Course Breakdown: El Dorado holes 1-5
Introduction:
What’s fun about doing these breakdowns is seeing how diverse Northern Michigan's topography and course design can be in such a condensed area. The course we’ll be breaking down this month is El Dorado in Cadillac, Michigan. El Dorado is well-known for its incredible course conditions and manicured greens. We just finished breaking down Champion Hill, which is almost the complete opposite of El Dorado. Champion Hill is wide open with not many trees in play. It plays firm but not fast, and thank God, because the topography features crazy elevation changes. El Dorado, on the other hand, is a tight, shorter course with trees everywhere. The course is much more inland than Champion Hill and is built on a swamp instead of sand dunes. The conditions are on the softer side, but the greens are usually lightning quick.
Each course tests different parts of your game, but at the end of the day, it’s all about finishing 18 holes in as few shots as possible, so let’s dive in!
This breakdown will be from the Power tees, the second longest set of tees. El Dorado’s website states they’ll be posting a new scorecard soon, but these tees seem to play just under 6400 yards. Just note that all measurements were done from the white star on each hole.
#1
The opening hole at El Dorado does a pretty good job of foreshadowing what’s to come in the next 4 hours. Trees line the left side of the narrowing fairway, with a single bunker on the right side. To fly over this bunker is 225 yards, but that leads straight into trouble. There's a large tree at 265 yards off the tee that blocks your view of the green. It's crucial to hit the fairway on this hole.
I almost never hit my driver because of how much the fairway tightens. From 150 yards out, the fairway is 43 yards wide. But from 100 yards out, the fairway shrinks to 30 yards wide. I'd say the ideal distance to hit off the tee on this hole is 240-250 yards.
The approach shot requires you to carry over a hazard area that runs right up to the green. Don’t let this get in your head—the green is massive, and there's plenty of room long. You’ll have a downhill putt/chip, but that’s much better than coming up short into the water.
#2
The uphill par-4 second hole is arguably the easiest on the course. As you can see from the overhead, the fairway is a bit unusual. The tee box sets you up to aim at the right bunkers, but there’s plenty of room left. Left gives you a better angle into the right-to-left sloping green.
Since this is a shorter hole, you don’t necessarily have to hit your driver. The fattest part of the fairway is between 210 and 240 yards, leaving you around 100 yards in. That being said, I usually hit driver.
Don’t be afraid to play your approach shot a few extra yards for the uphill, and I believe the prevailing wind is into your face. The worst miss is short and left, so keep this in mind when choosing your club.
#3
Oh no, more water to hit over! Even though I get my ball airborne 98%+ of the time, there's just something uncomfortable about carrying a shot over water. Fortunately, from 175 yards, you only need to carry 135 yards to avoid the water.
This green is massive and slopes from the back middle to the edges. You don’t want to miss long or right for this reason. When I was first starting to golf, I remember aiming into the 9th fairway to avoid hitting over the water. It seems silly now, but I really didn’t want to lose my Nike Mojo ball.
#4
The 4th is a beautiful golf hole. It subtly tightens as you near the tucked-away green, and the fairway slopes downhill the entire length. Like the 1st hole, you don’t need to hit driver, and the fattest part of the fairway is between 200 and 250 yards off the tee. I usually hit my 230-yard club off the tee, hoping to find that fat spot. Even hitting it past 230 can create more trouble due to overhanging trees short and right of the green. You can be in the fairway and not have an angle into the green because of these trees.
On the approach, avoid missing left. Just off the green, the terrain slopes away towards dense trees and bushes. The best miss is short, but even the right bunker isn’t a bad place to be. This green has a few random slopes but shouldn’t give you too much trouble.
#5
The 5th hole is one of the toughest on the entire course. It’s not long at 330 yards, but it makes you feel uncomfortable. Trees line both sides of the uphill fairway until about 210 yards. The left side opens up to the range, and the right side slopes toward a hazard area. To reach this area is 245 yards. If there’s one tip you need to remember from this course breakdown, it’s this: When checking into El Dorado, take note of what color balls they use for their range. Don’t use a yellow ball on the 5th hole if they use yellow range balls. Bad news.
My strategy has been to blast driver to get past the left trees and essentially aim into the driving range. This isn’t a great plan, though, because there are moguls that separate the range and 5th fairway. You'll either have a blind approach or a very awkward lie.
Next time I play here, I’m going to hit my 3- or 5-wood, depending on the wind. My goal is to get past the cart path and stay short of the water on the right.
The green has a slight false front with a tightly mowed fringe. The general slope goes from the back-left corner to the front-right corner of the green. There’s no bad spot to miss, just avoid short-siding yourself depending on the pin location. Add a few extra yards for the uphill and watch out for some tough wind!
