Welcome back GT bloggers, it’s time to sort through the next course in the 2010 lineup. And what better source to chat with about GT 2010’s five new gems than the actual source himself. In a five-part series (aka five new courses), I sat down with course designer Jim Zielinski to discuss some of the intriguing factors you can expect to see when playing the update in a matter of weeks.

Next up, the tropical beauty, Tahiti Cove.

AK: Thanks for joining us once again, Jim. We’re more than halfway done with our course feature and the Golden Tee 2010 release date is approaching fast. Next up, Tahiti Cove. Give us a rundown of the course, and some of the things players should know before they play it.

JZ: Tahiti Cove is the first tropical-ocean course we’ve done since Coral Vista in the original Golden Tee LIVE. The major difference between the two is that Coral Vista had more of a Florida-resort feel while Tahiti Cove is positioned more in the wild and has much more of a jungle-esque feel. There are a lot of tropical trees, the ocean comes into play, and revamped lava returns to Golden Tee with sound effects and all.

AK: We’ve heard your thoughts on the difficulty of two our courses thus far. How would you rate Tahiti Cove compared to the previous two and the other courses in GT 2010?

JZ: As is the case with many of the courses, a player’s success of Tahiti Cove will depend in large part on the setup and conditions for that round. As a whole, however, I would say that Tahiti would be slightly more difficult than average. The lava comes into play on a lot of shots that can kill a scorecard, and there’s also a good amount of water. Both 17 and 18 can also be challenging, and will be very good finishing holes for players looking to go for it all.

AK: There’s been a lot of news on our Design-a-Hole winner Jim Little of late and his hole Tropical Torment. Since Tropical Torment is hole 7 on Tahiti Cove, how did this impact your design process of the course?

JZ: Once we had heard that Jim had been voted the winner, we needed to assign him to one of the five courses. Since his design was tropical, we felt that Tahiti Cove was a perfect fit. The only item we really had to add to ensure Jim’s design was exactly the way he wanted, was building the yucca plants he had specified in his description. His hole is the only hole in Golden Tee where these plants can be found.

AK: Out of all the holes YOU designed for this course, which would you say is your personal favorite?

JZ: I think Hole 5 is a fun par-4 that provides unique options and challenges every time through.  It’s a longer par-4 and there are three different ways to attack the hole off the tee.  Where you choose to shoot may change depending on the tee box, the wind, or simply on personal preference. This hole plays similar in strategy to hole 11 on Rustic Bridge. There are trees close on the right, and a hazard that penalizes deep fade shots that don’t curve enough. On this hole it’s not about how far you can hit your drive, it’s about putting yourself in great position to create the easiest shot into the green.

AK: Thanks again for the course info, Jim. Can’t wait to play it!