County Sligo GC, Ireland    

7^th hole, 430 yards: The stream threatens the approach shot for the first time in the round. It cuts across the fairway and then tracks beside the immediate right hand side of the green. The bank is mown close and approach shots that are leaking right have the worrisome tendency to keep running until they disappear down into the stream. Such diagonal hazards are the most challenging as the player is tested in both distance and direction. Only the well struck shot will do.

8^th hole, 410 yards: A four par that gradually sweeps to the right. The golfer is tempted to take on the depression all along the right side of the fairway to gain an advantage but the stream twenty yards short of the green gobbles up many balls from golfers who were attempting to approach the green from the rough. The hole would be far more boring if the stream were flush against the green as so many more golfers would just automatically lay up after a less than perfect drive. The location of the stream 20-25 yards short of the green tempts many golfers to have a go from less than ideal circumstances.

11^th hole, 405 yards: The green complex is very appealing and makes the hole. The tee shot is awkward to a strongly sloping left to right fairway. From there, the green angles away from the golfer and falls off sharply in front. However, the same left to right slope in the fairway is up by the green giving the golfer the ability to play the approach shot out wide left and let the slope propel the ball toward the hole.

13^th hole, 175 yards: The tee shot is across a sandy inlet but the real trouble is the stream behind the large green. In general, the psychological effect of placing the trouble behind the green is interesting. The less sure golfer tends to look up early and consequently thins the ball over the green into the very trouble he was hoping to avoid. Given the 13^th hole at Sligo typically plays downwind, the surer golfer is challenged to flight the ball properly so that it doesn't release too far.

The 13th green with the stream beyond.

14^th hole, 435 yards: One of the great long four pars in Irish golf that makes excellent use of all the features at the architects disposal: the stream, the heather, the tall sea grass, and the dunes which encroach from the right.

17^th hole, 455 yards: A highly regarded hole that would never be built today. The green sits up high in a saddle. The approach shot is virtually always blind regardless of where the drive is placed. The green is fiendishly pitched back down the valley and will expose any frayed putting nerves at this stage in the match.

Looking back down the 17th.

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