OVGA Amateur Golf Tour

This week the OVGA is at a new venue, Sebastian Hills Golf Club in Jamestown, just outside of Xenia. The course has everything from rolling hills to tree-lined fairways to wide open windy holes (in the spring and fall anyway) to carries over water and ravines. It has 5 par threes, two of which are over 200 yards from the tips. It also has 5 par fives, including 3 of the final 4 holes on the course. This week’s Hole Of The Week is the Par 5 18th hole. This 1 HDCP hole plays 515 from the blue tees and 495 from the white tees. It also employs something rarely encountered: a blind layup shot and an optical illusion. The hole doglegs left at the 200 yard mark, where the fairway seems to disappear. It actually slopes down about 20 feet before emcountering a creek, then rising again to the green. Tee shots finding the right or middle of the fairway are straightforward, but shots to the right will have to hit into an opening framed by trees, and here’s the illusion: If you hit at the opening, you may be hitting into the woods. I recommend players drive up and look at the lower fairway. You will notice that it widens on the left. Players on the left of the upper fairway need to play close to the left tree line. Below are some distances to make note of:

First fairway bunker  –  280 yards in
Second fairway bunker  –  230 yards in
End of upper fairway  –  200 yards in
Creek  –  110 yards in