The North Course at Olympia Fields

Caddie Notes:
This long, straight par 5 should present little difficulty to the average touring professional - provided he stays out of the fairway and greenside bunkers. The revamped bunkering has made the North Course much more challenging. A tee shot that finds a fairway bunker here takes away a chance of reaching the green in two, as the bunkers are too deep to allow the fairway wood or long-iron shot required. An approach that finds a greenside bunker will leave the golfer well below the level of the green, hitting up to a back-to-front sloping putting surface. The ideal way to play the hole is to hit a tee shot over the right edge of the left fairway bunker, and leave a fairway metal or long iron to the green.

Caddie Notes:
This is a big left-to-right dogleg that calls for a tee ball over the second fairway bunker, leaving a middle- or short-iron to a large, relatively flat green. Easier said than done, however, because the landing area beyond the bunker is very tight, and it slopes such that it can kick the ball from right to left and into the rough at the far side of the fairway. A small collection area has been built at the left-rear of the green, so watch for some creative chipping from those who end up beyond the green. But at least those players will be in better shape than those who hit it long and into a stand of huge oak trees behind the green. The best strategy, therefore, is to hit to the middle of the green and take your chances with the flat stick.

Caddie Notes:
This is the signature hole for this nine. The first thing you notice is that there are no fairway bunkers. The second thing is that the hole doesn't need any. The tee shot is hit blind, out of a tight chute, to a narrow fairway that sits beyond and down a steep hill. And it must find the left of the fairway or trees may block the approach to the small, elevated green. A clear approach will likely call for a middle iron, but holding this green will be difficult as the slope of the surface is one of the most severe on the course. Anything that lands on the front may roll off the green and back down a steep stretch of fairway.

Caddie Notes:
This is another example of how the shorter holes at Olympia Fields can still be perilous. The fairway is quite narrow and a substantial ridge splits it at about 275 yards from the tee. Players can try to carry the ball up and over the ridge, but those who do not probably will end up at the bottom of a hill and face a blind, uphill approach into a small, heavily bunkered green. The effectiveness of the tee shot determines whether or not this is a birdie hole.

Caddie Notes:
Here is another example! Most players will keep the driver in the bag here and take their chances with a long iron, as the fairway is the width of an eyelet, and it is protected both by encroaching trees - they seem to be everywhere you look - and a large bunker that juts out from the left side almost to the middle of the fairway. Once the player does find the fairway, he is confronted with a short iron to a shallow green with a hogback in the back-left position. Two deep greenside bunkers complete the challenge.

Caddie Notes:
Now the course emerges from the trees and opens up for the closing stretch. The wind (if any) becomes a bigger factor. This also is the first of two par 3s on the final four holes, so there is little room for error. The tee shot is hit from an elevated tee to a green that has a hump running across the back third of it. The front-right and back-left hole locations will be the most difficult, the former because two deep bunkers await, the latter because if a player finds sand to the left, he will have to hit a full, high shot to an area where there is not a lot of green. It's a tough up and down.

Caddie Notes:
This is the last good chance at birdie. The preferred tee shot is a draw over the right corner of the left fairway bunker, the ball coming to rest in the left-center of the fairway. But beware the player who doesn't pull off the draw. As the fairway slopes slightly to the right in the landing area, he could quite easily find two big bunkers on the right. A good tee shot will leave only a middle or short iron, but because there are numerous tough hole locations on this green, many players may resort to hitting to the center of the green. Watch for players to be deep in conversation with their caddies before hitting their approaches.

Caddie Notes:
This monster of a par 3 calls for one of the toughest shots on the entire course. The tee shot is long and uphill and is hit into the prevailing wind, while the green is well-protected left and right with big, deep bunkers, three left, one right. Most players will hit fairway woods or long irons into the center of the green and hope to two-putt, but the putting surface has so many ripples and undulations that you could see just as many three-putts. For those hitting long, there will be a collection area behind the green from where they can try to get up and down for par. This is what we call a "getaway" hole. You take your par and get away fast.

Caddie Notes:
The finishing hole to the front 9 is a big par 4 that also plays into the prevailing wind. The tee shot must split two fairway bunkers, leaving a mid-to-long iron into a huge, sloping green. The best play here is a drive between the two fairway bunkers that lands short of a third bunker. This requires players to work the ball, though working it too much could bring trouble. The green is one of the most sinister on the course with right-to-left and back-to-front breaks and a myriad of little shelves. Even the best players in the world will three-putt this green from time to time; in the 1997 U.S. Senior Open, David Graham five-putted it.

Caddie Notes:
Bunkers pinch both sides of the fairway on this slight dogleg-left. The best play is to carry the left fairway, about 280 yards out, and leave a short iron to a deep green with a severe back-to-front tilt. The green is well protected with two bunkers right and one bunker left. The toughest bunker is the one short-right. A player who lands in there will be left well below the surface of the green, having to hit a soft high shot to a putting surface that slopes back to front - in a perpendicular direction, in other words. Depending where the hole is cut, his recovery may not stay on the green.

Caddie Notes:
This dogleg left usually is played with the prevailing southwesterly wind at the player's back. This can help on the tee shot - assuming it avoids the cavernous left and right fairway bunkers - but can complicate the approach. The second shot will likely be hit with a short iron to a hard, windswept green with a lot of right-to-left slope. The back of the green drops off sharply toward a stand of huge trees and the first appearance of Butterfield Creek. Any ball that first hits the back portion of the green - perhaps helped by a sudden gust of wind - runs the risk of catapulting forward into deep trouble. The smart play is a long iron from the tee and then a short iron to the middle of the green.

Caddie Notes:
As on many holes at Olympia Fields, the trees that hug the fairway dictate the tee shot. Here, a tee shot that hugs the right tree line too closely could easily leave an approach shot blocked by more trees. So the golfer is forced to the left - toward a large fairway bunker. The ideal tee shot is therefore a low cut shot with a long iron - which also will take Butterfield Creek, crossing the fairway at about the 290-yard mark, out of play. That leaves an approach of about 140 yards into a relatively shallow green that slopes down from left to right. Another piece in the puzzle is the wind. You can't feel it in the fairway but the hole opens up at the green, so in certain conditions expect to see players scratching their heads, wondering how a perfectly struck approach fell into a deep, greenside bunker.

Caddie Notes:
About all the golfers can see from the tee of this uphill par 3 is the back of the green as most of the front sits in a large swale. The safe play is to the middle of the green followed by two putts for par, but that will be a tall order when the hole is cut up on the back-right shelf. And anyone who tries to get too precise with a forward hole location could end up in the front-left or front-right greenside bunkers, some 10-feet beneath the putting surface. This may be the shortest hole on the course, but it is not necessarily a birdie hole.

Caddie Notes:
This is the signature hole on this nine. Butterfield Creek crosses in front of the tee about 125 yards out then runs down the right of a fairway that has been shifted over toward it to bring the creek very much into play. The creek then crosses the hole again at the base of a berm some 300 yards from the tee. The elevated tee shot calls for a long iron or 3-wood to take the creek out of play, but that leaves an uphill shot over the creek to an elevated green with a tremendous amount of back-to-front-slope. Anything blocked to the right will find trees while anything hit to the front of the green could roll back off and down the steeply sloping fairway. Instead of two routine putts for par, a player could be facing a 40-yard chip shot.

Caddie Notes:
This hole may prove to be a most rare specie for the field: a par 5 that isn't a guaranteed birdie. There are two ways to play it. Shorter hitters will play it as a true three-shotter, because the fairway turns sharply to the right about 275 yards from the green. Look for them to use a long iron or fairway wood off the tee, then hit a long iron to set up a wedge shot. The bigger hitters can reach in two - but only if they keep their tee shots down the left, and that's not easy to do as the fairway slope works against them. If they end up to the right, they'll have to hit a slice - not just a fade - around the crook of the curve to reach the green. Of course, they'd be better laying up.

Caddie Notes:
A new tee has been added on an elevated perch here, which among other things gives players a better view of all the trouble that awaits. A shot pulled to the left will find sand or a wooded area to the left. The latter would leave a recovery off hard ground that must avoid branches, then clear a bunker and come to rest on a sloping green. Tee shots blocked to the right run the risk of bounding into Butterfield Creek, which flows past the right side of the green. The moral: If you miss this shot, miss it in the front-right bunker.

Caddie Notes:
Butterfield Creek again looms large along the right side of the fairway, ready to catch any missed fades or blocks. A player could use a driver here, but the fairway is narrow in the landing area and he could be flirting with a large, horizontal bunker guarding the left third of the fairway (and if he clears it, his approach could be blocked by trees). The key here then is to do whatever it takes to find the fairway. This is a good example of how, although this course has its share of long holes, much of the danger at Olympia Fields lurks in the shorter holes. The elevated green makes it difficult to determine the hole location.

Caddie Notes:
Perfect tee shot: A big draw. If a player can pull that off, and keep his ball fair, he will achieve two things:

1. He will avoid the fairway bunker that occupies a substantial portion of the fairway on the right side of the landing area.
2. He will take the water that cuts into the fairway some 20 yards short of the green out of play on the approach shot.

The approach will likely be a long iron to a huge green that slopes from back to front and has a big hogback on the right side. This is one of the most difficult greens on the course. This hole calls for two long and precise shots and two well-struck putts.