How The Owner Plays Redstone: Hole 8

Hole #8 — My favourite. Don’t ask me to explain it.

538 yards from the blues

Par 5 — dead straight

Bunkers: two left, one right

Water: left side, 70 yds to green

538 yards. Straight away. Two bunkers left, one right. Simple on paper.

And somehow it’s my favourite hole on the golf course. Not the most beautiful — it’s beautiful, don’t get me wrong — it just feels good. I can’t fully explain it and honestly I’ve stopped trying.

I bet you have one too. Ask golfers about their favourite hole and if you dig a little, it’s never really about yardage. It’s about how a person feels standing over the ball. That might sound insane, but I’d bet money you feel yours too.

Golf is like that. You connect to a course through the smells, the visuals, how the ground feels under your feet and the grip in your hands. It is a sensationally awesome sport — and probably a big reason younger golfers are showing up. Your body and soul just react to it.

Anyway. We’re on 8. Let’s go.

Even after a bad tee shot, I always feel like I can save this hole. So let’s play it ugly — because that’s what actually happens.

My miss is almost always from trying to hit driver too hard. Shocking, I know.

Tee

Hook it. High and ugly. About 180 yards. I’m under the willow, short of the first left bunker, sitting in the rough. 358 to the hole. Perfect.

2nd

Rescue 3 Ping — comfortable 210 club, almost always reliable. Full swing, nice little draw, catch a slight downslope. 148 out, centre of the fairway. Clean sailing from here.

3rd

148, a touch into the wind. 9-iron. There’s water left from 70 yards all the way to the green, so a slight fade is perfect. Big bunker back right — but with a middle pin, you’d have to catch a flyer to find it. Aim it, let it fall. I hit a decent shot just short of the flag.

Tap-in birdie

This green, by the way — some right-to-left slope but it’s predictable. You know that feeling when you hit a putt and the ball just holds your line? That’s how this green makes me feel. I love it.

I really should just hit 3-wood off the tee and relax. I know this. I will continue not doing it.

Here’s the part that makes me think.

I’m 59, heading to 60 this year. Seven years ago I was still going for it in two every time — and the facts are clear: I was dunking it in the water 7 out of 10 shots. Making bogey on a par five. Repeatedly. On my favourite hole.

Now? Easier swing, a little better setup. I’m putting for birdie.

Turns out an aging body with some sense beats a younger, stronger body with none.

Makes you think, doesn’t it.

Take your shot.

Cary, Owner