Course Breakdown: Emerald Vale holes 10-14

When comparing the front nine and back nine, I find the back nine to be quite a bit easier overall. What’s odd about that, though, is the fact that the 10th hole is definitely the hardest hole on the entire course. It just goes to show—if you can survive the 10th, you're setting yourself up for a great back nine!

The long par-4 10th starts with a fantastic elevated tee box, sitting about 30 feet above the fairway. While the view gives you a clear sense of what’s required for a successful shot, execution is always the tougher part of that equation.

Trees line the entire left side of the hole, but they're hard to reach since the tee box sets you up from the far right side. The right side is more forgiving—until around the 230-yard mark, where dense vegetation takes over the rough. That’s the number one spot to avoid off the tee.

Your ideal aim point is the left edge of the big red barn, just left of the green.

The approach shot plays about 10 feet uphill, so it’s smart to add an extra 5 yards to your distance to compensate. My biggest concern here is missing long and right of the green. As a left-handed player, my misses to the right tend to carry a little further—and unfortunately, that quickly brings some tall grass into play. The bunkers might look intimidating, but they’re actually a much better miss than ending up long and right, which I (wrongly) tend to prefer.

The 11th is a shorter par 4 that punishes golfers who mindlessly reach for the driver and don’t have a plan of attack. Off the tee, you’ll likely feel a bit claustrophobic—the overhanging hardwoods just right of the tee box intrude on your line of sight and eliminate any chance of hitting a comfortable right-to-left shot.

The obvious solution might seem to be aiming at the left side of the fairway—but that’s where trouble starts for the average golfer. The pine trees on the left are well within reach, and even if you don’t hit them directly, they can block your angle to the green.

The trick here is to tee up from the far left side of the box and take on the right half of the fairway. There’s plenty of room to work with—up until about the 280-yard mark.

The green is quirky in a good way. It slopes from front to back on the first half, then from back to front on the second half—kind of like a “grandma-approved” halfpipe. The entire complex also tilts slightly left to right, following the natural fall of the hillside. Because of this, hitting the middle of the green is your safest bet—it’ll leave you with an uphill putt no matter where the pin is.

As a kid, this was my favorite hole for the longest time. It was one of the few par 3s I could actually reach with my 16° kids driver. At 138 yards and playing over 30 feet downhill, I didn’t even need to make perfect contact and my ball would still roll somewhere close to the green.

These days, driver is definitely too much club. Factoring in the downhill slope, the hole plays closer to 130 yards.

The green itself is massive—about 40 yards deep—so getting an accurate number is key. Otherwise, you might find yourself facing a 100-foot putt off what felt like a solid swing.

Visually, the right bunker looks like trouble, but I’d take that lie any day over missing left. The left side can be a real hazard depending on the season: sometimes it’s under water, and other times it’s covered in the thickest grass on the course.

The 13th is one of my favorite holes at Emerald Vale. This short, dogleg-left par 5 is all about risk-reward decisions—and your ability to recover if things don’t go your way.

The hole bends around a massive tree located about 220 yards from the tee box. To challenge it, you’ll need to carry the ball at least 250 yards. If you can pull it off, you’ll have less than 200 yards into a very reachable green. But be warned: trees line both sides of the fairway, and if you miss your line, you're basically playing plinko through the woods.

I still remember a round where I thought I’d hit a perfect drive over that big tree. At the last second, it clipped one of the final branches and kicked hard left. I found my ball nestled right against a trunk—no swing possible. In a frustrated moment of genius (or madness), I attempted a bank shot off the tree to get back in play. It actually worked—but I didn’t move fast enough and the ball clipped me. Fun fact: that’s a penalty. Fortunately, it was match play. I just forfeited the hole... and had a bruise on my hip for a week.

For most golfers, the smart play is to hit something around 200 yards to the right of the big tree. That’ll land you in the widest part of the fairway with about 250 yards to the pin. Since the fairway ends about 210 yards out from there, just hit something less than 200 on your second shot and you’ll be left with a comfortable wedge into the green.

The green itself is friendly—sloping left to right off the backside of the left bunker and tilting gently back to front. It's very receptive to incoming shots, so don’t feel pressure to be perfect with your approach.

I can’t stress this enough: keep it in play and this hole becomes very gettable. I once had such a rough go on this hole that I walked back and replayed it out of spite—8-iron off the tee, 8-iron for my second, and a 9-iron into the green. Simple as that. Stay out of the trees and good things will happen.

I think the next time I play this hole, I’m just going to close my eyes, reach into my bag, and pull out a random club to tee off with.

Normally, when I do all the background work for these blog posts, the best strategy on each hole becomes pretty clear. But the 14th at Emerald Vale? It's here to test your patience—and your decision-making—for eternity. No matter how many times I play it, I still can’t settle on the “right” way to attack it.

The smart play is straightforward: hit something around 200 yards and leave yourself a comfortable 100-yard wedge into a pretty receptive green.

But where’s the fun in that?

My subconscious screams at me to go for more... and yet, I know it’s probably not worth the risk.

Okay, enough about my internal chaos—let’s break down the hole. The 14th is a short par 4, only 300 yards, but don’t let that fool you. It’s guarded by bunkers short of the green and framed by trouble on both sides. The tee box sits 44 feet above the green, and the fairway is at its widest about 180 yards out. From there, it narrows until it ends completely at 230 yards. Trees line both sides, and trust me—neither side offers much of a recovery option.

So really, it boils down to a simple choice: do you go for the green and hope to thread the needle? Or do you take the “boring”—I mean, smart—approach and hit something under 200 down the pipe?

The green itself is friendly enough, sloping back to front with no major tricks. It's gettable—as long as you give yourself a decent look.

I’d love to hear what other golfers choose on this one and how it works out. Y’all know where I stand… or at least how conflicted I am about it.