Hole #16 - Have I mentioned that the tees at Kingsley Club provide for remarkable variety? The 16th is more of the same. The gold tee here plays a challenging 225 yards. Depending upon the wind, this hole can be a driver for me. This hole was really designed for this tee in my opinion because the ideal shot to play is a low runner to the right of the green that feeds down to the putting surface. The blue tee plays 175 yards and presents another nice opportunity to play a low runner. Rather than taking your 175 club here, take an extra club or two, choke down, and watch it run to the green!
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| The 16th as seen from the blue tee box |
The white tee is less elevated, more level with the green or perhaps slightly below (my memory fails me). The distance is 154 from the white tee. Finally, the red tee is only 138 yards. From this tee, the low runner no longer feels like the right approach though it is still an option.
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| The 16th has a different look from the lower elevated white and red tee boxes |
The green is large enough that with a short iron or wedge in hand most golfers will try to fly it to the green from this tee. I seem to recall the green being completely blind or at least mostly blind from this tee. Just make sure to miss a bit right and/or long of your target.
Hole #17 - This is the shortest par 5 on the golf course, playing 522 yards from the gold tee. It appears that there is a new tee box being built, which will stretch it out a bit more. Still it will need to expand a full 50 yards to exceed the 7th in length. The new tee box might be close to that distance but not much more. From this tee the roller coaster turbo boost is only in play for longer hitters or when the wind is really helping. I really have no hope or dream of making the crest of the hill from here. All of my playing partners had enough distance.
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| The blue tee and the gold tee play from a similar angle but different distance. The white tee box can be seen in the left edge of this photo. The red tee is even shorter, but also to the left side. |
The blue tee plays only 476 yards, and now gives me a fighting chance to make it to the hill with a well struck drive. Actually, my finest drive on this hole was en route to making the journey down the hill until it struck the “no carts” sign with an authoritative “thwack!” The white tee plays 445 though most players that clear the hill from the blue tee probably won’t end up too much further down the hill with their drives on the white tee as they may fly over some of the turbo boost and get less kick. The red tee plays 412 and makes for a nice par 4 for the big hitters. For players like me, it just results in one more humiliating chance to make a 6.
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| In this photo of the 17th tee, you can barely make out the red tee between the bunkers on the left edge of the fairway and the bunkers in the middle of the fairway. |
Hole #18 - The final hole at Kingsley once again comes through with some nice options, particularly for a match that makes it to last hole of the day. The gold tee plays at 422 yards. With the rolling fairway that could help or hurt a tee shot combined with a testy approach that will likely be played with a mid-to-long iron or hybrid from the gold tee, this hole can be a brutal finisher. Getting your ball in the hole might well prove to be enough to win the match. The blue option at 386 yards is played from a similar angle as the gold tee but it cuts off just enough distance that the approach plays to a reasonable length for the hitter without too much distance.
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| From the blue tee, the white tee can be seen just across the road. The red tee is well up and to the left. |
Up a bit more, the white tee also presents a good option at 360. Now we are talking about different club options off the tee or a chance to play to the difficult green with only a wedge for many players. Last but certainly not least, as it pertains to match play interest, is the red tee at 292 yards. Why shouldn’t you finish the occasional match from this distance? This tee is positioned well forward and also well left of the other tees. There’s too much trouble guarding the green for most players to think about realistically driving the green, but it certainly puts the driver option in play for the player with their back to the wall on the 18th. It also yields the opportunity to play a fun pitch shot to a green complex that is no bargain from any distance.
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| The red tee can turn the 18th into an exciting short par 4 finish. The angle is also very different from the red tee. Choose your club wisely! |
