One in a series of reviews of memorable holes played in 2008.
Although the playing season is short in Hamilton, NY, home of Colgate University, the school-affiliated Seven Oaks golf course is long on nice views and a few challenging holes. The par 4 10th, at 380 yards from the tips, isn't long, but then again the tee shot is less a matter of length and more a matter of position. Be right, or else. A sprawling
tree guards the left half of the green, meaning that any pulled shot will leave you with a tricky pitch shot to the green at best, or a watery grave at worst. Approaching over the tree is not really an option, since it is nestled close to the green. Better to take your medicine from the left side of the fairway and aim for the right side of the green and hope for a two putt on the slightly crowned surface.
Even with a well-placed drive, you can literally hit the wall with your approach shot at the 10th. The stone façade at the immediate front of the green presents two options, neither of them comfortable. You can play well over the front and hope you don't skip into the deep rough behind the green, or you can take the risky way and just clear the wall to provide any chance at a birdie putt. Chipping back across the green from the deep rough, and down into the water, is not out of the question. Neither is a memory of #10, for better or worse.
