Hole by hole course guide
- Fairway
- Sand
- Water
- Play line
- Drive 255 yds
- Layup 165 yds
- Approach 150 yds
| Tee | Yardage | Rating/Slope |
|---|---|---|
| 570 | 73.0 / 144 | |
| 556 | 71.3 / 138 | |
| 521 | 69.2 / 134 | |
| 470 | 66.0 / 127 | |
| 466 | 65.6 / 126 |
Select a tee to redraw the diagram.
- Par
- 5
- Handicap
- 5
- Green depth
- 41 yds
Favor the right side of the fairway to steer clear of the water and the fairway bunker down the left.
It is a three shot par 5 for almost everyone. Give up nothing off the tee, then position the second for a comfortable approach into a green guarded by a deep bunker. At 41 yards it is also the deepest green on the course, so pin position changes the club in your hand more here than anywhere.
Before it became the opening hole, this stretch of land was dense, overgrown, and untouched.
Favor the left side of the fairway. That is the angle that opens the gap between the two greenside bunkers.
The green runs away from left to right and is protected on both flanks, so the approach is about angle far more than distance.
Longer hitters can get home in two from the left half of the fairway.
From the right side the bunkers pinch the entrance and the angle disappears. Take the left side or lay up and take your medicine.
Hole 2 was created by carving a path through tall trees, which is why the corridor feels so defined from the tee.
Carry your drive over the right side of the fairway bunker and you are rewarded with a short approach into a deep green.
The approach plays shorter than the number suggests. Shots tend to roll out down the slope, so take one less club than the yardage tells you.
Clearing this land revealed a naturally rolling landscape, and those elevation changes became the defining part of the hole's strategy.
Favor the right side. The card says so, and the center of the green is an excellent aiming point.
There is more room beyond the green than you can see from the tee, so a slightly long miss is far less costly than the large bunker down the left.
The tall elms and maples on either side were preserved rather than cleared, which is why this hole is at its best in fall.
Favor the right center of the landing area to set up the second shot, but do not push it.
Too far right and both the water hazard and the large greenside bunker come into play. This is the most scenic tee shot on the course, which is exactly why people forget to aim.
The hole opens with sweeping views of the surrounding Northwoods and plays downhill the whole way.
Lay back short of the fairway bunkers and leave a full wedge in.
Approach shots missed left leave an uphill recovery over a greenside bunker with almost no room beyond the green. A wedge from the fairway removes every one of those problems.
It is drivable for longer hitters, but two fairway bunkers and a greenside bunker on the left are all in the flight path.
The reward is an eagle putt. The penalty is short sided in sand, going uphill, with the green running away from you.
This hole makes the most of Golden Eagle's natural rolling terrain, which is what creates both the temptation and the trouble.
Aim at the center of the green and take the middle of the fairway off the tee. Nothing clever.
The fairway slopes from both sides toward the center, so a well struck drive gets help finding the ideal landing area. The uphill approach is protected by a large greenside bunker and a smaller one at the back right, into the shallowest green on the front nine.
This is the number one handicap hole from the back tees, and it earns the rating on the second shot rather than the first.
Check the wind before you hit. The card says it, and it is the whole hole.
There is ample room beyond the green and to the left, and the only bunker sits right. Miss the green at all, though, and you are left with a downhill recovery that is far harder than the tee shot you just hit.
A shorter hole designed to prove that strategy, not length, is what makes a hole memorable.
Accuracy and safety are the priorities. Water right, road and out of bounds left, and no prize for extra yards.
The water hazard is shared with the fifth. A well placed drive sets up an uphill approach into a green protected by a single bunker, and a par here feels like a birdie.
Aim out to the right of the corner, clear of the water and the fairway bunker, and accept a longer approach.
The green is guarded by a deep bunker on the left, so the extra distance is the price of a clean look at it. A five on the card here is not a disaster.
Take on the corner with a bold tee shot over both the water and the fairway bunker, and you are left with a short approach.
It is a true risk and reward tee shot. Mature trees frame the whole hole, so the line has to be committed to before you take the club back.
The flag will tempt you to attack. Be careful not to come up short.
Marsh runs down the left and woods sit beyond the green. The card marks the marsh as a protected area, so anything hit into it is gone, not searched for. Precision over aggression on this one.
Creating this hole meant cutting through dense overgrowth, letting the natural downhill slope, the bordering wetlands and the surrounding woods define the design.
Favor the right side of the fairway toward the two large pines. That is the angle into a shallow green.
At 18 yards front to back this is the shallowest green at Golden Eagle, with a fairway bunker right and a greenside bunker left. Approach shots that carry beyond it leave a very difficult recovery.
This par 4 winds through a narrow corridor framed by towering trees, capturing everything golfers come to the Northwoods for.
Check the wind before you pull a club. The breeze off the lake has a habit of pushing tee shots right.
A forced carry over protected wetlands to a green guarded left, right and back right. Aim a shade left of center and let the wind bring it back.
Designed to follow the natural contours of the landscape, which is why the wetland sits exactly where you would rather it did not.
The card is blunt about this one: the best layup is to the 150 pole.
Dense trees line the fairway and trouble runs the whole left side from tee to green. From 150 you have a full club in with nothing to think about. At 535 yards from the Gold tees this is the longest hole on the back nine.
Carry the right side of the fairway bunker off the tee and the green is reachable in two.
Carrying the hazard with the second shot brings both sides of it into play. This is one of the course's more demanding scoring challenges, and the aggressive line is where big numbers come from.
Keep it right of the first fairway bunker but short of the steep slope, then play a normal three shot hole.
Do not let the shorter yardage fool you. The two tier green means the approach still has to finish on the correct level, whichever route you take to get there.
The card's own advice: the best tee shot is just left of the bunker, or over its left side.
Anything pushed right finds a steep slope and a difficult stance. A well placed approach just over the right edge of the second fairway bunker feeds the ball onto the green.
Built around Golden Eagle's rolling terrain, which is what creates both the invitation and the slope that punishes you for accepting it.
Two bunkers protect nearly every pin position except the ones at the front center of the green.
The views may steal your attention. The challenge does not go anywhere. Play to the front center unless the flag is already there.
Club selection off the tee is critical. Too much brings the hazard into play, too little leaves a long approach.
Native vegetation acts as a natural hazard and demands a forced carry, then a confident approach into a 35 yard deep green protected by a bunker on the left. From the Green and Red tees this plays as a par 3.
The uphill approach plays longer than it looks. Take enough club, because short is the one place you cannot afford to be.
A deep greenside bunker and a steep, closely mown slope send anything short rolling back down the hill, into a green just 23 yards deep. A demanding tee shot with a forced carry and a fairway bunker right sets it all up.