Seminole Golf Club, Florida, USA   

12^th hole, 365 yards: After averaging roughly four and one-half strokes on this hole in his competitive rounds at Seminole, David Eger has come to view this innocuous-looking hole as the best 'sleeper' he has come across. The tee shot is inviting from the elevated tee in the north-west corner of the property as it plays toward the Atlantic. The fun begins with the approach. The green is a mild shape of an 'L,' with its key defense being the bunker at the crook of the L that has caught many good-looking approaches (not that the other bunkers are necessarily less penal). This hole is a prime example of the benefit/need to take the time to get to know a course in order to fully appreciate her.

the sleeper 12th.

16^th hole, 410 yards: The most strategic hole on the course, the 16^th is a textbook dog-leg. This one bends to the right after the tee shot, with a large bunker at the inside corner and plenty of room to the left, away from the direction of the hole. The farther left one plays, away from the trouble, the longer approach he has and the worse his angle. It can be quite frustrating how much club one has to use to reach the green from the left side of the fairway - it is often a long-iron on this moderate length two-shotter - but such is the price for a cautious play from the tee. The back to front pitch of the green off the sand dune encourages the need to come into the green with a shorter iron. Otherwise, a long iron approach will invariably find the back of the green and the resulting sad three putt will do little to help the golfer with the next two superlative holes.

17^th hole, 175 yards: The authors know of no more challenging medium-length one-shotter. Aside from the narrow green and the bunkers surrounding it, the wind will typically attack the player at the one angle that right-handers find the most difficult and awkward: against and from the left. Furthermore, the green plays even smaller as balls landing on the right side will likely finish in a bunker. A three is always a handsome score.

the elusive 17th green

18^th hole, 415 yards: A finishing hole with no clear superior. The tee shot requires the player to assess how much of the sandy corner he can tackle from the tee. From there it is a mid-iron up the hill to a narrow green with a pit of a bunker to the right, dug into the hillside. The green provides an elegant place to finish the round as the player, perhaps after spending some time and strokes in the dunes left of the green, leaves the green and the course with the memory of the Atlantic Ocean.

David Eger's learned appreciation of Seminole can be best described in a revelation during the 1995 Coleman. In the first round Eger was seven under par through 16 holes, and, full of confidence, he attacked a rear hole location on the 17^th. He found the bunker just past the hole and made five. On the 18^th, he again went after a rear hole location, found the sand dunes and had to work hard for a five.

That night he was pondering what went wrong, when it suddenly struck him (after more than 30 rounds there) that most of the trouble at Seminole lies past the center of the greens. The greens (such as the 1^st, 2^nd, 5^th, 6^th, 11^th, 12^th, 14^th, 17^th and 18^th) become progressively narrow toward the back, plus the back-to-front tilt of many greens leaves nothing good from being long. Eger changed his strategy for playing the course and decided not to play his approaches past the center of the green. If the hole is in the rear, he will just two-putt for his par. With this new, simple game plan, he went on to win his first Coleman.

Ross took special pride in getting this course right. No wonder that Seminole and Pinehurst, which received the most of his undivided time, are considered by all to be his two masterpieces. As for the authors, one of us prefers Pinehurst and the other Seminole as a place to play. Regardless, the design of Seminole exceeds the Club's unmatched locker room as being the real lasting draw card.

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