OVGA Amateur Golf Tour

This week, the OVGA is just north of Dayton in Clayton, OH for the third major of the year, the Dayton Open, being contested at Moss Creek Golf Course. Moss Creek was a new venue for the tour last year and got rave reviews. The course has everything from a driveable par 4 to a par 5 with a double fairway. The latter is this week’s Hole Of The Week. The 5 HDCP 18th hole plays 574 yards from the white tees and 460 yards from the green tees. The tee shot must clear a creek to reach the fairway and also avoid out of bounds on the right and high grass on the left. Once the creek is navigated, the player has a choice to make. The fairway splits in two around a creek surrounded by high grass. The left fairway is narrow but affords the most straightforward shot into the green. The right fairway is easier to hit, especially for shorter hitters. The choice may be complicated by the presence of a tree at the beginning of the fairway split. According to the course, tee shots in the right or center may require too much carry to reach the left fairway, so the right fairway will probably get more use. The right fairway provides it’s own challenges. The sloping, kidney-shaped green is long and open from the left fairway, but shallow and more elevated coming from the lower right fairway. Also, a layup shot that goes too far down the right may prevent the player from having a clean approach shot, as the trees behind or right of the green also come into play. There is also a bunker that is right of the green if playing from the left fairway, but it becomes a front-side bunker when playing from the right fairway. The course recommends laying up to the 150 mark. I predict this hole will prove the difference in two of the three flights.

Last Year’s Average Score: 6.60
Eagle/Nicklaus Flight    5.73
Birdie/Palmer Flight   6.47
Par/Hogan Flight      7.58