How The Owner Plays Redstone: Hole 12
Hole #12 — Stop. Turn around. Look at that.
180 yards from the blues
Par 3 — slightly downhill
Bailout: hillside left, no bunker
Bunkers: right side protecting forest edge
Green: slopes back to front, honest, trustworthy
The walk from 11 to 12 is the beginning of the climb on the back nine. Your legs know it. Your lungs know it. By the time you reach the blue tee box, you’ve earned a moment.
So take it. Stop walking. Turn around.
Rossland sits right there in front of you — the mountain town, the red roofs, the whole picture framed by the trees. It’s spectacular. And I’m not just saying that so you can catch your breath before a tricky par three.
Although that’s also a good reason.
180 yards, slightly downhill. Plays a little shorter than it looks — on a warm, dead calm day an 8-iron gets me there at about 170. Most days I go 7-iron and trust it.
Les Furber gives you a bailout on the left — a hillside with no bunker. Miss it there and you’re alive, but if you get hung up on the slope the shot back down to the green is a bit of a crapshoot. The right side has bunkers that keep your sliding fade out of the forest. And believe me, the trees on the edges of this hole are not decorative. They mean business.
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The hole plays into the fan — sometimes the wind takes a club or two off you. Pay attention to it. A 7-iron that feels perfect can come up short when the mountain is breathing at you. |
The green itself? Back to front slope, but genuinely honest. No tricks. Hit your line and trust it. I’ve always had confidence on this green — for whatever reason it rewards a straight putt better than almost anywhere else on the course.
TEE
7-iron. Centre pin. I flush it. Pure contact, perfect flight. Walks up to the middle of the green exactly where I aimed.
PUTT
I read the line. I trust the line. I hit the line — perfectly. The ball tracks exactly where I intended, holds its path all the way to the hole, and lips out.
Tap-in par
Not upset. Not rattled. I hit my line. Sometimes golf just says no.
That’s the thing about an honest green — when the putt doesn’t drop, you can’t blame the green. You tip your hat, tap it in, and move on.
On to 13.
— Cary
