12 TEE TALK
HOW TO PLAY THE STARTING HOLES AT NSRCC CHANGI
By
Brian Tan , NSRCC Vice Captain
In this article , we ’ re going to look at the two starting holes at our Changi course . Starting holes can be daunting as one ’ s swing is still not fully warmed up yet .
Hole # 1 From the Blue tees at 395m , this is a tough hole to start one ’ s round . Even from the White tees , 365m isn ’ t easy .
From the tee box , there is a lone tree on the left of the fairway which will catch drives that are just off to the left . Even further left are more trees in the shared tree line with Hole # 3 . Drives that are to the right will get caught in the big bunker complex where getting on in two will be difficult as the front lips are pretty steep . Drives that are too far to the right will get caught in the tree line shared with Hole # 2 .
Unless one drives the ball pretty far straight down the center , the second shot could be as long as 200m . With the water on the left starting at 100m in and a bunker just front left of the green , it ’ s a daunting shot .
This is where one has two options : The conservative option would be to hit a 100m to 140m lay-up , making sure it ’ s to the right so that water on the left doesn ’ t come into play . That would leave a full wedge shot into the green . Just try to land on a flat area so the wedge shot is easier , and make sure you ’ re not blocked by the lone tree just next to the buggy track .
The more aggressive option would be to hit a long iron , hybrid or wood to try to get on in two . Once again , try to avoid the left , as the water and bunker is there , and the bailout area on the left and far back of the green slopes down towards the water . If one misses the green right , it should be a short chip to try get up and down .
The green is wider at the front , and much narrower and upwards sloping towards the back . The back left of the green slopes severely down after a ridge , which can make for a tricky putt down if the flag is at the bottom of the slope , or if one needs to putt up and out of the collection area .
The toughest flag position is probably a blue flag all the way at the back where the green is its narrowest . It would be a long putt from the lower front of the green or if one is shortsided on the right bailout area , chips from the right that go too long will end up in the collection area .
A tough starting hole indeed .