sharply left and uphill to a huge green surrounded by treacherous bumps and slopes.  Under favourable conditions big hitters can fly the trap on the corner, but must still avoid a stand of pines that runs down the left side.

Hole 5

The fifth is the longest par 4 on course, however rarely plays its full length. The drive should be positioned right to avoid protruding fairway bunkers and out of bounds left.  Greenside cypress trees create a difficult approach, often necessitating a shaped shot.  When contemplating club selection, it's better to have more club than end up short.

Hole 6

The sixth, a 129m par 3 is already a sensational hole, with a delightful green tucked between mature tortured pines in a setting that was just too good for the designers to ignore.  Faldo has predicted that the greenside bunker will rank amongst the world's best, and has retained the services of shaper Barry Hudson (The Dunes and The Beach Course) for a Faldo project in Kansas, USA.

Hole 7

With the fairway sloping left to right, many a tee shot will find the rough on the right side, meaning that reaching the green in two will prove to be very difficult. Laying up for your second shot must avoid water on the left side of the fairway, just 70m short of the green.

With a raised firm green with bunkers short right and left, it is always difficult to judge distance with many shots finishing in the large swale at the back of the green.

Hole 8

On the 362m eighth, the creek down the right side of the fairway must be avoided at all costs, before cutting across in front of a very tricky elevated green. A back left pin location is always difficult to get to with a large deep bunker guarding the front left of the green.

Hole 9

The ninth hole, where Cashmore based his green on the 12th of the Old Course St Andrews, with a 40m long, narrow putting surface flanked by bunkers either side and three more beyond has turned out a much shorter hole than first envisaged, at just 290m.  The sensible strategy is just to avoid the sea of bunkers that lurk a pitching iron from the green.

Hole 10

The tenth typically plays like a true three shot par 5 due to its length of over 500 metres. Bunkers down the right hand side of the fairway must be avoided from the tee. If choosing to lay-up your second shot, aim for the right hand side of the fairway, short of the bunkers, avoiding water on the left hand side of the hole. Ensure you leave the ball below the hole on a long green that slopes from back to front.

Hole 11

The eleventh hole is a monstrous dogleg of 411m, but big hitters can cut the corner bunker with their drive and significantly shorten the approach. Bunkers on the right hand side of the green and swales on the left side ensures a difficult approach shot, often with a long iron.

Hole 12

Formally a 219m par 3 with a large swale guarding the left side of the green, the 12th hole was reconstructed in Winter/Spring of 2010. This par 3 now plays much shorter with water running down the left hand side of the hole and a bunker catching those missing the green right.

Hole 13

Two small pines either side of the fairway frame the beautiful setting for the thirteenth green, with more trees beyond. Bunkers short right and left protect a raised green, sloping from back to front.

Hole 14

The theme is repeated from the thirteenth for the fourteenth where two giant 'goal posts' stand just 10m apart in direct line from tee to green.  A safer route to the right, requiring just a long to mid iron from the tee, presents a more challenging approach.

Hole 15

The fifteenth hole is a par 3 of 179m over the course's water storage dam to a hillside green. Having successfully reached the green, the golfer is faced with an undulating green that sees more three putts than any other green at Thirteenth Beach.

Hole 16

A lengthening of the hole brings the large centre fairway trap into play, however it shouldn't affect the longer hitter.  A tee shot positioned right of centre will benefit the second shot, due to an imposing left greenside trap.  A relatively flat putting surface is difficult to hold; don't carry the approach all the way to the flag.

Hole 17

The seventeenth is a short par 5 of 478m, but the challenge is to negotiate the diagonal fairway bunkers and the creek on the right hand side of the hole.

Hole 18

The final hole is a strong 423m par to another superb large and sloping green with surrounds that demand great touch to save par from those who miss the putting surface with their approach. Deep bunkers surround the left and back left of the green.