Carroll Valley Tour Part 4

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

Hole 4: 584 yards

In an unusual coincidence, it turns out that both Waynesboro Municipal and Carroll Valley go from the third being the shortest hole on the course to the fourth hole being the longest.  This is a very long par 5, basically untouchable in two.  The tee shot is blind, as the hole starts going sharply downhill.  It doesn't look like there's very much room, but the hole does open up.  The road does run along the right, but there is a lot of room over there.  The bulk of the fairway is to the right.  However, there isn't as much room as you might think left of the fairway.  There are trees which are just dense enough to get in the way, and there is a native area about 30 yards right of the fairway.  I know this hole, I know there's a lot of room right, but I never fail to hit left.  I can't remember the last time I had an unimpeded second shot.

On most long par 5's I like to try and cover as much distance as possible with my second shot, but that's not really an option on this hole.  There is a stream cutting right across the fairway at about the distance a good 3 wood would land.  So, best play there is to try and get yourself about 100 yards away, or whatever distance you feel comfortable with. 

The third shot is a full wedge to a green with bunkers left and right.  Fortunately, this green is not particularly difficult to putt.  The hole is still one of the more difficult ones on the course.  If I can hit the green in regulation and two putt, I'm happy.

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Waynesboro Municipal Tour Part 8

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7

Hole 8: 440 yards

This is the shorter of the two par 5's on the course, and if this hole was played over level ground, it
would be a complete pushover.  It's still an easy hole, but the gigantic hill does make the hole play a bit longer.  This is a hilly golf course, but until this point, there was nothing too unreasonable.  This hill is a bit excessive though.  I'm not sure how high it goes up, but it does go up very quickly.  I prefer to hit my drive down the right side simply because the hill is a bit less severe on the right.  There's out-of-bounds left, but the fairway is so wide, it really shouldn't be an issue.  Being able to hit your drive up to the top of the hill is nice, since you get a sort of flat stance and a view of the green.

The hill does keep distance down, but this green is still very reachable in two.  There are two trees
left and short of the green that can interfere with a long iron if you're coming from the left, so again, driving down the right is recommended.  I like to hit a fade at this green, the various slopes around the green will guide it towards the green.  You don't want to miss right, because it will bounce off more to the right, and the shot from down there is not easy.  There is another grass bunker short of this green, but it is not as severe as the one on number 4.  If you do fade it into the green, it helps take the ditch out of play.  There is also a bunker short and left of the green, but it really doesn't come into play very often.

Unlike some of the other greens here, which play more difficult then they look, this green looks
difficult, and plays difficult too.  There is an upper level at the back of the green, which takes up less than half of the green's area, but also manages to separate the rest of the green into two distinct areas.  The easiest hole locations are front right, it's relatively flat, and golf balls like to feed down there.  Front right is fairly easy to get at as well, but putts can break in mystifying ways.  Back hole locations are difficult to get to, and putts back there are even more mystifying, and it can be very easy to send a ball down the slope if you were above the hole and hit your putt even a little too hard.  Luckily, it's not usually back there.  This is still a birdie hole, but the green especially can be quite frustrating.

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