3 Great Holes at Tradition Golf Club
Share this story!
Ron Garl’s popular South Strand gem at Tradition Golf Club highlights three holes that golfers will remember well from their playing experience. Join us on a quick tour of these holes, and lean how best to play them to maximize your experience there on your next Hammock Coast Golf Trail getaway!
No. 7, 393 yards, par 4 – This hole plays to a modest 377 yards from the middle (white) tees, and has you hitting into an island green. If you’re long off the tee, it’s best to leave the driver in your bag: the water is a reachable 286 yards from those middle tees.
With a large fairway, though, there’s plenty of room to hit what Tradition Club suggests is your best approach here: a tee shot up the right side with a slight draw, which will leave you with the best approach angle into a green that’s 35 yards deep and surrounded by bulkhead. If you don’t let the presence of water scare you, there’s lots of room here to keep the ball dry. For many, this is Tradition Club’s most memorable hole.
No. 8, 430 yards, par 4 – This is not only one of Tradition Club’s best, but No. 8 is also the course’s most difficult. Make sure your drive safely finds the right side of the fairway, as two large oak trees on the left may block your view of the green if you stray in that direction.
Your approach offers trouble left with sand and right with trees. Your salvation here, though, is a green sized large enough to provide an ample target. Number 8 at Tradition is the epitome of “challenging but fair.”
No. 14, 500 yards, par 5 – If No. 8 is Tradition’s hardest hole, No. 14 offers the chance to pick up strokes you might have lost there. This hole is reachable in two for most players (450 yards from the middle tees), but a pond that fronts the green offers enough of a challenge to take a “bump and run” approach off the table.
Hitting your drive up the right side here will take advantage of firmer ground and benefit from added roll, delivering your best chance of reaching in two.
But beware: shots that come up short will funnel back into the water, so take one club more than you think you might need. If your tee shot goes awry, you still have room to recover with a layup on your second shot and a chance at birdie with your approach.
