Check out your tee box — if you’re on one of the two closest boxes, you’ve got a chance to drive this thing!  It takes bravery and a beautifully executed shot (or an already trashed round), but it’s fun to try! From the front box, there’s a gap in the trees, and you’ll be short [...]

Depending on the tee box, this can be a straight shot to a big A1. Here’s a driver hole-out from the middle-left box, and here’s one from there with a 3-wood. Here’s a great 3-wood A1 backspin shot from the middle-right box, and here’s another one with the driver. From the far right box, you [...]

Lots of options off the tee here, but I play to the same place almost every time now.  I like to lay up in front of the lava lake, in line with the hole.  From here, you can lob a 5-wood onto the green, like this great shot (love the bubbling lava)!  A 3-wood may [...]

With a tailwind, this green can be really tough to stick.  This hole really tests your mastery of distance — good luck!  I love having the 7-wood and 9-wood here, which allow you to float the ball over the hill more easily. HOLE-OUT FROM THE RIGHT BOX HOLE-OUT FROM THE LEFT BOX HOLE-OUT FROM THE [...]

The decision off the tee here can be perplexing!  Initially it appears as if you’d always want to go to the left, but the Golden Tee course designers were kind enough to ensure that if the tee shot strays to the left a bit, it will roll right down onto the lava rock, which is [...]

Again — no reason to get fancy off the tee, so poke it out there and nail your approach shot, like this!

Nothing else to do other than lay up and try to hole-out from there.

This should be an eagle for you just about every time — here’s how to attack it: First, if you have one of the tee boxes on the right, line up with the green.  You’ll see a landing area a bit over halfway there.  Sometimes a tree impedes the shot, but either way, this is [...]

Low-lofted clubs are a big advantage here.  With a front pin, don’t be afraid to bounce a low-lofter through the sand with backspin. If you have to use a 9-wood, play the wind as best you can to leave yourself a putt, and rarely use backspin. HOLE-OUT FROM BACK LEFT BOX HOLE-OUT FROM BACK RIGHT [...]

There are 3 options off the tee here.  Most often, you’ll be laying back far enough to give yourself a line at the green from farther back — usually a 3-wood for the approach.  Here’s a 3-wood hole-out from laying back. If you have a closer tee box that’s lined up with the gap in [...]

The best place to be off the tee is just over the water (usually a driver backspin).  From here, you can float a 5-wood over the top of the trees onto the green for an eagle putt!  Here’s a nice 5-wood hole-out from that general area.  If you have a 7-wood, you have even more [...]

HOLE-OUT FROM BACK RIGHT BOX HOLE-OUT FROM FRONT RIGHT BOX HOLE-OUT FROM THE MIDDLE-LEFT BOX HOLE-OUT FROM LEFT BOX

This should be a pretty good eagle opportunity for you.  If the pin is in the middle of the split green, you goal is to leave your shot pin-high on either side of the split green so that you have a manageable putt. Remember that the shot is downhill slightly, so your drive may travel [...]

EXAMPLE HOLE-OUT

This hole can be devastating.  As if #16 weren’t enough to ruin your round, now you have to deal with this monster.  Not only that, but it’s a very tough tee shot, and a very tough approach shot, and a very tough putt!  You’ve got dangerous water off the tee on the left, which the [...]

This shot just demands that you nail the right distance with backspin.  It’s downhill, so don’t get crazy and blast your drive in the water, especially if you have a tailwind.  Again, the green is separated by a gap, so try not to leave yourself without a clear putt at the pin.  Here’s a crazy [...]

This is a really tough par 3 that most of us aren’t going to be able to birdie on a regular basis.  You have to have a low-lofted club, and you usually have to cut into the slope of the green, or else you’re going to be wet.  In fact, if it weren’t for this [...]

Get your drive past the sand down the fairway to leave yourself with a tough A1-type approach into the green.  As with many holes in Golden Tee 2010, don’t leave yourself on the wrong side of the green where you don’t have a clear putt at the hole!  Here’s a great cut-shot after a long [...]

You’ll almost always be hitting over the trees, pretty straight at the green.  However, club selection is very important!  A 5-wood can usually clear the trees no problem, a 4-wood clears all but the highest spots of tree, and a 3-wood needs to be over the gap in the middle or around the upper sides [...]

This one is tough to reach in 2.  The fairway sand is strategically-placed to envelop a tee shot that’s too aggressive, and then you’d have to lay up.  Similarly, if you’re not aggressive enough and leave your tee shot too far to the left, you can’t make it in 2 either.  However, a 9-wood can [...]

This shot can be a little intimidating with some cross wind, but don’t panic.  In the case of a cross-wind, play a very small cut shot into the wind to keep your ball straight through the gap.  If you don’t play cut shots very often, be careful to only pull very slightly to the left [...]