Golfing Rhode Island

147 YARDS
Playing from the highest point on the property the 1st hole requires a slight drop shot down to a softly moving green, rolling from the lower left to the upper right half. The green is set in at an angle against a sharp slope. Short left will leave you in one of a series of grass hollows having to play back up to the green. There is also an opportunity to run the ball on the surface from a sweeping approach at the right edge of the green.

179 YARDS
The 2nd is all about placement on the green. The hole plays downhill to a very undulating green that is shaped as a continuation of the 12th green. A bold swale bisects the surface so it is imperative that the placement of the tee shot is on the proper level with the pin. Missing left will find a deep bunker shot from 15 feet below the surface.

165 YARDS
On the 3rd the player must manage a dramatic carry over a lower pond framed by a 40-foot waterfall to a perched green, subtly redan in style. The front half of the green is receptive leading to a crossing ridge at the center of the green. The surface then falls away toward the back left with bunkering behind. Short and right greenside bunkers provide an angular frame to the tee shot.

163 YARDS
Resting down in a lower meadow, the 4th provides a great look with a large meandering bunker sprawling along the left of the green. Another smallish mitt bunker sits quietly and conspicuously short of the green ready to grab the poorly hit tee shot.

163 YARDS
The 5th is deceptively long as you move to back tees. A hidden, but very strong greenside bunker is cut into the right half of the green. The surface can be described as moving softly with many pin locations. Anything long will fall sharply off the back slope of the green resulting in a difficult recovery back to the surface.

136 YARDS
The large gaping bunker stretching across the front of the green will certainly get you attention. The complex rests comfortably into a long slope rising up behind the green. The green slopes gradually from right to left except for the "dinner table" at the upper right corner.

177 YARDS
Playing over a large natural brush area, the 7th is uphill to the eye as well as deceptively protected. The bunkering is meant more to break the sightline from tee to green and highlight the natural elements of the site, than to protect any pin positions. The green is smallish and moves just a bit from right to left. You need to get there, otherwise the hillside bunkers might catch you, or if missed short left you will roll into the "Valley of Sin".

162 YARDS
My personal favorite, this shortish hole plays havoc with the eye as it feels uphill, but really plays along a level plane. The green is large and sprawling with too many fun pin locations to mention. Visually, a natural rock outcrop and fronting bunker seem to frame the right half of the green, but the surface meanders well to the right of the rock providing a tasty back right pin location. Short left and you're in the fronting bunkers long right you might find the roll off approach cut.

161 YARDS
Walking off the 8th green puts you right onto the 9th tee looking down through the fescues to a deep green tucked into the corner of the property. The "unseen" feature on the hole is the biarritz from well short of the green. This visually lengthens the hole, as players will tend to come up short of the green. Bunkers punched into the green on the left and right side frame a surface that runs slowly upgrade from front to back.

128 YARDS
Short, but stout. The 10th is a short iron to a small, benched green with trouble on both sides. A wedge over the meadow put on the proper tier will get the job done. Hillside bunkers on the right and a low-cut bunker on the left will swallow up shots offline. Beware of the greenside swale at the front right.

240 YARDS
Long ride home. The 11th may require the big stick from the back tees. The corridor of the hole is designed to throw balls onto the green if you carry the short right bunker. A slight draw with a 3- wood might be just right to catch the ramp onto the green. A large left bunker looks you right between the eyes when standing on the tee.

190 YARDS
The hole reminds me a prehistoric setting with the large boulders protruding from the green-fronting pond. There is plenty of room beyond the pond for a safe bailout right of the green. The serpentine valley that starts on the 2nd hole finds its way through the left center of the 12th green leaving precarious pins along the left or right plateaus.

178 YARDS
From a large angled benched tee, the 13th plays over a small waterfall and feeder into the southernmost pond. Carry the pond to a high approach to the green. The green works upward from front to back adding a half club to the tee shot. A rock outcropping sneaks up along the right of the green, while a deep bunker grabs balls missed left.

130 YARDS
Though short, this hole provides plenty of visual stimulation. A classic strip-bunker mirrors a large ledge outcrop running along the left side of the hole. At the right, a smallish pot bunker sits inside its larger counterpart resembling a hand holding a ball. The green falls off slightly at the back right.

192 YARDS
The 15th plays down to a tabletop green that feeds well hit shots into the center of the green. The surrounds fall off sharply at the front and on the right. Bunkers built into the rock faces behind the green give this picture its natural frame.

208 YARDS
One the most challenging holes on the course. Its positioning in the round and the demand of the tee shot to find the green will get the attention of all players. Anything hit too short will find the pond. A narrow fairway falling off on the left and right provides a very narrow hallway to run balls up. The greenside bunkering wraps around the left side and behind.

161 YARDS
A natural meadow hole that gives the player a bit of a breather, and some flexibility to miss the green a bit. Short is OK, and left will find a large pitch area allowing for a reasonable play back onto the green. A bunker is tucked into the right front corner of the green.

158 YARDS
Coming home will require placing your ball in the proper quadrant on the green. The narrow surface stretches nearly 130 feet from front to back, leaving a long putt if left well short of a back pin. Soft bunkers left and right protect the green. A large pine stands guard at the front left of the green causing players to think through the trajectory of their shots.