The Graveyard

Number one Graveyard can be a problematic hole. It’s relatively short in yardage, but the prevailing wind tends to go from left to right and therein lies the trouble:  a shallow lake.  One reason balls may end up wet here is because the trees to the left side make it hard to aim to the left – but that’s the safe play. Down the car path line is great. Even if you tug it just a little bit, you still have a shot into this hole.   You have options on your drive.  You don’t necessarily have to hit driver off this tee. If you do crush a good drive, you’ll have a short iron or wedge into this green. This green does have a little bit more slope from front to back.  If the hole location is in the front left, that putt can be a little bit tricky so you have to be mindful of the approach shot. You don’t want to be above the hole on most holes, but certainly not on this one with a front left pin location.

Number Two Graveyard is a par-5 with a great opportunity to score. It’s a fairly reachable par-5 if you’re playing the appropriate tees and you hit a good tee shot. There’s a bunker to the right and a bunker to the left. If you thread the needle between those, you should have a good opportunity to get to this green, or around this green, in two. If you don’t hit the drive you want or you’re not a very long hitter, the thing that you will have to be mindful of is about 50 yards from the green, there are some bunkers that are not green side, they are fairway bunkers.  If these traps catch your golf ball, they’ll quickly turn an easier hole into a difficult one.  Assuming you avoid those fairway bunkers, you’ll have an opportunity to give yourself either get there in two or leave your second shot in a position where you have a nice wedge onto this green, close to the hole, and set  yourself up for a little breather birdie or an easy par.

Number three Graveyard is a par three and depending on the tees, it can play anywhere from 150 to 225 yards. At any yardage, this hole is a little bit longer than it reads. The reason for that is there’s really not a good way to run this shot up on the green even though there is no front-side bunker. The front of this green is very soft even though it has no false front.  Typically, you need to carry the ball all the way on to the putting surface. It does tend to play into the wind at times, so that can also make it a little bit difficult.  The green has a little bit of slope to it so when you do miss the green, depending on the hole location, it can present a little bit of difficulty chipping and getting that ball close.  The miss is to the front or just front left of this green. That gives you the best chance to chip up and down.  Depending on the hole location, if you do miss this green or even if you hit the green and you’re far away from the hole, it can be a difficult par. All the par 3 holes can be difficult at Bent Brook depending on hole locations, and this one is no exception.

Number four Graveyard is a great par four. Bent Brook generally provides the opportunity to make a few errant shots and still be able to score. This hole is an exception to that trend. You’ve got to put one in play here off the tee.  You don’t always have to hit driver off of this tee because there is water to the right and – depending on how dry the fairway is – if you can hit it far enough straight down the middle, you might find yourself in the water at the end of the fairway. Once you do hit your tee shot and you are positioned in the center of the fairway, the green is fairly large and is another hole where the ball will not release if you land in front of the green. You must carry it all the way on to the putting surface. It’s fairly well guarded with two bunkers to the front left and a bunker to the right of this green.  Once you hit your tee shot, you should not have a terribly long shot into the end of the green. The water that you do have to carry that is at the edge of the fairway and in front of the green should not necessarily come into play, but it can sometimes rattle your confidence.  So once you’ve done the job of hitting a tee shot, try to forget that water.

Number five Graveyard is another fantastic par three. From the number two tees, it measures right around 185 to 190 yards, depending on hole location. You can obviously play it shorter than that, depending on the tees that you play. From the back tees, this hole can play anywhere from about 210 to 220 yards, depending on hole location. This green is very well guarded with a bunker in front, left, back and to the right, so it doesn’t provide you many places to miss this tee shot. You really have to trust your yardage and make a good pass and get this ball on the green, two put, and get out of there. Maybe you’ll sink a long one.

Number six Graveyard is likely our sharpest dogleg hole here at Bent Brook with a sharp dogleg to the right. It’s not a terribly long par-4 so it’s tempting for people to cut off that dogleg, but be mindful of the fact that this dogleg has probably the most trees that we have on a par four on that side. So if you don’t get it over that dogleg, then you’re going to be knocking around some tree woods and then you’re going to make it difficult to get on the green – likely trying to thread a chip shot through those trees.  If you do hit one over that dogleg, you’ve got a little flip wedge onto the green and congratulations, you’re going to make an easy birdie.  The traditional way to play this hole is hit it straight down the middle of the fairway and if you hit a good tee shot right down the middle of the fairway, you’re still only going to have a nine iron or a wedge into this green. The hole location is going to be very important. Pay attention to your GPS, consider the hole location, and trust that yardage. For instance, if that hole location is in the back, make sure that you don’t hit a club that’s going to go over this green because it’s a no-go from there.

Number seven on Graveyard is one of the favorites at Bent Brook. It’s a lot of fun to play and provides some opportunities to get to the green in two. However, if you’re a good player and you’re playing from the number one tees, this hole can play completely different than it does for the people playing on the twos, threes, fours, and fives. From the tips, it’s a significantly longer par five and a much truer par five in that sense. There’s a bunker and some higher rough to the right as well as a bunker and densely tree-lined area to the left so it’s important to try and hit this tee shot right down the middle.  If you manage to do that, you should have an opportunity to get this ball on the green or around the green in two. However,  this green is very well guarded. It has more bunkers around it than any other green on the course.  Some of the bunkers are  just off of the green, which can make it difficult if you are trying to arrive in two. If you don’t quite make it there, you might be in for a long, long bunker shot. So the second shot is definitely a risk/reward proposition.  Stil, the hole is shorter than most of our other par five’s so it does provide some opportunity to make some eagles and a lot of birdies.

Every golf course needs a hole like Graveyard number eight. This is a hole that tempts longer hitter into trying to get on this par-5 off of the tee, or at least really close to the green off of the tee. There is out of bounds to the left and there’s some trees that are down the right side of this green that protect the right side of the fairway. So if you are going to hit driver, you’re going to have to hit it straight down the middle to have any benefit whatsoever.  If you hit it to the right, you’re going to possibly be blocked out for your second shot and if you hit it to the left, there’s a hungry bunker. Of course, if you really hit it to the left, you’re on the road and pegging up another ball.  Some of the options on this hole are choose a club other than the driver. If there’s an approach yardage that you like, it might be better for you to hit something off of the tee that leaves you that yardage in. Just because you might have the distance to get to this green in two, there’s a lot of other stuff that can lead to a bogey (or worse).  So once you’ve done your positioning off of the tee, it does provide a chance to score well. It is a scoring hole but not necessarily because you might get it close to the green off the tee.  You can score on this hole by hitting something less than driver and putting yourself in position for your second shot.

Number nine Graveyard is like most of the number nine holes at Bent Brook.  The ninth hole on all three tracts at Bent Brook are all great holes – for different reasons. The tee shot on this hole is probably one of the harder ones you’ll find here. There’s water to the right. There is a bunker and out of bounds to the left.  There is also a creek that bisects the fairway that, depending on what tees you play from, you have to be mindful of reaching.  Do some math at the tee box and determine what club gives you the best chance of being in the fairway. Once there, it can be a difficult shot in because this green provides some hole locations that are often placed in one of the four quadrants, leading to a difficult two-putt if you’re on the wrong side of the hole.  This hole is probably one of the more difficult par 4’s at Bent Brook so if you can card a birdie here, it’s a great way to finish this nine.