The Peek’n Peak Resort welcomes the Web.Com Tour to the southern Tier of New York State for the Lecom Health Challenge. The back nine opens with three realistic opportunities for birdie or eagle. Perhaps the reasoning is, the outward was once the inward. When the Upper Course (the Lower Course no longer exists) was opened, the nines were reversed. Embracing a commitment to the gentle handshake, PKNPKUC opened with 3 gracious holes. Driver not required on now-10 and now-12, and good enough to get you within shouting distance of eagle on now-11. For the professionals, an opening nine may be enhanced, or at the very least, commuted, by a savage start to the second half. Let’s have a look at those holes.

Hole 10

The former first is an example of the looks-hard-plays-fair variety. The fairway moves gently left, but is shouldered by trees of height and depth. Secret? Don’t hit driver. Bunt a fairway metal into the fairway, and you’ll have no more than hybrid into the green. You say that there’s a wetland between you and the green? Lay up and do your work with the wedge to save par. So many golfers with the all or nothing strategy; take what the course gives you and make a score. As for the pros on the Web.Com tour … well, they will do the same thing, except they will stick in close for birdie, and move on.

Hole 11

The eleventh rides a ridge, gently ascending to a long, narrow green. The hole offers little in the way of resistance to the accomplished golfer, as long as the tee ball and approach are driven straight. Left are an avenue of bunkers, while right offers a slope down to trees and hazard. Simple and straightforward, with no secrets beyond proper golf, the 11th will encourage contestants to take a run at eagle. 

Hole 12

The hole that visitors acknowledge when discussing the course, 12 is that drop shot out of the sky par four, the one whose visage brings the heart to a faster beat, the one that quickens the pulse. You CAN hit this shot because you HAVE hit this shot before. WILL you do it when the chips are on the line? Let’s find out. An eminently driveable par four, 12 leans ever so slightly left, but the green and its protective front bunker are there in front of you. Give it a rip. Lord knows that the Web.Com guys will. They will take front bunker any day; they get those shots up and in for birdie, and hole them for eagle with greater frequency than you might suspect.