And your displeasure has been voiced.

Not many of you were generally pleased with my fifth overall selection in Toughest in 2011, the Timber Bay 18^th, so I’m hoping to make up for it with my next pick. In fact, I’m very confident that y’all will be with me on this one. Either that or you’ve all gotten really, really good, or I am that bad…

In any event, we go from drivable par-4 to par-3 for our next selection as the Grizzly Flats 16^th checks in at number four.

The Grizzly Flats 16^th is one of two par-3s in 2011 that can really take a good round and smash it into 1,000 pieces. What makes the 16^th hole so challenging is that it can burn you in so many ways.

The Water: Anything left of the green is getting wet, no doubt about it. The green, as mentioned below, doesn’t help you out in this regard either.

The Green: At a stout left-10, everything that lands on the green feeds towards the water. Unless, of course, you apply some funk to the trackball. More on that in a bit…

The Green (Part 2): Aside from the slope, the green is also separated in 3 distinct areas that will require diverse shots in order to put your ball close to the pin.

The Wind: It’s late in the round and just like The Truman Show (bad), Jim Z is turning up the dials on the environment. Anything over 10 mph right to left is a real challenge.

The Pot Bunker: The wildcard for the entire hole. End up here and you could be looking at a disaster depending on your positioning.

With an out wind, this hole can play much easier depending on where the pin is positioned. Anything but, however, will require some careful planning to secure that you stick the green and more importantly, avoid hitting the pot bunker or the water.

In some instances, the pot bunker can actually be the worst possible places you can end up. If you’re positioned against one of the bunker walls, you’re looking at the very best a par and this is far from guaranteed. Hitting out of the sand and sticking the green can also be an absolute challenge, especially if you’re hitting with the wind. If you don’t have an L-wedge on this hole, well, let’s just say you should probably play with one going forward.

Sticking this green requires you to unleash your inner Sobe and become one with the trackball. By cutting the shot, and pulling back towards A and hitting the ball out towards 1, you will actually get your ball to kick up the hard sloping green. How far you hit towards each will depend a lot on the wind/setup, but this is the kind of shot you’ll want to attempt when given a tougher look. This will get you the nice kick as seen below…

(Boasting alert)

So, what’s the verdict?

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With 2011 out and about, it’s time once again to look at the top 5 toughest holes in GT’s latest update. We debuted this series last year on the GTB, while allowing you to offer up your thoughts on our submissions at the end. For the most part, you found our selections to be pretty sound, although some of you had a few choice words on a couple of the submissions.

BRING IT.

And so we’re back at it again a year later, with a whole new arsenal of designs to pick from. How we select our top 5, however, is one of the most complex items known to man. This makes deciphering the magic ELO formula look relatively simple.

No, not really. Here’s the breakdown.

When I look at what makes a difficult hole in Golden Tee, I look at a variety of things. First, how often than not are you getting a score beyond what you’d like to see. While getting a three on a par-3 isn’t a disaster it does mean something went astray off the tee, unless, of course your putter let you down.

The same can be said about drivable par-4s. When you don’t walk away with an eagle and the green was reachable, you’ve obviously run into first-shot issues or that putting stroke got in the way once again.

I also look at the holes that can make your scorecard go “BOOM.” I’m talking about the tricky par-3s (cough, cough Savannah 17) that can take a good round and snap it in half over its knee.

And so our “Toughest” criteria is formed. Kicking off the festivities in 2011 is none other than the Timber Bay 18th.

The 18^th on TB is one of the most known holes in the game and it’s easy to see why. It’s a classic Jim Z finishing hole that offers up a variety of unique ways to reach the par-4 green in one, plus plenty of risk vs. reward for those looking for the two.

Getting to the green is the first area that needs to be attacked, and with three different tee boxes there are multiple ways to do so. More often than not, players will try and play an A-1-type shot through the opening to get to the green. Like so…

While manageable, some setups will require a much finer shot than others. There’s also ways to get to the green through other means, including testing your luck through a gap in the trees, over the tress or by bouncing off the rock, but none of these are necessarily reliable options. Well, unless you do this…

As is the case with every hole in the top 5, particular setups will make this hole much tougher than others. Wind will always be a factor, but perhaps less so than any finalist going forward. Distance, tee placement and pin placement will be far more influential on the outcome.

While I don’t feel this will be a “blow up” hole, I do think eagles will be tough to come by on a regular basis. This is EXACTLY why the TB 18^th is a fantastic closing hole, and one that warrants a spot in our top 5. But the question remains, do you?

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And with one more absurdly long flight, the Golden Tee 2011 road tour has come to an end. We’ve pounded all the mini Makers bottles we can muster and we’ve racked up a serious flight tab that IT won’t be happy they have to cover.

Back in the USA, it’s time to tie a bow on this voyage as Golden Tee 2011 is set to hit on Monday, September 27^th.

Redvale, Colorado is the site for our final 2011 course, Grizzly Flats. And while most people immediately think mountains when hearing Colorado, Grizzly is actually more of a Scottish-type course than anything else. As a Bonnie Moor fan, this excites me, although I don’t think it will be nearly the same score fest that we saw a few years back.

With that being said, there are some fascinating aspects of this course, including a green and a fairway that will test your GT skills to the max.

If you’ve missed any of the action up until this point, be sure to check out our Hands on tackled Laurel Park, Alpine Run, Timber Bay and Falcon Sands.

2011 is here, folks and that is a beautiful thing. Let us tackle one more course JUST IN TIME for you to take them on yourselves.

The Return of the Pot Bunker

Bonnie Moor fans remember these bunkers well and probably not in an “Oh, it’s really nice to see you” sort of way.

The pot bunkers on Grizzly Flats are deep and come in mass amounts. If you happen to find one of these bunkers and get nestled up against one of the side walls, it’s going to cost you at least a stroke and possibly more depending on how you react to the given situation. Translation: Take your medicine and move on.

You’ll manage to find them every now and then and they will cost you strokes. The key is to not let a potential par turn into a double bogey over even worse. Another important key and vital tool – ALWAYS, and I mean ALWAYS carry a lob wedge. Purchase a set that has this lofted club and play with it on Grizzly. I guarantee you that’ll come in handy.

The Donut Hole

You are seeing this correctly so don’t bother adjusting the contrast on your screen. The par-3 12^th is unique from any other hole in Golden Tee LIVE thanks to the creative green that Jim Z has dropped on us mid-round.

This hole will offer up a variety of different looks depending on the wind as well as the pin location. The one place you simply cannot be, however, is the very center which is a water hazard. Oh, and there’s plenty of them pot bunkers we just got done talking about to go along.

If you play this one relatively safe, you should be able to walk away with birdie most of the time. With that said, there will be occasions where you’re cursing out the Golden Tee Gods as you putt your way around the green. To avoid that, I suggest you do the following…

The Final Par-5

The 17^th hole is one of true eagle testers in all of 2011. Reaching the green in two requires a drive that, well, has to be just about perfect. That strip of green you see above is where you’ll need to land if you want to have a chance at three with the putter.

Because it’s the 17^th hole, you’ll likely be battling a stronger wind and hitting into tougher conditions. This makes hitting the small landing area quite a challenge. With water on the left and mud on the right, missing to the right is a much safer way to play. With that said, anything that brushes up against the dirt mound just right on the landing area will likely send your ball into the hazard.

Hitting the fairway is an achievement in itself but you won’t be home free from there. The 2^nd shot will still be lengthy and the green is protected by water. Of course, you could always lay up, but where’s the fun in that? This is a toughie but it’s very doable…

That’s it for us, my friends. GT 2011 will be making it’s way around the country all next week, so be sure to stay glued to the Find-a-Game feature on Goldentee.com to see when and where you can get your first taste of GT.

-ak

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