Caledonia Tour Part 1

Carroll Valley's been explored to its fullest, so now it's time to visit a new golf course.  Caledonia Golf Course is part of Caledonia State Park, and as such, it can be pretty minimal.  No nicely maintained fairways here.  It's only about 5,300 yards, but it is very hilly and there are some long walks.  It can be a hike, and I'm not sure it's worth it.  This course has some very weird holes, holes that I really don't like.  But it is pretty cheap.  The front nine is alright, I guess, but it's pretty old, built back in the 1920's, I believe.  The back nine is newer, and there is some weird stuff going on back there.  So, now that you're all properly enthused for the pinnacle of golf, let's get started.


Hole 1: 335 yards

I've never been able to wrap my head around this tee shot.  There's a stream that cuts across the fairway, and the hole doglegs severely at around 200-225 yards out, so a layup is the usual play.  That stream is somehow simultaneously so close to not be a problem and difficult to clear.  Seriously, it's farther than it looks, but not really, and I've had trouble clearing it in the past.  My usual drive is a hook that dives into the trees separating this hole from the next, which is always fun and usually results in a double bogey.  Something that I've thought about trying is going over all the trees on the right and blasting away at the green.  It can't be that far away.  If there were a driving range, I would do it, but this is always my first shot of the day, and I've just never been comfortable with it.

The second shot(or for me, third shot) is a wedge over a very undulating fairway to a very elevated green.  There's a bunker left and trees right and long.  You really have to be careful not to be short, because that leaves a very tough pitch, not to mention the risk of the ball rolling all the way back down.  The greens here are all pretty slow, so they do tend to have quite a bit of break to them.

You may have noticed that there are quite a lot of trees around.  This golf course is part of a state park, so yes, there are going to a lot of trees to deal with during the round.  I imagine most people don't share my irrational hatred of trees, but I have never played well at this course.  Never, not even close.  Too many trees, too many drives shot off in the wrong direction.  Too bad, because the relatively poor condition of the place reminds me of my home course.  I can deal with slow greens and bare lies, but I cannot deal with trees.  Too bad.


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Waynesboro Municipal Tour Part 6

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5

Hole 6: 310 yards

The hole from the top of the hill.

When you step up to the 6th tee, there isn't a whole lot to see.  All the height gained over the past 5 holes is lost in the first 200 yards of the hole.  Obviously, you can't see the green, so I recommend aiming at the left-most pole of the power-line in the distance.  This is if the tee is on the right side.  If the tee is on the left teebox, just pull out a three-iron or a wood and lay up.  That tree about 50 yards in front of the tee is right in between you and the green, and it just loves to swallow golf balls.  Providing the tee is on the right, this is a fun drive.  Take a nice big swing and watch the ball sail out of sight.  It will get plenty of hang time.  Word of warning, there is a line of trees on the right where this hole shares a border with the first hole which just loves to make golf balls disappear.  I don't know how many I've lost because I hit my drive into what seems like a black hole for golf balls.  There is a ton of room to the left, go over there if you have to miss.

This is the second longest par 4 on the course, but since it plays so far downhill, it is easily reachable by a good drive.  There have been times when even a driver was too much on this hole, and I've had to use a 3 wood.  The fairway slopes off to the right, and drives will roll off in that direction.  I like to hit a little fade that catches the slope and runs out, my younger brother(who is better than me) prefers to hit a draw that fights the slope.  I think I can get more distance out of mine, but I also have to contend with the greenside bunker more.

This green looks simple, but it is deceptively difficult, and I do mean difficult.  There's a little dip in front of the green, and it is incredibly difficult to get a pitch shot to stay on the green, especially if you're coming from the left.  This is another green that runs away from the player, and like the last hole, you really cannot fly it onto the green with your second if you didn't reach the green with your tee shot.  You have to play use the ground, and that dip makes precision distance control imperative.  If you can get your tee shot in the right place, this is an easy birdie hole, but if not, or if you're not good around the green, you can just as easily get a bogey.

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Waynesboro Municipal Tour Part 5

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

Hole 5: 240 yards

The tightest drive on the course, but the green is very reachable.

This is the shortest par 4 on the golf course.  It is very easily reachable on the drive, however, this is the narrowest hole on the golf course.  There is out of bounds along the left, and just like the hole before it, I've hooked many, many golf balls into those trees.  Or occasionally, over them.  If there's one thing I'm really good at when it comes to golf, it's missing holes by ridiculous amounts.  This is also one of the flattest holes on the course, and it's a nice respite from a mostly very hilly round.

Not a bad place to hit your second

If you've hit a good drive, the second can actually be quite challenging.  If the course is still soft, then the pitch or chip is not that bad, but over the summer when it gets dry, things get interesting.  The reason for this is that both the green and the portion of the fairway right before the green fall sharply away towards the back.  It does no good to hit it high, pitch shots will run right through the green towards the graveyard.  Yes, there is a graveyard, and yes, I have hit into it.  Anyway, if there's a decent place to miss on this hole, it's left and a little short.  There are a couple of mounds over there, but you don't want to be green-high.  There is a bunker left of the green.  This isn't an impossible green, this is an easy hole, but you have to be comfortable with the ground game if you don't quite have the length to get to this green.

The green from the back.  Note that the back is much lower than the front.

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