The tee shot is hit into a fairway that slopes hard left to right into the predominant wind. Big hitters want to land their tee ball in the left side of the fairway so it gets the natural right kick and ends up in the right third of the fairway. If you end up in the left third of the fairway, your chances of going for the green in two are almost non-existent due to a center-line tree, and you must choose to go over and have a short wedge in or play it safe to the left and have a longer third shot. If you end up in the right spot, you are faced with about a 230-yard shot that plays uphill and into the wind … a perfect example of a difficult risk/reward situation. If you choose to play towards the green, a high soft shot with a fairway wood is required. However, that’s not your only option — you can take one less club, play left of the green, and try to get it up-and-down for birdie.

For most of our players, #5 is a 3-shot hole, and one of the coolest design characteristics about this hole is it provides multiple options for every type of player. If you can find the fairway with a good tee shot, you are faced with a decision to play a fairway wood past the corner or lay it up short of the corner. Again, you have a risk/reward situation — if you hit the longer club and challenge the creek corner, you can have a wide open third shot to the green. If you lay back short of the corner, you will most likely have to play over a few trees towards the green. There is a third option — the right fairway. It’s rarely the best option for your layup, however, it provides a bailout for flared second shots.

Corey Roberson is the Director of Golf at The Clubs of Cordillera Ranch. He can be reached at croberson@cordilleraranch.com and 830.336.4653.