Playing Tips

Hole 1 Par 4 Handicap 3
This green can be very tricky to putt. Placing your tee shot in the fairway is critical in order to avoid a difficult up and down for par. Hit a club off the tee that will give you 100 yards into the green and you’re in good position to have a birdie putt.

Hole 2 Par 4 Handicap 5
The ideal tee shot for this hole is about 125-150 yards out into the fairway. Get too close to the green with your drive and you’ll be left with an awkward, difficult pitch shot to a green that produces a lot of three putts. Avoid going after pin placements on the right side unless you’re a good ball striker. Miss it long or short on a right pin placement and you quickly bring into play a double bogey.

Hole 3 Par 5 Handicap 3
The second shot is critical at this hole. A lot of bogeys, double-bogeys, and worse have been made here after hitting a good tee shot. Favor the left rough on your second shot, as there is plenty of room. The pond on the right is closer to the fairway than it looks!

Hole 4 Par 3 Handicap 15
Not a tricky tee shot, just a nasty green. Stay below the hole and you’re fine. Get above the hole, and your day may start to get long. If you’re going to miss the green, miss it right. Balls missing the green left carom away from the green making bogey or worse very likely.

Hole 5 Par 4 Handicap 7
This is a pretty straightforward hole. This is a driver off the tee for most golfers. Big hitters can cut the corner, and can also make a high number if they miss to the right. Be careful not to go too far left, as balls landing left of the fairway tend to roll out quite a ways and bring the out of bounds quickly into play.

Hole 6 Par 4 Handicap 11
This hole plays longer than it looks, particularly into a prevailing south wind. Making matters worst is a dramatic –some say traumatic — two-tiered green. Keep your approach on the same tier as the flagstick, unless you’re fond of three-putts (or worse!). Big hitters beware of the trees right.

Hole 7 Par 5 Handicap 9
Favor the right side on the drive, given the out of bounds on the left. Even if your drive finds the trees on the right, you can still punch out to a manageable distance from the green. Avoid missing left on your approach. The severe slope will kick the ball hard towards a nearby out of bounds. Stay below the hole on your approach.

Hole 8 Par 3 Handicap 17
This hole plays longer than it appears, and a miss short is much better than one over the green. Be careful of a prevailing south wind pushing the tee shot across the cart path left of the green. This is one of the most benign putting greens on the course.

Hole 9 Par 4 Handicap 1
There’s no good way to play this very difficult hole. Play to the corner, and you may have a 200+ yard approach to a massive, three-tiered, three-putt producing green, with water hugging the left side of the green. Try to bomb a drive over the pond on the left, and you have to hit it very far and very straight on your next shot. Hit it too far, however, and the waiting fairway slopes away from you, ensuring a lot of balls make it into the water on the far side of the fairway. There is nothing shameful about a bogey on this hole!

Hole 10 Par 5 Handicap 12
This can be a good birdie opportunity. Keep the ball to the right on your approach. Due to the deceptive & tricky putting surface, up and down from the left side is very difficult. Avoid, at all costs getting above the hole, or worse, behind the green. Countless shots played from those positions roll right of the front of the green.

Hole 11 Par 4 Handicap 8
This may be the most underrated hole on the course. If the wind blows from the west or northwest, this hole becomes a real bear. Stay away from pin placements on the right side. Even the best ball strikers tend to play left of the pin, as double-bogey can easily come into play for shots long and right.

Hole 12 Par 4 Handicap 10
Like a lot of holes at Fox Run Golf Course, the green defines how you play this hole. A severe back-to-front slope makes approaches and putts very difficult. Chipping from short of the green is far better than trying to get up and down from over the green. Be sure to favor the right side off the tee.

Hole 13 par 3 Handicap 16
Don’t let the handicap of 16 fool you! This hole plays longer than it looks with a prevailing wind pushing the ball towards the out of bounds left. Balls that do land left of the green tend to kick hard towards the out of bounds.

Hole 14 Par 5 Handicap 2
This hole can easily play over 600 yards from the back tees when the prevailing south wind is up. There’s room to miss the tee shot to the right. Get too far right, however, and you’ll find yourself in shaggy fescue with an uphill, blind second shot. The out of bounds left looms closer than it looks as the ground there tends to play hard and fast. Stay below the hole on your approach.

Hole 15 Par 4 Handicap 4
A monster par 4 from the Gold tees – 470 yards and uphill! Far more manageable from the more forward tees, this hole still plays long all the way to the green. Favor the left side off the tee. The front half of this green is fairly benign; the back half, not so much.

Hole 16 Par 4 Handicap 14
This is a classic, reachable par 4. Out of bounds falls closely on the right and pinches in tee shots near the green. Even if your tee shot avoids that heartbreak, most pin placements on this green are simply sinister, particularly when the greens are rolling fast (which our superintendent prefers!). Laying up to a favorite distance confirms the old adage that “it’s better to avoid a dangerous situation than to confront it”.

Hole 17 Par 3 Handicap 18
Classic and straightforward best describes this par 3. A good tee shot is rewarded, but don’t get fooled into going after pins tucked near the bunker’s left. Most of the green surface is also manageable.

Hole 18 Par 4 Handicap 6
This is a great finishing hole, particularly for tournaments. The water isn’t the only treachery you have to consider off the tee. Like many greens at Fox Run, this one can be difficult to hit and even more difficult to putt, so where you hit your tee shot is critical. Take heart, the 19th hole lies directly behind the green – a perfect place to the recall the good, the bad, and the ugly shots of the day.