How The Owner Plays Redstone: Hole 11

Hole #11 — Great hole for a mountain goat.

480 yds (blues)  ·  600+ from the tips  ·  Par 5  ·  Slight dogleg right

Carry: 235 yds from tips  ·  Bunkers: large, left side  ·  Green: huge, elevated views back to Rossland

Five tee boxes. Over 600 yards from the tips with a legitimate 235-yard carry. Every single one of them elevated. Every single one of them unforgettable.

Today we’re on the blues — 480 yards, slight dogleg right. Which means you can miss a little right and still be fine. Keep that in mind. I’ll be needing it shortly.

But first — I have to tell you about the Google review.

AN ACTUAL GOOGLE REVIEW OF HOLE 11

“Great hole for a mountain goat.”

I tracked down the reviewer. Asked them a few questions. Conditions? 5/5. Greens? 5/5.  So why the 4/5 overall? “Something about this course being on the side of a mountain.” I laughed out loud. We live in a ski town. We market this as a mountain golf course. The mountain is the whole point.

Hole 11 is exactly what we’re proud of. Creeks, ravines, mountains, trees the size of small buildings. And when you’re standing on that green and you turn around to look back at where you came from — it’s just perfect. Pure mountain golf. Sorry, not sorry.

Now. You need a good drive here to get past the 200-yard marker and set up your second shot. Feeling confident — maybe too confident — I lay into driver.

The ball lands right at the 200-yard marker. As I walk toward it I’m already thinking about going for the green in two. I know I shouldn’t. I keep thinking about it anyway.

DRIVE

Driver. Clean contact. Lands right at the 200-yard marker. 200 out. There are huge bunkers on the left protecting the green. I mean massive. You do not want to be in them.

2ND

I have an audience, so naturally I go for it. Three wood. Uphill. Ball above my feet — which means one thing: flat swing plane, or you snap it left into the trees. I think about not snapping it left. I snap it left. 220 yards, massive draw, red-staked area just below the bunkers. The mountain goat reviewer would have been fine. I was not.

3RD

Here’s the thing about mountain golf — you will lose a couple more balls on a course like this than on a parkland layout. We have generous red-staked areas, so it’s just one stroke penalty and you’re back in play. Hit my third shot in from the drop zone.

4TH

Hitting 4 now. Flag is dead centre on a huge green. I flop a 40-yard shot to 12 feet. Honestly, one of the better shots of the day.

PUTT

Two putts. Walk away with a bogey.

Bogey

Was it a mental error? Absolutely. Should I have laid up? Without question. Will I go for it again next time? Almost certainly.

That’s mountain golf.

I take my bogey and turn around.

From up here you turn and look back uphill — and there are the red roofs of Rossland, tucked into the mountain above you. The mountains behind it. The whole picture.

Cary, Owner