How The Owner Plays Redstone: Hole 15

Before you tee off on 15, you cross Gopher Creek on a bridge built to last only as long as it should. It’s cribbed up in boggy ground with cedar cross pieces — part of the earth, returning to it slowly. We built it that way on purpose, to do as little damage as possible to the riparian area. From time to time we repair it. One day we won’t need to.

And right there at that bridge — if you remembered the log cabin remnants behind the 9th green and the overnight camp at the 10th tee — the Dewdney Trail crosses. The same trail the prospectors used. If you look hard enough you’ll see the foundation of another cabin in there. There’s gold in Gopher Creek. There’s a claim named Gopher just up from here. History is everywhere on this course if you slow down enough to see it.

THE SPIRITUAL PART
The bridge to 15 runs through a cedar forest over Gopher Creek. Long, quiet, cool. It’s one of my favourite places on the entire course. In winter the cross-country ski trails run through here. In the heat of summer it’s always cool in the trees. Something happens when I walk through it. I feel something really good. I can’t explain it better than that and I’m not going to try.

Some people call 14, 15 and 16 Amen Corner — a straight par five followed by two short par fours. I just think of it as three chances for birdie that can salvage almost any round. Today though, let’s be honest about what a 10-handicap actually does with a driver on a 300-yard par four with a heavy dogleg right.

I’ve been naturally fading my driver lately so I’m not too worried about cutting the corner. The tee shot is uphill and depending on your club you can leave yourself anywhere from 150 to 50 yards out.

I cut the corner a little too tight and end up in the trees on the right. Flat in there, fairly easy to find the ball — but there’s no clean shot to the green. Punch out time.