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Tobiano Golf Hole By Hole
#1 Par 5, 576 yards
It is intended to be a relatively gentle opening hole but you do have to work the
ball a little bit. There is a dramatic gulley on the left hand side which you need to
avoid and there is a large fescue area out to the right.The landing area is fairly
generous. The second shot goes across another gentler gulley and the green is
just beyond that. Top players who hit good drives should be able to get awfully
close to the green, or on the green, in two. Average players should be able to get
home without a lot of difficulty in three shots.
#2 Par 4, 348 yards
This hole continues the theme of a gentle start, or introduction, to the round of golf. Number two
is a short par four with a very, very wide fairway. Actually you can get home with a driver. The tee
shot may typically be a low iron, hybrid club, or three wood. You don’t have to hit driver but you
can if you want. There is a large bunker out to the right to keep you honest and give you a little
bit of something to think about on the tee shot.The second shot into the green is not long – only
a wedge or nine iron for most players – but it is a very small green and severely sloped. The real
premium is on the second shot approach just trying to keep the ball below the pin.
#3 Par 3, 162 yards
This is the hole I affectionately call Ballybunion. It’s one of the most
unique, natural holes that I have ever had a chance to do. Virtually we
just cut in a little plateau green and cut in the tee boxes. It’s a very dramatic
landscape. Really only a mid iron, seven or eight iron, would be
the normal shot for most players if they are playing from their correct
tee boxes. This is a lovely little hole that continues the theme of working
the player into the round.
#4 Par 4, 505 yards
The golf round in my opinion really starts at the fourth hole. This is where the holes pick up their
intensity in terms of their difficulty. This hole requires a great drive. You really have to crack it
down the left side of the fairway. The hole is bunker-less which I like. I probably like at least two
holes on any given course to be bunker-less. I like that to break up the theme of bunkering. The
second shot is to a plateau green similar to #16 at Royal Dornoch which is one of my favourite
holes in the world. Whenever I do a plateau green like that I always think of #16 at Dornoch. Tobiano
#4 is a wonderful golf hole. The shot demand is a long drive with a calculating angle up the
left side. The second shot leaves all kinds of options whether to fly it directly to the pin or run it up
through the grassy swale in front.
#5 Par 4, 477 yards
Hole #5 is one of the most dramatic, natural holes I think anywhere; certainly one of the most
dramatic holes that I've ever done. In fact, this may be the most unique hole I’ve ever built. It's
simply stunning in terms of the quality of the landscape. Again a hole I didn't
have to create. It was all there. It has these fissured gullies through what we call
‘badlands.’ It has very fine, clay soil that couldn’t support grass or trees. We just
simply capped this clay soil with topsoil and that enabled us to plant the grass.
The hole is very reminiscent of some of the valley holes at Ballybunion. I can
think of holes like #17 and #15 at Ballybunion that you play down this dramatic
chute with giant dunes flanking both sides of the fairway. These dunes are 20 to
30 feet high on each side. The shot demands that one play it up the middle and
play it straight. The hole takes a wee turn to the right and probably the shot calls
for a gentle fade although you can draw it in from right-to-left if you choose.
The fade will actually be rewarded with a little bit of a scoot on a firm part of
the fairway. The second shot is very demanding and that’s why the green is fairly large. You’re
hitting a low iron or a hybrid club into that green. It’s open at the front. There is one bunker left
and the green is very large, dramatically set at the bottom of the hill in a large bowl contained by
gigantic dunes.
#6 Par 4, 462 yards
This is a very dramatic par four, a mid-to-long hole that rewards great driving. We have a variety
of tee boxes. The back three tees are in back of the large gully that has to be carried and the two
forward tees are 150 to 160 yards ahead taking that carry out of play
which enables higher handicap players to be able to enjoy and play the
hole without having to hit a forced carry across a chasm they just can’t
make. For average to top players, it’s just a wonderful golf hole, one
of the most unique driving holes I’ve ever done. I’ve opened up the
right side: it’s wide and bunker-less, so it is in effect your bailout. That
is your place to miss. The desired shot shape is a long draw. That gets
you in terrific shape to reach the green with a shorter club and that
also gives you a little bit better angle in to the green. The backdrop for
#6 green is about as good as it gets. It’s almost like an ‘infinity’ green. If you can think of an infinity
pool the back of the green is backed up by Kamloops Lake: just a totally unique setting.
#7 Par 3, 189 yards
This is a very dramatic par three hole ranging in length from about 109 yards up to 189 yards.
That’s a terrific length differentiation and the reason is because the green is perched on a knob
out in the middle of a fissured gully. It is truly a unique hole. The shot
type is a little bit reminiscent of the 17th at the TPC at Sawgrass in
that there is no place to miss on this hole. You have to hit the green or
the perimeter of the green or you are dead. It is a little bit of ‘all or
nothing,’ so maybe it doesn’t quite speak to providing an area to miss.
It is certainly loaded with drama. My challenge on that hole was to
get the tee boxes correctly positioned so that I would give all players a
reasonable chance to hit the green in one shot.
#8 Par 5, 585 yards
Hole #8 is the second par five at Tobiano. It’s a wonderful hole going back towards the clubhouse
and paralleling Kamloops Lake on the right. It involves a heroic drive over another fissured gully.
The carry over the gully is about 180 to 200 yards from the Iron tees and, of course, less carry from
the forward tees. The Sage tee is on the other side of the gully, once again providing extraordinarily
good playability for all classes of players. The tee shot is a little bit of risk-reward in that you have
to cut the angle very, very carefully. You have to calculate the risk and the risk is to cut more of the
gully off on that tee shot. What that does is shorten the hole and enables you to perhaps hit the
green in two. And that’s exactly what I wanted to do. You can play safe up the left side but that negates
any chance of getting home in two. The second shot is down the hill and it really tightens up
on the approach in to the second landing area. There is a lot of calculation
of risk involved on that second shot. There is another gully and
chasm to carry. You can hit everything from three wood to wedge on
that second shot depending on how comfortable you are, how you are
playing that day, and where you want to come in from on that third
shot. I think the top, highly-skilled players are going to give it a go. I
don’t think there’s a lot of percentage in it for them to lay up because
the fat part of that hole is really as it gathers in towards the green. You
are probably better to take out a hybrid club or a three wood and hit
some shaped fade up to the fat part. It still brings some risk in. For the
higher handicap players it’s pretty straightforward. They won’t try that kind of a shot. They will
probably hit down and into the gully and come in with a seven or eight iron on the third shot to a
small green. My theory on a reachable par five is that the green should be somewhat small.
#9 Par 4, 418 yards
This may be the best par four on the front nine. It’s absolutely a terrific driving hole involving some risk
both on the right side and the left side. It may be the tightest driving hole on the front nine with trouble
on both sides. As the hole winds its way back up the hill, the second shot is sharply uphill to the green. It’s
mid-length, and the players should be coming in with sixes and seven irons to a green that is very tightly
guarded by bunkers and so rewards good driving and accurate placement with the irons.
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