One of the Pine Ridge Golf Club's most formidable holes went under the knife for a little cosmetic surgery last season. Pine Ridge's 11th -- the beginning of an arduous four-hole, 2,060-yard stretch of the back nine -- now sports less sand than it did in the past. But don't be fooled into thinking it plays any easier.
A river of sand that previously paralleled the final 100 yards of the hole is now a five-trap chain separated by standard rough. Players that miss to the right of the fairway now have a chance of finding their ball on grass instead of being stranded on the beach with a difficult, diagonal recovery shot.
The same goes for misses around the green. Where players once had almost no margin of error to the right of the pin, the traps are now recessed a bit farther away from the surface and gaps between them provide some grassy relief.
Of course, there's a bit of a catch. The formerly uninterrupted trap wasn't all bad -- it doubled as the last sandy line of defense before the pond on the hole's right side. Now, unlucky players might have to watch helplessly as errant shots skitter through the new rough and into the drink.
The Coram course continues to impress with its rustic layout and pristine conditions. For more on Pine Ridge, check out the course flyover.
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