Greg Cameron’s Weblog

The General – A Course Review and Study Guide

Posted on March 14, 2008. Filed under: Golf | Tags: Eagle Ridge, Galena, Golf, The General |

Here is my hole by hole review and perspective on the General. As I’ve said in a previous post the General is feel like a roller-coaster ride at times. And who doesn’t love those? My goal here is to provide first time golfers an idea of what to expect and some insight that can only come after playing the course a few times. One note here: I will describe some areas as being “weed filled”. Keep in mind I play this course early in the month of May once a year. Later in the season I’m sure they are more filled with wildflowers than weeds. My one real complaint of the course is that the bunkers do not drain well and as a result seem to be more of a wet sand/mud combo. For a premium course I’d expect more powdery sand to hit out of.

The Amenities

First I’ll speak a little of the Club house and amenities. It has a beautiful clubhouse with its signature silo with Glass bubble top. The clubhouse offers parking on both sides. The pro shop while not overly large is well stocked with premium apparel, shoes and equipment if needed. Last year I wound up getting a $80 Fleece pull-over to help combat the wind. One of the most comfortable pieces of clothing I own.

The Staff is friendly and the starters in particular are helpful. If its your first time their they’ll go over local rules, where the carts can and can not go and most importantly, give you some strategy for a few holes. Some of which I will repeat verbatim in this guide.
The bar/restaurant in the clubhouse ” Spike’s Grill” is everything you will want it to be when you finish your round. Good food, quick service and premium and import draft beers on tap. For golfers wanting something to eat at the turn, there is a snack shop/grille ready for you. Good Bratwurst, only down side is you can call ahead with your order. It also servers pasties and coffee for the early morning golfer.

Lastly, is the area where I think the course’s amenities suffer the greatest. The practice facilities. The putting green is large, but not quite large enough in my opinion. Also its built about 5 feet higher than the area where the carts. Its held in place by a retaining wall. There is no driving range at the course itself. There is one driving range for the whole resort. It is located across the street from the North Course’s clubhouse. Golfer have to park at the North Course, get their range balls there and then drive across the street to the range. The range does have golfers hitting off of the grass from an elevated tee, down to the range itself.

The hole by hole description and strategy is written playing from the 3 star tees. Chances are if your playing from the tips at the 4 star tees you won’t need the insight presented below. The greens are usually a 10 on the Stimpmeter. Fast but not blazingly so. Note, before teeing off, walk over by the 9th hole green to check for pin placement. Might be good info to have.

Hole #1 – 378 yard Par 4 – Green 34 yards Deep by 21 yards wide
The entire front nine is basically one large valley of the overall area. This hole slopes gently down hill into the larger valley. Take advantage of the downhill slope to boost your confidence in your driver right at the start of the round. Only truly errant tee shots will get you in trouble here. This hole is one of three cart path only holes on the course. The trouble on the left side is the tall grass that feeds down the hill from the cart path. The right side is just rough unless you really slice it into the trees. Beware on your second shot. There is a steep drop off behind the green that feeds into a creek. Better to be short on approach than long. There is a sand trap guarding the front right of the green.

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Hole #2 – 528 yard Par 5 – Green 35 yards Deep by 20 yards wide
A slightly elevated tee that presents a fairly tight tee shot on this slight dogleg right. Getting away with a par isn’t difficult. It all depends on your tee shot. The trees lining the right side can be intimidating. And the downward sloping hill of tall grass on the left can also rack your nerves. Focus instead on the wide open landing area to the left hand side of fairway. Aim just left of the large tree straight away. Going for the green on your second shot is risky. The green is 35 yards deep but only 20 yards wide. There is also a small creek and a large willow tree protecting the right side of it and a small bunker on the left. Safer to play a lay-up shot to within 100 yards.

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Hole #3 – 143 yard Par 3 – Green 33 yards Deep by 28 yards wide
The tee box for this one is moderately elevated above the green. The green is fair large. Take note of the wind it tends to swirl here. I always go one club longer than what I think I need off the tee here. Trouble will find you if you sky the tee shot way over the green into the water. Missing short and right will put you into the weeds. Missing far right and your in the water. Missing left will put you either in tall grass or the sand trap. The water behind the green will cause golfer who went into the tall grass to hit a shot softer than normal to avoid the water, which can then put you in the trap. Once in the trap, which has a small lip to it you again will feel scared of going over the green into the water and hit a tentative shot. You can probably tell by reading this that this is exactly what happened to me in 2007 here. I took a 7 on the par 3. Enough of what not to do. Focus on it being a large green, even if you hit it short it’ll be safe worse case and roll up best case.

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Hole #4 – 354 yard Par 4 – Green 40 yards Deep by 21 yards wide
Tee shot over water on this dogleg left. Aim for the 4 sand traps on the right side of fairway. This will give you a good approach to the green. Going left here is a bad idea. Weeds, trees, creeks, and assorted wildlife await you. The green like many at the General is surrounded by tall thick grass. Not rough, but knee high crap which will swallow your golf ball whole. There is a set of restrooms after this hole.

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Hole #5 – 418 yard Par 4 – Green 32 yards Deep by 27 yards wide
A big dogleg to the left this time. If you can draw the ball off the tee then you’re golden. DO NOT go right. Right is a massively sloping hill of weeds and tall grass that eventually reaches the 4th hole fairway. You can’t take your cart over there. If you slice so badly that you clear this stuff and land on the 4th hole fairway, then you will have a blind shot over the steep slope. If you’re a slicer then hit an iron off the tee. The green is fairly large and framed left and right by large trees. It also is protected by the worlds smallest water hazard in the form of a creek running in front of the green in a small valley. There is also a large sand trap front right of the green.

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Hole #6 – 479 yard Par 5 - Green 32 yards Deep by 28 yards wide
Dogleg right over water. This is the hole that will temp you to break out your driver and just swing away. You can test your nerves and see how much of the water you want to fly. It is farther than it looks. If you want an eagle than cut it over. If Birdie/par is more your goal then hit a safe tee shot to the heart of the fairway. There are traps between the water and fairway on right hand side. For your second shot there is plenty of safety in a lay-up shot. But not a huge amount of danger in going for it either. There is a bunker on the right hand side and weeds left.

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Hole #7 – 132 yard Par 3 – Green 35 yards Deep by 27 yards wide
Do not miss short, right, left or long. In short don’t miss the green on your tee shot. Harsh slopes and tall weeds will be your penalty for missing.

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Hole #8 – 351 yard Par 4 - Green 27 yards Deep by 33 yards wide
You really do not need a driver here. The tee shot should be to the meat of the fairway before it begins its dogleg to the right. Use the rocks as your target. Do not miss this green long. It is protected by the now familiar tall grass. A fairly easy par 4 which I screw up almost every time.

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Hole #9 – 390 yard Par 4 - Green 33 yards Deep by 33 yards wide
The tee is slightly below the height of the fairway and that feeling is increased by the small valley full of wildflowers you need to clear to reach the fairway. The silo provides as good target for the tee shot. Tee shots to the far left side will find tall grass/weeds in a downhill slope towards fairway. Shots missed right may find one of the two sand traps. The fairway is quite large and the largest obstacle to par on the hole is hitting the green on your approach. Two bunkers guard this sliver of a green on the front right.

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Hole #10 – 361 yard Par 4 - Green 28 yards Deep by 22 yards wide
The tee is depressed well below the elevated fairway. There is an ugly water hazard to the right off the tee. You won’t hit it, but I can’t help but wonder why they don’t dress it up a bit more to fit the natural beauty of the surroundings. It is the one true eyesore on the course. The tee shot can be intimidating. Trees line the rough on both sides. Focus on that fact that your warmed up now and you know what swing to make to avoid trouble. On your second shot avoid the trap that awaits you short and left of the green. It is one of the smaller greens on the course. I also remember a steep drop off behind the green. Par is a good score here.

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Hole #11 – 152 yard Par 3 – Green 23 yards Deep by 29 yards wide
You might as well think of this as an island green. The green and tee are at same elevation. However, between the tee and the green is a sharply sloping valley of weeds and tall grass. If you miss short, right, left you could find yourself at best 50 yards down in the valley. That is if you can find your ball at all. If you go long its a deep green, if you go really long then there is tall grass on a slight upslope and for some reason I haven’t figured out 2 very large fans. This one is a gut check. While 152 yards is prime 8-iron distance for me I will always club up here and go 7-iron.

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Hole #12 – 466 yard Par 5 – Green 29 yards Deep by 21 yards wide
This is a wide open slightly undulating slight double dogleg par 5. Far left is the road and far right is trees. Not a whole lot of strategy to this one. Just don’t get fooled by the sand traps (left and right), on your second shot. The green is not right behind it. There is a lot of room between the them and the green. Great hole to just open up and go for it in two.

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Hole #13 – 423 yard Par 4 – Green 30 yards Deep by 22 yards wide
This is listed as the hardest hole on the course on the scorecards handicap. I personally think there are harder holes here. It would be hard as hell for the slicer. Straight hitter should be fine. It is one of the most enjoyable holes on the course for the draw hitter. The tee shot seems a bit tight from the tee. But it opens up as the hole doglegs to the left and down a slight hill. Straight hitters might want to drop down a club off of the tee to avoid driving through the fairway and winding up in the trees. For your second shot try landing it short and rolling it on as the green is wide but not deep.

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Hole #14 – 341 yard Par 4 – Green 31 yards Deep by 21 yards wide – A cart path only hole.
This is it. The biggest elevation change between tee and green of any hole on the General, possibly at all of Eagle Ridge. When your on the tee the green looks like its about a mile below you. All you can see of the hole from the 3 and 4 star is the green. When you’re on the green looking back at the tee it looks more like 100+ feet of elevation difference. The urge to swing away with everything you have and more is almost overpowering here. The landing area however is not that wide. Its too easy to push or pull it over into Iowa if you really go at it. A driver of the tee is not needed, but it will take some restraint not to pull it out of the bag. I’ve seen tee shots land within feet of the green on this par 4. The cart path down from the tee is a bunch of switchbacks designed to allow you to survive the trip down the hill. There fairway itself actually has natural springs running under it and can be very soggy. Take note of this as its the reason its cart path only for this hole. The soggy fairway can lead to a very fat second shot and the ruining of a good drive. So try and test your ball lie before popping it onto the green. A small sand trap guards the front right side of green.

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Hole #15 – 189 yard Par 3 - Green 23 yards Deep by 36 yards wide
At face value this is a simple par three. I screw this hole up every time though because I tempt myself into going for the pin. The green surrounded by the tall grass/weeds and has a large deep bunker below guarding the front left half of the green. My advice is always go for the right hand side of the green which has a clear area in front which will allow you to roll shots up. Going long there is a upsloping hill to the 16th tee of very deep tall grass. The bunker in front is very difficult to get out of because it is a good 10 feel below the surface of the green.

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Hole #16 – 380 yard Par 4 – Green 41 yards Deep by 21 yards wide
A severe dogleg to the left. Straight hitters might want to drop down a club off of the tee to avoid driving through the fairway and winding up in the trees If you can draw the ball do it. But do not be tempted to draw it and try and cut the corner. If you do the steep sloped hill on the left hand side will catch and eat your ball. A sand trap guards the front right of the green. The green is deep so hitting it won’t be a problem.

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Hole #17 – 398 yard Par 4 – Green 27 yards Deep by 31 yards wide – A cart path only hole.
This hole has the golfer start from a slightly elevated tee hitting to a more elevated landing area with a valley between the two. The danger on this hole is your second shot. The green is more elevated than the landing area in the fairway. If your second shot comes up short, you’ll watch your ball roll back down the fairway past where you hit it and wind up at the bottom of the valley. Moral of the story better to be right on or long on your approach. A green side trap guards the front right.

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Hole #18 – 510 yard Par 5 - Green 39 yards Deep by 28 yards wide
Tight tee shot here, use the silo again as your target. Trees guard the fairway entrance left and right. The duffer will find a deep valley/creek about 100 yards off the tee. The natural shape shot for the hole is a draw. But do not start to far out to the right or you will clip the tree and drop into the valley. Your better off pounding it out straight or pulling it slightly. The issue with this tee shot is that if the tees are back, then just reaching the fairway can be a real challenge. There is a actually a double fairway on this hole which is separated by a mound of rough. All it really does is provide extra bail out room to the left on your second shot if you’re laying up. With a good drive this is reachable in two. But if its winding, then the wind will tend t be in your face the whole time.

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Ariel View

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