Course Breakdown: El Dorado holes 15-18

#15

I’m starting to realize there’s a relationship between how much labeling/coloring/etc. I have to do on the overhead and how much I enjoy a golf hole. At some point, it’s like, “Whoa, there’s a lot going on here.”

This quirky hole fits the mold pretty well, but we’re here to strategize, not critique! Most golfers should not be removing a headcover when selecting a club for their tee shot. I’ll be hitting my 190-yard club next time, and I’m really confident in that. This keeps me short of any trouble through the fairway, and as long as I hit it solid, I’ll have a mid-iron into the green—and you can’t really do any better than that. Ideally, I’d hit a left-to-right shot that starts at the middle of the fairway and bleeds toward the cart path.

The green slopes from back to front and is the steepest in the center. There’s almost a ridge right in the middle that pushes balls toward the outer edges of the green. Any putt from one side of the ridge to the other will break extremely hard off that steep center slope. Anytime I walk away with a par on this hole, I’m extremely happy.

#16

There was a summer—maybe 2019—when every time I played here, I quit this hole before I had a chance to finish. It’s long, tight, and just requires really good swings. Apparently, I was lacking the good swing part that year.

The tee shot gives you plenty to look at, but we’re aiming for the left-center of the fairway. I tend not to hit driver here because the widest part of the fairway is shy of 245 yards. I have enough trauma from previous rounds that I don’t press my luck and just try to make par. With a shot of less than 245 yards, you need to make sure not to get stuck behind the right tree at 260 yards. I swear, this tree is batting .1000 every time I’ve tried to hit a curveball around it.

The fairway is cut in half by thick rough and moguls, and the right side drops about 5 feet in elevation. The right side is technically a better angle, but the left side is level with the green complex. The worst-case scenario is getting stuck in one of these grass moguls. Yes, you’re reading that correctly—the worst thing you can do is hit a shot perfectly down the middle.

The vision I have for this hole is a 230-yard drive that leaves me around 300 yards out. From there, I’ll hit a 200-yard shot, trying to stay left but short of the trees coming into play. After that, I’ll have roughly 100 yards remaining. A hell of a plan, but fingers crossed I execute!

The green complex slopes from back to front and right to left. You’d rather miss left than right on your approach. Too far right, and you can kiss your ball goodbye.

#17

The 17th hole gives you a breather between the last two tough holes and the 18th, which is arguably the hardest hole on the course. Usually, a good 8-iron for me—there isn’t much to talk about here.

You can see that there is waste area surrounding the green complex, but it’s a pretty large target.

The green complex slopes from back to front and right to left. There are some interesting little pockets on this green, so make sure to take a good look for multiple angles. There are plenty of putts that don’t follow the general slope of the green.

#18

Saddle up; this hole is usually a rough ride. The floating teeing area had seen better days the last time I played at El Dorado, so prepare for an uneven lie on your tee shot. The fairway is wider than it looks, and most can hit their driver without much concern about going through the fairway. If you stay short of 233 yards, the fairway is an additional 10 yards wider, but it nearly assures you’ll have a shot of 200 yards or more remaining.

Like the par 3 12th, take enough club to fly over the green, and you won’t have to worry about whether or not your shot will carry the water. Even a slight mis-hit has a chance of carrying the water. If you aren’t up for the challenge of going for the green, there’s nothing wrong with bailing out short-left.

The green complex slopes from left to right and back to front. This is one of the few greens where the left-right tilt is more prominent than the back-front tilt. If you need to settle any side bets, I suggest a closest-to-the-pin challenge from the left side of the 18th green all the way to the 9th pin. This is all one green and requires a shoulder turn and a grunt to get the ball to roll that far. Just make sure no one is coming up to the 9th green—we aren’t here to take away from others!

Conclusion:

El Dorado is a classic tree-lined, swampy golf course that utilizes these features to offer golfers plenty of risk/reward decisions, which can lead to the highest of highs and some really low lows. I haven’t played here in a year or two, but I’m going to make a point to drive down to Cadillac as soon as it opens (writing this in March).

I truly believe that if you’re striking the ball well and playing the percentages, you can hit a lot of greens here. Looking back at my previous rounds recorded on my Garmin watch, I had one round where I hit 14 out of 18 greens. Sadly, I had four three-putts and barely broke 80, but this is definitely a ball-striker’s course.

If you haven’t checked it out yet, I highly recommend it. And I appreciate you taking the time to read this!

-Your hat caddies