Course Breakdown: The Bear holes 6-9

#6 

Long and uphill, the par 5 6th is a three-shot hole for most of us mere mortals. With that in mind, don’t be afraid to favor the right half of the fairway off the tee. The only real trouble is some thick rough up the right side, but it’s 280 yards out—so unless you’re a bomber, you’re probably safe.

The hole slopes from right to left the whole way, so keep in mind that shots from this uneven lie might drift a little further left than you planned. Be smart with your setup and aim point.

For the layup, I like to leave myself somewhere between 100 and 75 yards out. This is the fattest part of the fairway—nearly twice as wide as it is inside 50 yards. Staying in the fairway is absolutely crucial at The Bear, so I’d say that’s pretty damn good advice.

The green complex is deceptively flat, but everything around it still slopes right to left. That means a miss left leaves you with an uphill chip, which is the better miss in most situations.

#7 

The 7th hole at least gives you the option to take a shortcut, instead of forcing a layup—but unfortunately, for me, it’s still a layup hole. The good news? It’s a shorter par 4, so even with a conservative 220-yard tee shot, I’m still left with a short iron into the green.

For the bombers out there, you can reach the left fairway if you can carry it 255 yards. I’m not sure it’s worth it, since that fairway is nearly half the size of the main one—but hey, it’s always good to have options.

Now, the green complex here might be my favorite on the entire course. The left and back sections are elevated, while the bottom right corner sits about two feet lower, creating some really fun and challenging pin placements. That said—do not miss in the left greenside bunker. It's a brutal up-and-down to just about any pin location. If you’re playing for a left pin, I could see the argument for trying to hit that upper fairway. For any other pin, though, I’d lay back, play smart, and avoid the heroics. If you are visiting The Bear on a pin placement 1 day, you cannot miss long or left. You are better off short of the green than putting from beyond the hole. 

#8 

The 8th is a solid par 4 that will definitely intimidate you into aiming further left than you really need to. I swear, whoever sets the tee boxes has purposely aimed them just slightly to the right, so you’re left staring at that massive lake off the right side of the fairway. But once you get past that initial intimidation, you’ll realize the hole actually offers a pretty wide fairway—at least until about 250 yards. After that, the water starts to creep in and the fairway narrows considerably.

If you’re aiming left, you’ve got room until about 270 yards, but then the rough and mounds start to take over. With all that in mind, I usually hit my 250-yard club off the tee and aim for the left half of the fairway.

The green complex slopes from left to right, and I can’t think of a single time I’ve played The Bear where the wind wasn’t hurting on the approach shot. Long is a miss, but trust me—it's still better than coming up short and splashing it into the water.

#9

Since we’re talking intimidation, let’s dive into Michigan’s version of an island green—or as we like to call it, a peninsula. That’s right, water surrounds this green on three out of four sides. The green itself is long and narrow, a little fatter in the front, and then squeezed by two bunkers.

On the overhead, I marked the right bunker as the spot not to miss—but honestly, I should’ve marked both. You cannot miss it in the short-side bunker. I’ve seen way too many thinned wedges that end up in the water on this hole.

This hole is usually downwind, so my strategy is simple: figure out how far I need to carry it and play to that number. I’m aiming for the front half of the green and would happily walk off with a two-putt par and get the hell out of there.

If the pin is in the back half of the green, long is a decent miss. Once we get past this hole, I feel like the course eases up a bit. Don’t you feel better knowing there’s light at the end of this tunnel we call The Bear?