Course Breakdown: The Crown holes 10-14
Hole 10: Bottleneck
After fueling up at the turn, you’re greeted by a shorter par 4 that might have some players thinking about hitting less than driver. The hole plays slightly uphill and usually into a hurting wind, but there’s no need to try to rip a drive longer than 250 yards. The widest part of the fairway is between 150 and 110 yards out, and it’s about 50 yards wide. Once you’re inside 100 yards, the fairway narrows by half. With long grass creeping into play on the left and a fairway bunker on the right, trying to hit into that bottleneck is simply not worth the risk.
After an ideal ~240-yard drive, you’ll be left with a wedge into a back-to-front sloping green. The most memorable feature of this green is the spine running through the middle, which divides it in half. Aside from that, the green primarily slopes from right to left, but there are some areas that don’t follow the rules.
A miss long here leads to a very delicate chip shot, so keep that in mind if you’re between clubs on your approach!
Hole 11: A Tough Test
The 11th is one of the more memorable holes at The Crown, and mostly because of how tough it is. This dogleg-left par 4 may angle left, but everything else about this hole screams left to right. To put it into perspective, the left side of the fairway sits 10 feet higher than the right, and keeping your ball from rolling into the right rough is tricky without a left-to-right shot shape.
I think driver is fine, but your line should be where the left rough meets the fairway. If you push it a little too far right, you’ll run into some tree trouble—but not until about 280 yards.
Not only will you face an awkward left-to-right lie on your approach, but the green sits 25 feet above the fairway, making club selection tricky. The general wind tends to help, so I add about 8 yards for the uphill shot, but unless the wind is really strong, I don't usually reduce my target distance. With this much uphill, the wind doesn’t play as much of a factor.
The green complex slopes consistently from left to right and back to front. Be sure not to miss left around the cart path, though—I’ve seen some gnarly bounces off that path, and from there, you’re left with a nasty downhill chip shot. That said, right isn’t exactly a safe miss either.
Hole 12: Positive Thoughts
The 12th is a pretty visually intimidating hole. Between you and the green is a deep ravine that shouldn’t come into play, but as we all know, human error can be a fickle thing. The proper bailout on this hole is left—anything right or long of the green is just asking for trouble.
The green complex is relatively flat, with only a single foot of elevation change. Even though this is a shorter par 3, don’t lose focus—one bad swing here can quickly derail your entire round.
Hole 13: The crown of The Crown
I can easily say that this is my favorite hole at The Crown, and it’s all because of the topography. From tee to green, the hole drops a little over 40 feet, and the green is hidden from the teeing area. The tee box starts high and drops dramatically before you reach the fairway. From there, it climbs back up about 10 feet until the fairway flattens around the 150-yard marker. If you're outside of 170 yards, the green is still hidden behind the elevated fairway.
The fairway starts to slope toward the green around 135 yards out, so if you’re not a fan of a downhill lie, stay short of that distance. I typically hit my 230-yard club off the tee to keep things in check.
To the right of the fairway is a steep hillside that drops more than 20 feet and starts encroaching onto the 17th hole. Finding the fairway here is critical.
From the 135-yard mark, the green sits about 15 feet below the fairway. The green slopes from left to right and back to front, so expect your shot to release a little right when it lands. Make sure not to miss left, though—the bunkers are waiting there. A miss short and right gives you the best chance of getting up and down if you don’t hit the green.
Hole 14: The Domino Effect
The next three holes at The Crown are definitely the most interesting, and I’ve been trying to think of a single phrase to describe this stretch. I think I’ve landed on “the domino effect.” The shots required to do well here aren’t impossible, but if you start to stray just a little, things can snowball quickly. One bad shot can set off a chain reaction of poor decisions as you try to make up for it. Fingers crossed you're playing match play, or else you’ll need to take your medicine and aim for no worse than bogey.
The 14th is a true 3-shot par 5, and I never even think about hitting driver. The fairway ends at 260 yards, but I don't want to be anywhere near that distance. The fairway is at its widest between 200 and 230 yards off the tee, so I aim for that range. Don’t forget to add an extra 10 yards for the uphill when planning your club selection—my 230-yard club is typically the right choice for me.
You can’t afford to miss left or right, so hitting into the fattest part of the fairway is an absolute must.
Once the fairway ends, the hole turns sharply to the right and starts to widen as you approach the green. The hardest shot on this hole is the layup. The giant ravine that the 14th doglegs around is incredibly intimidating, especially with massive trees growing out of it and blocking your view of the rest of the hole.
Since golfers tend to get intimidated by the ravine, they often subconsciously aim too far left and end up in the left trees, which are far more in play than most realize. From the 300-yard marker, it's only 175 yards to carry the last bunker—this should be the goal for anyone trying to reach the green in 3. The fairway continues to widen, but only after you’ve reached the 100-yard marker.
The green complex has three distinct tiers, with each tier becoming more difficult as you move toward the back. Missing short is far better than missing long, so keep that in mind when choosing your club.
Good luck!
