Rio Secco Golf Club
This guide is written from the perspective of a bogey golfer, and is therefore shaded to the conservative side. This is written from the white tees, which play 6552 yards.
Hole 1 is short and wide open -- take advantage of it! There is plenty of room to hit your driver here. Beware of the bunker on the left side of the green!
#2 is astonishing. A distance measuring device (GPS or laser) is really useful here when you're trying to figure out how much of the fairway to bite off. That first bunker is about 240 yards, but it's way downhill. You need some accuracy here -- if you pull your drive you can easily wind up in the rocks. Likewise if you flare out right you're in the canyon. I pulled it into the rocks, but found it, and promptly proceeded to flare my second shot into the canyon where it was lost forever.
If you're more likely to hit your three wood straight, that might be a good choice here. The important thing is to find grass. After that, the hole is pretty straightforward.
The third hole is another jaw-dropper. It's a par 3 playing at 159 yards across a chasm. Like the second hole, the important thing is to find grass, so take plenty of club! If you hit it into the bunker, that's way better than hitting into the canyon!
#4 is a short par 4, playing only 306 yars. A sign by the teebox suggests hitting a 200 yard tee shot, which would leave about 120 yards into the green. This is good advice, because a) it keeps you from reaching the bunkers, and b) you're less likely to hit it sideways into the junk. I didn't hit my hybrid very well, but I was still only 140 yards out. Be sure to take an extra club on your second shot, because it's uphill. (I came up five yards short and lipped into the bunker.)
The fifth hole is a bit of a poser. It's a big dogleg to the left, playing 383 yards. Do whatever you need to do to hit it straight, even if it leaves you with a long shot into the green. Your approach is uphill, but I still think it's better to leave the driver in the bag in order to land in the fairway.
#6 is a 168 yard par 3. It's pretty as a postcard, and just a little bit scary. There's room to bail out right if you're afraid of the bunker, and obviously being a little long is better than being a little short if you're likely to hit it left. If the pin is left, it's probably better not to risk the bunker -- stay right!
#7 is another short narrow par 4, playing 344 yars. I'd recommend a fairway wood just to improve your chances of hitting it straight, there's a helpful funnel on the right of the fairway, but no help on the left.
#8 is a short par 5, playing 476 yards. It's safe to hit driver off the tee, but the important shot is the second one. There's a waste area you need to clear. It's not that you have to hit a long club -- a mid iron should do the trick. But you do need to hit it clean! (I got greedy and hit a four iron, which I topped, which wound up in the junk, and I almost didn't find it. Sigh.)
The ninth hole is a long par 5 (562 yards). Fortunately, it's also pretty wide, and driver is the right play here. Having said that, I hooked my drive into the left rough, which was difficult to recover from.)
#10 is a long 403 yard par 4, wrapping around the giant bunker down the left side. Your aiming point is the house at the top of the hill. Plenty of time to work back left on your approach shot.
#11 is the hardest hole on the back nine. It's a 447 yard par 4! The appropriate strategy here is to resolve to hit quality shots, even if it takes three of them! Hit a threewood off the tee, then a five iron, then an eight, make two putts, collect a bogey and move on! Or you could hit driver, three wood in a feeble attempt to reach in two...
#12 is a scary par 3. It's only 151 yards, but yikes! the chasm... If you can clear the rocks, there's a nice shelf of sand to land on. But obviously, you want to hit a quality shot here. It's reachable for us bogey golfers, but you have to get the chasm out of your head!
#13 is a downhill 372 yard par 4. Tee up your driver, and let it fly! (This is rated as the easiest hole on the course.)
#14 is a 533 yard par 5. While not oppressively long, it does need three quality shots, beginning with a forced carry off the tee. Straight is your friend here, so don't get greedy!
#15 plays 371 yards. There's room to hit your driver, so that's the right play. You'll be glad of the extra distance when it comes time for your approach shot.
#16 is another pretty-as-a-postcard par 3. It's 181 yards, so bring your A game! There's some room on the other side of the junk to bail out right. Obviously any hooked or pulled shot is wet! I speak from experience!
#17 is a 518 yard par 5. While not overly long, you still want to maximize your distance on the first two shots, because the green is tucked in amongst a lot of foliage and junk, and you want a nice short wedge shot to comfortably clear all that.
The home hole is a 400 yard par 4. You need to hit driver off the tee, and you'll want to hit it straight because there is trouble to be had! Bogey is not a bad score here -- stay out of the junk!
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