Nicklaus No. 18 has major significance at Plymouth’s Pinehills
With a pair of great course designs that are maintained as well as the top private clubs, it is easy to understand the popularity of Pinehills Golf Club in Plymouth.
Holes like the 18th on the Nicklaus Course, designed by Jack Nicklaus II, leave quite a lasting impression of the round.
The No. 2 stroke hole plays anywhere from 319 to 476 yards on five sets of tees and has a generous, wide fairway with trees on the left and a pair of fairway bunkers on the right. The farther of the two bunkers is reachable for the longest players at just more than 300 yards out, but those playing from blues will have to contend with the front edge at 240 and the back edge at 265.
“It's an incredibly strong par 4 at 476 yards from the tips, and a good drive leaves you a 4- or 5-iron over water and water left,” Pinehills GC head PGA pro John Tuffin said.
A tee shot that favors the right side of the fairway minimizes the risk of having water come into play on the approach.
In addition to the pond that runs along the left side for the final 120 yards, there also are a pair of bunkers, one guarding the front left portion of the green and another on the right side. The green is generously sized and is about 30 yards deep.
The Nicklaus Course, which opened for play in 2002, has appeared on Golf Magazine's rankings of “Top 100 Courses You Can Play.” It measures 5,185 yards from the front red tees to 7,243 from the back black tees with silver (5,760), white (6,129) and blue (6,640) in between.
Tuffin said the Jones Course, designed by Rees Jones, typically is the harder of the two courses. The Jones Course varies from 5,347 to 7,175 yards in length.
“What's great about those designers is they think of every type of golfer,” Tuffin said. “So we can host an event like (the New England PGA) with the best players from New England and put them on the back tees and test their games, and we go all the way up to red tees and silver tees.”
A Friday-Sunday round at Pinehills tops out at $120 including a cart and range balls, but after Columbus Day weekend, the rate goes down to $75 on weekends and $55 with a tee time after noon.