Hole Breakdown: Village Links of Glen Ellyn #5
Wednesday, March 28th, 2007
When I discovered that I could look at overhead photographs of golf courses in Google maps, I was a happy guy. It makes the winters go by a lot faster if I can blow an evening here and there just checking out my favorite courses from a satellite view. Sometimes it’s even cooler checking out courses that I will never get on. In fact, Google maps is about as close as many of us will ever get to Medina or Butler National.
Pictured above, via Google maps, is one of my favorite holes in the region. This is the 5th at Village Links of Glen Ellyn and it’s a dastardly short par 4. So dastardly, that I often have nightmares that the pin is back left, every day, for the rest of my life.
If you can’t tell, the hole runs from right to left on this picture. It plays 400 yards from the black tees but I usually play the blue tees, so it measures 369 yards. If you look on the right side of the photo, the blue tees are at the back of the second tee box in, right where the cart path loops around.
You stand on the tee and the water looms large about 160 yards out on your left. The two bunkers straight away on the right side of the fairway are 271 yards out. You can’t see the water on the right.
What makes it so sinister is something that you don’t notice from this overhead shot; at the bend of the dog leg there is a large mound running all along the right side of the fairway. That means that everything is going to bounce left, right towards the water. It really thins the fairway out a lot. Fear. That’s all I’m feeling at this point.
Your eye is drawn towards those two fairway bunkers. I think the designers put those there hoping that you aim at them with a club that will leave you just short. But wait a second. Draw a line from the tee box to those bunkers. It skirts the edge of the water on the left. You already know the fairway slopes left, so unless you can carry it about 240 (from the blue tees), you are in the drink, even with a straight ball. Don’t fall for it. I think the best play is a three or four wood aimed out to the crest of the hill on the right. But don’t go too far right, because if you hit the top of hill and bound right, you have an uphill, blind approach, or your in the water.
Say you prevail, and you hit a nice 210 yard three wood and you have a six or seven iron left. You’re still not out of the woods, especially if the pin is back left. There is a big mound that roughly traverses the green diagonally, from that back bunker to the middle of those front bunkers. If you fly anything hot to the back half of the green you’re in trouble because it all slopes away from you. Just aim for the middle of the green and hope you get lucky. If the pin is in front, just play short, don’t risk dealing with the other slide of the mound.
I like this hole a lot. I don’t hit the driver 240 consistently, so it presents a significant challenge and I really enjoy matching wits with it. In fact, this whole course is great and my review will come out sometime this year.
Throughout 2007, we’ll be visiting great golf holes in the Chicago area. Tell me what some of your favorites are and the crack staff here at the Chicago Golfcast will put some analysis together.
