Along the Babbling Brook, Part Two: Hole Nine

After finishing up on the 8th green you'll have a pleasant walk along a path through the woods to the 9th tee. Admire Chris Barden's chain sawing skills, look for the thoughtful notch cut in a huge log.

Nine is a technical hole, 475' from the white tee, just und 400' from the reds. There are several possible lines to a landing area, though I try to avoid throwing too much of a righthand/backhand hyzer since the left side of the fairway is well treed as the terrain drops toward the brook that lines the left side of the fairway.

The brook doesn't really come in to play directly, and if you happened to grip-lock one that gets wet it plays "casual", no need to take a penalty stroke.

Even if you hit the landing area cleanly you still have some work to do to reach the basket, with some narrow birches and poplars to navigate and a big well weathered pine in the middle of the fairway about 70' short of the basket.

The basket is placed on the edge of a pretty steep drop-off toward the stream, a "birdie" death putt will test your nerves. An over-zealous eagle run also risks a roll-away toward the stream, and you may find your only option it to lay up with no look directly at the basket.

An insider tip: If you aren't a course regular and familiar with the basket placement, take a quick detour after putting on 8 and you'll be able to scout out the 9th green and approaches.