Ask the starter to let you go to the back nine.  The 10th tee is past the practice green and to the left of the 9th green.  The 10th is a long par 4, dogleg left and fairly open.  Besides being long, it is rather non-descript. The 11th is a 130 yard par 3 with an enormous green and is a fairly easy par.  But as you walk to the 12th tee you can feel the forest closing in. The tee shot on this par 5 is one of 8 shots you will face that will test your nerves as well as your skill. 

1. Tee shot on 12. The fairway narrows radically in the landing area which ends at a pond extending across the fairway.  The safe shot is to lay up well back of the pond, but this increases the difficulty of the next shot: the closer you get to the pond, the easier the 2nd shot. Of, you can try to bust it over the pond into a narrow fairway. From there you can get home in 2.  As they say, make up your mind and commit to the shot.

2. 2nd shot on 12. It is a par 5, so you have to hit a long shot uphill to a narrow fairway.  The wind usually blows against you or even worst, across the fairway.

3. 2nd shot on 13:  The 13th is a long par 4.  The tee shot is to a wide fairway so you can swing away.  If the tee shot puts you in a position to go for the green, take a deep breath.  You have to carry a pond with a long approach shot, and if that is not enough the fairway narrows drastically to a green which is surrounded on 3 sides by woods.  Miss the green and you can look for deer dropping in the forest.

4. 2nd shot on 14.  The 14th is a  rather short par 4 dogleg left.  The tee shot is from an elevated tee to a rising, narrow fairway, but you are used to that by now.  It is the second shot that is a teaser.  The green slopes towards you and the back is tiered. The approach shot has to be perfect to get close to the pin.  The good news is that the shot will be much shorter than the 2nd shot on 13.

5. Tee shot on 15.  15 is a long, narrow par 3 to a raised green which slops to you.  Anything that is not on the green leaves a very difficult chip or pitch shot.  But not to worry, half the shot end up in the woods and a difficult chip is the least of your worries. 

6. 2nd shot on 15.  The tee shot on this short dogleg right par 4 is wide open.  Don't try to cut the dogleg unless you are Tiger Woods.  The uphill second shot is to a green that radically slopes towards you and is crowned in the middle.  Get beyond the hole or on the other side of the hump with your approach shot and you will have no trouble embarrassing  yourself. You will probably end up buying the first round at the bar too.

7. Tee shot on 17.  The 17th hole is the jewel of this area.  It can play over 600 yards from the tips. The tee shot is down a narrow fairway.  The wind usually blows from the left and will take any ball with a left to right spin and put it in places where a lumberjack feels at home. A pond in the middles of the fairway will keep you long ball fellows in check.

8. 2nd shot on 17.  If you are conservative on your tee shot, you leave yourself another tester.  You must carry a pond with all you have in the bag and move the ball a bit from right to left.  Oh yes, the good news is the fairway does open up a bit on the second shot.

There are not many courses where you are faced with 8 shots that have to be perfect. Since even Hogan says he only hit about 3 perfect shots a round, the rest of us are in trouble.  However, there are very few traps, the greens, with the exceptions noted above are fairly flat and accessible to frontal attacks. But, this nine holes is for the golfer who can control her shots and knows when to attack and when to play safe. If you cannot, welcome to a nightmare.