NC Golfer: 06/01/2020

There's a saying in golf: Drive for Show; Putt for dough. It means what you do on the green is most important. Good putting wins dollars and championships, no doubt. But a good drive puts you in good position to hit a good approach shot which makes putting easier.

And, knowing the course makes that approach easier. For instance, many years ago, I was added to a twosome on the first tee. I joined a man and his 21-year old son, who (the son) was playing a practice round in advance of a qualifier for the North Carolina Amateur Championship. I asked the son if he would like any advice along the way. He said, emphatically, "No."

On the first hole, a lengthy (578 yards from the way-back tees), we somehow ended up equal distance to the green for our third shot to a back, right-side pin. He was away. After he used his range-finder to get a distance, I asked his club selection, just for curiosity sake, not advice . "Nine iron, right at the pin," he said, proceeding to strike his ball directly on his intended path. The ball landed next to the pin, bounced high and went over the back of the green, stopping about 30 yards behind and 20 yards below the green.

I also pulled a nine iron. The son asked about my club selection. When I told him he said it would not be enough club for my shorter game. I didn't say anything, hitting the ball shorter as intended and to the left side of the green. My ball landed where I wanted as it worked its way up the green to a slope that went right, sending the ball toward the pin, where it stopped a few feet away. I made birdie; he made bogey.

As we exited the green and started toward the second hole, the son said, "Sir, if you want to give me advise about the course, I'll gladly take it."

This is the second of several looks at Lonnie Poole Golf Course at NC State University. In our first installment, we looked at photos of LPGC from the tips, the 7358 yard long competition tees where you'll find the college golfers playing in tournaments or maybe for a low-handicap United States Golf Association qualifiers or Carolinas Golf Association tournament or a Carolinas PGA event.

Seeing the course from the tips offers better views and nicer lines than from any other set of the seven tee courses at LPGC. It shows the layout Arnold Palmer Design intended to showcase. But most rounds at LPGC are played from much shorter tees, usually the Wolfpack tees, a 6032 yard layout with its own set of difficulties, risks and rewards.

Before yardages were labeled on sprinkler heads and before laser rangefinders, measuring distances to the front, middle and back of greens and to the pin, I remember when we had 150-yard bushes to judge the distance remaining after hitting your drive. Those bushes are long-gone, replaced by stone plaques of 200-, 150-, and 100-yards.Not all courses have the stones; LPGC does, thank goodness.

So today we're looking at each green from the 100-yard marker on each of the eight par 4 holes and five par 5 holes and from the Wolfpack tees from the five Par 3 holes. Approaching the greens from 100 yards out is not much different than from 75 yards or 150 yards, depending on your capabilities. The 100-yard distance is just to offer perspective. All photos were taken with an iPhone 7 with a +50% zoom.

There's a little, subtle advise given for each hole, but not much. It would not be helpful to those who play the course once or twice. for those of us who play more often at this wonderful layout and huge NC State University asset, knowing the golf course and those subtleties is important when aiming your approach shot, not hitting for the pin every or, maybe, at any time. Just ask the son with his rangefinder.

LPGC Hole 1, Par 5, from 100 yards.
Wolfpack yardage is 507; 407 yards to this approach.
Green predominately slopes left to right.
Bunker on front and right guards most of the green.

LPGC Hole 2, Par 3, from 181 yards (Wolfpack tees)
Downhill shot to two tier green (lower back half) with severe left side slope.
Bunker comes into play on shots to the right.

LPGC Hole 3, Par 5, from 100 yards.
Wolfpack yardage is 468; just 368 yard to this approach.
Up-hill shot that plays more like 120 yards to middle.
Large false front on left and huge, deep bunkers are cause for concern.

LPGC Hole 4, Par 4, from 100 yards.
Wolfpack yardage is 298; just 198 yards to this approach.
Downhill shot to a large green that slopes front down to back.
A "spine" in green from front left to back right determines approach.

LPGC Hole 5, Par 4, from 100 yards.
Wolfpack yardage is 385; just 285 yards to this approach.
It's uphill, another shot that plays longer than the yardage.
Deep front bunker catches many second shots.

LPGC Hole 6, Par 3, from 131 yards (Wolfpack tees).
Ball landing on right side false front could end up 60 yards short.
Big, deep left/front bunker catches many tee shots.

LPGC Hole 7, Par 5, from 100 yards.
Wolfpack yardage is 493; just 393 yards to this approach.
Downhill shot to long green with spine down the middle from front to back.
Bunkers usually catch longer approaches. Don't be long on this shot.

LPGC Hole 8, Par 3, from 138 yards (Wolfpack tees).
Uphill "blind" shot to long/wide green no matter where the pin is located.
Left and right bunkers come into play depending on hole placement.

LPGC Hole 9, Par 4, from 100 yards.
Wolfpack yardage is 358; just 258 yards to this approach.
Stance is very much below the ball causing approach issues.
Right side of green has big slope, used to direct ball to front pin placement

LPGC Hole 10, Par 4, from 100 yards.
Wolfpack yardage is 345; just 245 to this approach.
Bunkers guard three-quarters of green. False front guards left side.
High slope in back of green causes issues for putting and long approaches gone long.

LPGC Hole 11, Par 5, from 100 yards.
Wolfpack yardage is 553; just 453 yards to this approach.
May be the toughest green to approach. Very narrow front to back.
With bunkers, add a club to uphill shots but ball may roll over the green.

LPGC Hole 12, Par 4, from 100 yards.
Wolfpack yardage is 356; just 256 yards to this approach.
Downhill shot to a green that slopes left to right.
Larger bunker can disappoint a well hit drive.

LPGC Hole 13, Par 4, from 100 yards.
Wolfpack yardage is 337; just 237 yards to this approach.
Ball (ball below your feet) can roll over green if it lands on sloping left.
Bunker on right prime to penalize players hitting direct to pin on right.

LPGC Hole 14, Par 3, from 138 yards (Wolfpack tees).
Large green all around. Usually plays longer that expected.
Left side tee shots can end up off green. Right bunkers catch many shots.

LPGC Hole 15, Par 5, from 100 yards.
Wolfpack yardage is 468; just 368 yards to this approach.
Looks easy but green length and fear of water right are mind issues.
Left green-side bunker should not come into play but makes recovery hard.

LPGC Hole 16, Par 4, from 100 yards.
Wolfpack yardage is 341; just 241 yards to this approach.
Nearly all of front half of green is false front.
Huge right side bunker is intimidating and used often.

LPGC Hole 17, Par 3, from 110 yards (Wolfpack tees).
Downhill shot that fools you. Front bunker comes into play for front pin.
Green mostly slopes left to right and back to front.

LPGC Hole 18, Par 4, from 100 yards.
Wolfpack yardage is 425; just 325 yards to this approach.
There is no 100 yard stone this hole. Ball would be below feet.
Long green with left to right slope, and big right sand bunker.

View of the Raleigh skyline from the 11th tee
at Lonnie Poole Golf Course at NC State University

My guess, my educated guess, is that golf courses are designed from the teeing area to the greens complex and never the other way around.. There may be an exception or two. Come to think of it, tee to green is probably why we are told you can only appreciate the course and the layout when you look at the entire course, from the back of the back tees and through the green.

Most golf course photos are of the greens complexes. And for good reason. It's the most memorable part of a round. It's where championships are won. Greens complexes are where you score, where you are offered various approach shots to various pin locations. This is where golfers make their money. On the greens is where you lower your handicap. The teeing area and what confronts you is where holes are lost but usually never won.

This post is one of a series about Lonnie Poole Golf Course at NC State University. There's a lot more to the course than what you may encounter as you make your way around the layout. In this post, you'll find the view from the Competition tees, the "way-back" tees of a course which measures 7358 yards, no easy feat. At LPGC, the distances on the score card are from yardage stones placed on the various (as many as six) teeing areas.

For the Competition tees, the stones are at or near the back of the teeing areas. It is likely the full yardage of the Competition course has never been played, not in college tournaments, not in USGA events. The stones marking the yardage are placed to give the course it's publicized length. Individual hole yardages and the Competition tees total are measured to the center of the greens. The Competition tees have a course rating of 74.7 and a slope of 142. The photos were taken from the Competition tees stones with an iPhone 7 using about +50 percent zoom, much of what we see from there. Enjoy!

Hole number, par, length, and handicap are underneath each hole photo.