Breckenridge Golf Club - Detail
This writeup was done from the blue tees. Despite the thin air (9300 feet), I don't need the kind of pain that Jack is capable of dishing up from something called "the Nicklaus tees" (golds here...).
The Bear Course
The first hole is meant to both ease you into the round, and to make you think about your tee shots. From the blue tees, this hole looks a bit intimidating, and yet it's actually a very straightforward 355 yard par 4. A driver and a wedge will always reach the green in two, provided (and this is important) you hit a decent tee shot. Use the yardage book to pick out good aiming points, since the native areas in front of the tee are a bit confusing. There's a bunker on the right next to a swamp. Anything left of that bunker will be just fine.
The second hole is a downhill par 5. It's not very long (509 yards), so it's reachable in two if a) you hit a good drive, and b) you're brave on your second shot. Or it's a driver, mid iron, wedge, and Bob's your uncle...
Number 3 is a short par 4, dogleg right around a lake. The farther left you go, the safer you are from the lake, and the sooner you'll run out of fairway and into the woods. The farther right you go, the more you cut the corner off the dogleg, and the more the lake comes into play. If you tend to hit fades off the tee, aim well left. If you tend to hit draw, you can start the ball over the lake. If you tend to hit the ball straight... well, nobody hits it straight, do they?
The fourth hole is a relatively short par 4. Pay attention to the shape of the green, which dips in closer to the tee box on the left side. There's a steep drop off on the front left side, and a shallow collection area on the front right. There's a bunker long and right, where you don't want to be. If you're going to miss, miss short right. Or you could just hit the green...
#5 is a 373 yard straightaway par 4. For some strange reason, I tend to chunk my approaches on this -- maybe because the fairway's too wet? Anyway, nothing fancy -- hit it straight off the tee, and you're in good shape.
#6 is a confusing par 5 up the hill alongside #11. It's confusing because the teebox doesn't give you a very good look at what you're dealing with. The fairway goes left around a big bunker, and then back right. There's plenty of room to hit it left of the bunker, but because of the whole curving back to the right thing, you tend to want to crowd that bunker. Bad idea. Stay in the middle of the fairway off the tee, and the rest of this hole is easy. Get out of place, and then you're always going to be figuring yardage and angles of interception, and hitting more crappy shots.
#7 is a longish par 3, playing 200 yards depending upon the pin placement and wind. There's a forced carry over the junk, so commit to the shot!
#8 plays 399 yards, and is another fairly intimidating hole. The fairway is kind of twisty and narrow, and there's a swamp running all down the right side, cutting in front of the green, which doglegs right at the end. Hit whatever your straight shot is off the tee, and deal with the swamp later...
#9 is just a brute! It's a 461 yard uphill par 4. From the tee, it looks very narrow, although it opens up to the left a little bit where you can't see it. This will take you very best two long shots, and then a smartly played wedge to give you a chance at par. Killer hole!
The Elk Course
The first hole is a poser. It has a lone pine tree in the middle of the fairway. It has a lake on the right, fronted by a long bunker. Lots of strategies suggest themselves. Crush a driver over the tree, and leave a short chip onto the green. I went with discretion instead of valor. Hit a three wood, and a short iron. It worked, even though the three wood was slicey and would have made the lake if I had hit driver.
#2 is an intriguing par 5. The tee shot is out to a generous landing area. The second shot is into a narrow chute. The approach is just a wedge. Because of the narrow chute part of this hole, going for it in two is probably just a bad idea. Sure, you can bounce it off the hillside to the left, but the miss to the right is a watery swampy grave.
#3 is another longish par 3 with a forced carry over the native junk. Same advice as before -- hit it good...
#4 is a really cool wrap-around hole. The fairway wraps around the woods to the right. The guidebook tells you to stay left. Do that. I keep hitting it right, where you get tangled up in the trees...
The fifth hole is one of the most beautiful holes on the course. It's a long par 3 (220 yards to the middle with no wind). But it's so secluded from the rest of the course that you feel totally isolated. Just you against, well, Jack! Bunkers defend the green on the left side. Try to get to the right side of the green.
#6 is another secluded hole. This is a very short par 4, but it's definitely a two shot hole. It's only 274 yards, but it's uphill, and the direct route to the hole is effectively blocked by a glade of trees, and a chasm. Hit an iron and wedge, and try to stay out of the sand...
#7 is a 409 yard chessgame. There's a tall spruce tree at the end of the fairway that's your target (306 yards). Then there's a chasm. Then there's at the green. Even though the fairway doglegs right, and encourages a fade, stay off that hillside! Very hard to hit the green from a hook lie!
The eighth hole is a long narrow-looking par 5. "Looking" is the key word -- it's wide enough for a healthy long iron on your second shot, but you do have to keep your tee shot in the fairway. By the way, the fairway tilts right a little bit, and wants to dump you in a long bunker...
The home hole is a straightaway 397 yard par 4. All the trouble is in the cavernous bunkers defending the green. Well there is a fairway bunker squatting in the middle about 100 yards out, but that's mostly just to get in your head. Ignore it.
The Beaver Course
I finally managed to play the Beaver Course, late in the afternoon as the sun was going down. It was a gorgeous summer day, and showcased the course to its best advantage.
#1 is a straightaway par 4, which plays 396 yards from the blue tees. There's only a slight uphill cant to the fairway, but you need two pretty good shots to get home in two. Definitely a driver hole.
#2 is pretty intimidating, and requires a solid tee shot because of the forced carry over the junk. The hole climbs uphill the whole way, and definitely feels longer than the 533 yards on the scorecard. The fairway is plenty wide, and gives you enough room for your longer clubs, but it's necessary to keep the ball in play, so don't try shots you're not confident with. There are lots of bunkers surrounding the elongated green.
#3 is a 160 yard par 3. The green has a false front, and is surrounded on three sides by a horseshoe-shaped bunker -- definitely not a bump-and-run hole! Make sure you use enough club to get to the top tier if that's where the pin is.
#4 is all about the tee shot. It's a deceptively long par 4. "Deceptively long" because even though the scorecard says 385 yards, it's all uphill, starting with a forced carry over three bunkers fronting the fairway. My GPS said the furthest bunker needed a 241 carry. I hit what I thought was an okay (e.g., mediocre) drive, but it landed in the shortest bunker. I had to blast out, then hit a midiron approach, and two putts later managed to salvage a bogey.
#5 is a strategy hole. Your tee shot needs to be less than 226 yards, because that's how far out the lake is. Favor the right side of the fairway, because your next shot is a forced carry over that lake, and the further right your are, the less intimidating it is. Oh, by the way, there's a creek across the fairway, but it really shouldn't be in play.
#6 is a creampuff from the blues, and a monster from the golds. The golds look like there's a forced carry of about a thousand yards. The blues present you with a 310 yard slightly uphill straightaway hole. While there are sand bunkers in front of the green, there are only grass collection areas long, so plan accordingly.
#7 is a fierce hole, playing 398 yards up a long gradual slope. This really needs two solid shots. Careful of the deep bunker along the right of the green!
#8 is a 503 yard par 5. It's meant to be played in three shots, but can be reached in two with the right combination of luck and skill. In the distance, you can see a ditch on the left side of the fairway. Your tee shot needs to be right of that ditch, but left of the sand. The end of the fairway is 278 yards from the blue tees, but there's a few yards of short rough beyond that. Ideally, you hit down there left of the sand trap, then hit a second shot to the second fairway (say, 180 to 200 yards), and then a short iron or wedge to the green. But if you manage to get into those few extra yards of rough at the end of the fairway, there's a temptation to go directly for the green on your second shot. But it takes a really, really good shot...
The ninth hole is one of the prettiest par 3s I can remember, especially in the long shadows of the setting sun. It's 177 yards to the middle of the green, but 10 or 15 yards longer if the pin is back and left. There's trouble everywhere short, left, and right. Take a couple pictures first, then hit your best shot!
This is a lovely course, which really gives you an enjoyable afternoon winding in and out of the mountains and meadows. It's got brute force, it's got style, and it's got fun! Enjoy it!
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