For the second weekend in a row, I was able to find a break just long enough to carve out a round of golf at The Golf Club At Echo Falls. Echo Falls is a par 70 layout that measures between 4342 yards and 5952 yards depending on the tee boxes you choose. The course is most known for the “island green” concept that is the 18th green in the photo above. There is also the 90 degree, downhill, par 5, 15th hole that offers an interesting take on a shorter par 5 layout. The back side doesn’t get much easier on the 16th, which features a tight tee shot to a dogleg right hole location. Really, the distance at Echo Falls isn’t something that would be a challenge for many golfers, what is a challenge, is the terrain. Echo Falls is loaded with uphill, downhill and side hill lies. Just missing a fairway by a few yards can take a hole from simple to darn near impossible. For longer hitters, it may be best to leave that big stick in the bag, but for target golfers, the smaller greens will definitely provide a serious challenge.
With the ultra-wet conditions that Echo Falls was suffering from , I opted to play the white tee boxes again this weekend. The 330 yard, par 4, plays very straight off the tee, with a slope from the right rough down to the cart path on the left. It doesn’t play particularly hard, but a poorly placed tee shot will make the hole play much more difficult than it has to. I started off the hole with my 2 hybrid (17 degree, Wilson Staff F5) which plopped down in the center of the fairway about 205 yards away. A solid gap wedge (51 degree, Wilson Staff PMP wedge) from 125 out landed on the green leaving a 35 foot putt for birdie. The first putt came up just short and a tap in par had my round under way with a great start. The 298 yard, par 4 second hole plays uphill from the tee box. With over 50 feet of elevation change in such a short area, being slightly off center is a huge penalty on this hole. I opted again for the 2 hybrid off the tee, but pulled it a bit left, leaving a pretty brutal side hill lie. With the slope of the hill to contend with, I pulled my 9 iron (43 degrees, Wilson Staff FG 100) from my bag to play a draw into the green. Unfortunately, off the side hill, the ball went further left than anticipated and ended up long and left of the green. A decent lob wedge (60 degree, Wilson Staff PMP wedge) left me a makeable par putt, but I left it about 6” short of the hole and tapped in for a bogey. The 258 yard, par 4, third was up next. With the new tee box location, I am sure that this hole is playing closer to 245, but either way, it is a solid 2 hybrid over the water to the safe area in front of the green on this hole, so that is what I hit. The last time I played here, I hit a shot that fell just short of the right greenside bunker, today’s was even better. With the pin playing up, my tee shot found a dry patch and took one tiny hop before slowing down. It came to rest about 18” from the flag stick and left me a tap in eagle putt. That eagle got me back to 1 under par after three holes and the round was starting to look really good.
The downhill, par 4, fourth hole was up next. The 429 yard hole is more like most of the par 4’s that I play, which is exactly the way I try and play this one. It drops off about 60 feet from the tee to the green, but shot placement is far more important than distance on this hole. I pulled the big stick (9.5 degree, Wilson Staff F5) for the first time today since the hole favors a fade over a draw, but I still ended up slightly left of my target. The 265 yard shot was held up by the mud and longer grass on the left hand side of the hole, which left me about 180 yards into the green. I was feeling very solid about my ball striking at this point, so I went with a strong 7 iron (35 degree, Wilson Staff FG 100) down the hill to the small green. The shot was almost perfect, but missed the narrow green to the right. It just didn’t have enough draw on it to find its way back to the flag, An easy lob wedge left an easy two putt par. I moved on to the par 3, fifth hole that was playing a solid 160 to the center, and probably 155 to the flag. My Golf Pad GPS was showing me that it was 152 to the front edge, but the 5th green has a very interesting feature in that it is a two tiered green with a giant slope separating them. I kept my tee shot on the lower tier this time, unlike the last round I played, and managed to make a two putt par without any incident this time. Which moved me on to the long, par 5, sixth hole at one under par. The 6th hole is a long, 501 yard hole that drops well over 100 feet from tee to green. My drive found the right side of the fairway, but was hit a bit thin, so it barely carried the hill and it didn’t have enough power to really get going down the hill. After the 250 yard drive, I hit a slightly toey 4 hybrid (23 degree, Wilson Staff F5) about 175 yards down the hill and left 65 yards to the pin. A light lob wedge checked on the soft green and left me a 30 foot putt. My first putt rolled towards the hole and looked a touch right, and it stayed out to the right, missing by about a foot. Fortunately, the speed of the putt was spot on, which left me only a 12” tap in for par. After three straight pars, I was still clinging to my one under par score.
Another par 3 is on tap for the seventh hole. The hole measures 166 yards on the card, but the way I was striking the ball, I figured that a 9 iron was the way to go. The tee boxes were also up a bit, which made me think a 150 yard shot was more called for rather than the longer 160 yard plus shot that the card was calling for. I struck the shot decently, but just missed the center of the face, leaving it shorter than I wanted, but still hitting the front part of the green. A quick two putt par and I was off for the par 4, eighth. The 333 yard 8th hole has given me more problems than any other hole on the course. There is just something about the small, narrow green and the strange layout of the hole that just doesn’t work well for my game, but even still, I’ve escaped with a few pars over my rounds here. I started off with a 2 hybrid up the hill to about 105 yards out. I pulled a solid sand wedge (56 degree, Wilson Staff PMP wedge) which ended up just left of the green. A poor lob from there left me 30 feet to the flag, which 2 putts took care of, but the damage was done and I carded my second bogey of the front side. Moving on to the par 4, 361 yard, front nine closer, I was feeling the pressure to make my par to finish the front nine even. The 9th plays very straight forward, with just a bit of a bend to the left and a pretty easy green to hit – unless you play too far left off the tee – which is exactly what I did. My 220 yard, 2 hybrid found the left side of the fairway, but left a nearly impossible shot to the green. A 130 yard gap wedge found the green on my next shot, and a smooth two putt helped me finish the front with an even par 36.
The 104 yard, par 3, tenth was first up on the back nine. A smooth sand wedge found the center of the green. My first putt from 20 feet just missed the hole to the right, but left an easy tap in par to open up the inward nine. The 366 yard, par 4, eleventh came up next on the card. The shape of the 11th once again lent itself to the driver off the tee rather than the drawing action of the hybrid. I hit driver off the tee and it held its line nicely down the left hand side of the fairway. It didn’t come around to the right like I had hoped, but it was playable and that was all that was needed. I had about 85 yards to the flag and felt comfortable hitting a solid lob wedge at it, but somehow carried it a good 5 yards farther than that. Still, a green was a green and it was another shot that found the dance floor. The 20 foot putt was a touch long back to the hole, but no so far that the 2 foot comeback wasn’t makeable. Another hole down and another par on the card. After climbing the incredible hill up to the 12th, a nice 489 yard par 4, I hit a solid drive 290 down the right side of the fairway. It drifted off to the right and ended in a hole in the right rough, but no real issues to get it out and towards the green. About the time I had made it back to the cart to get the proper club, I single came up on me from behind and wanted to play through, so I let him, delaying my shot about 5 minutes. Finally, after he cleared the green, I hit a solid pitching wedge to the right edge of the green. When I arrived, I saw something that blew my mind – and not in a good way. The grounds crew had placed the flag in the middle of the slope on the green, which meant praying that the ball gets close enough on the first effort that you can tap in the second. I thought I had hit it well enough, but the break took the ball down the hill and left me 10 feet for birdie. My putt back up the hill finished up just short of the hole, but was a tap in for par, keeping me even after 12.
As I continued around the back nine, the 177 yard, par 3, 13th was up next. With the pin back, I played a 6 iron (31 degree, Wilson FG 100) that travelled 182 off the tee. It found the green, but I was stuck on the lower tier with the pin being on the back right corner. The angle of attack that I left myself had me putting through the fringe. I struck the putt well, but ended up with a three putt bogey on the difficult par 3. I was happy to escape with that score and make my way to the 14th hole, which was a much more manageable par 3. The 14th was playing a solid 130 yards to the flagstick, which was at one of the easier available positions for this green. Slightly forward and left, the shot set up perfectly for my gap wedge. It was a well struck shot that found the front left of the green, coming to rest about 18 feet from the flag. My birdie putt rolled just past the hole but left me a tester for par coming back. The 4 footer found the left edge of the hole and dropped in, avoiding a second bogey in a row. That brought me around to the deadly – dogleg left – 90 degree – downhill – 465 yard, par 5, 15th. This hole should play very easily for most people, but for some reason, the hole doesn’t suit me well. Played a great 2 hybrid off the tee, landing 220 yards out in the fairway. My 4 hybrid found the front edge of the green from 210 yards out, leaving me a 45 foot putt for an eagle. My putt looked solid the whole way in, but then came up slightly short of the cup. A tap in birdie got me back to even par.
To close out the round, the final three holes make up one of the toughest 1-2-3 finishing holes around. The 348 yard, 16th, has a very tight drive with only a bail out to the left. It’s a hole that almost demands a fade off the tee, but not too much of one or you will end up on a side hill to a very tough green. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what I ended up doing with my tee shot, heading right and ending up on that side hill lie. A 230 yard 2 hybrid left me a medium sand wedge into the green. It did find the green, but it was far short of the green, leaving me about 80 feet from the flag. I managed to run the first putt up to the cup and stop it within 2 feet of the hole. My first reaction was that I couldn’t believe that it didn’t break to the hole, but then the reality set in of how good that shot was from 80 feet away. I tapped in the two foot par putt and moved on to the beast. The 17th hole plays just over 400 yards, or according to the card, 416. I opted to go with the 2 hybrid again off the tee due to the fact that the right side of the hole is littered with water, like the entire length of the fairway sort of water. I played a good shot that landed safely to the left of fairway, leaving me about 160 to the flag. I played a solid 8 iron towards the flag and just missed the center of the clubface. The ball checked up on the green leaving me about 50 feet to the hole. Another great first putt left me almost no chance of not taking home a par, and my putter didn’t fail me as it rolled in the 3 footer for another par. I moved to 18, still even for the day. The island green, 18th was playing a solid 142, or a perfect 9 iron (43 degree, Wilson Staff FG 100) to the stick. I played a great tee shot that drew in nicely on the flag, but came up short of the stick by about 25 feet. My birdie putt once again ran up to the hole, but broke below the hole and left me a tap in par putt. You can check out my 18th green escapades on my Periscope Video – which for the record doesn’t appear to have sound on playback for some reason??? – by clicking here. I’ll do more of these in the future, so make sure to stay tuned and watch for what video platform I end up using for future live feeds.
Overall, the round was a great one, especially for a November round in less than ideal conditions. An even par 70 makes my last two round a 69 and 70. That is on a 67.1 rated course, so it’s nice to see I haven’t lost any handicap points over the summer that I didn’t play. I think Echo Falls sets up much better for my game than Riverbend does, but I will be venturing back to Kent soon for a round with my new found best friends, my hybrids. I would love to see what happens when I’m not struggling to find fairways there.
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