Observations: "New" 11th green at Great Rock Golf Club

If you've ever helplessly watched as your approach or pitch onto the 11th green at Great Rock Golf Club sprinted straight off the back and into the heavy rough, here's some welcome news:

The newly renovated surface, designed to hold more shots, is in play this season.

Bad news: Your thin 6-iron is still bound for the thick stuff.

Memorable for its wicked left-to-right slant and hard-off-the-back downslope, the 11th green received a bit of a facelift last fall from Great Rock superintendent Dan Wolf, who took about a week in November to raise and resurface the back portion of the teardrop-shaped green.  The renovation softened one of the severe slopes while preserving the general nastiness of the putting surface. 

[For a refresher on #11's dramatic tilt, revisit our Closer Look at #11 from May 2012.]

The modified back section opened this spring.  Walking the 11th green reveals what's hard for your eye to pick up until it's too late -- in the back, the surface holds flat, but still descends quickly from the fringe to the rough.  In the middle of the green, the slope rocks you off balance.

Get off the tee effectively on this unassuming 351-/316-yard par-4 and the added height will be kind to your well-struck short-iron approach.  Burden yourself with a longer iron into the green or a shot from the rough and all bets are off.  The picture above shows the new back segment; pictured left, the slope of the green is most visible when looking from behind.

Meanwhile, ahead at #12, Great Rock's other recently remodeled green continues to be subtly tough yet rewarding.  Shots close to a pin on the green's narrow front segment hold their ground and set up makeable birdie putts.  Others that venture too far from the cup on this 123-/110-yard par-3 will take a ride along or down the green's pronounced ridge.  First-timers in our group had trouble deciphering the speed and slope when putting across the green, much to our amusement.  And that was with slower-than-normal conditions courtesy of Tropical Storm Andrea's 4+ inches of rain.

As always, experience pays up the hills and around the greens at Great Rock.