No escape from anxious moment

At first glance, No. 11 at The Players Club at Foxfire doesn't appear overly threatening and par 3s rarely earn much respect in handicap ratings. But it is a mistake to let one's focus wander too much when taking on this pit bull of a hole, especially if hitting into a slight breeze.

Because No. 11 comes after two of The Players Club's most difficult par 4s, Oldgolfdawg made the mistake of assuming he could relax on the 165-yard hole from the middle tees when he first started playing the course on a regular basis. Over time, he gained a healthy respect for No. 11's ability to derail a decent round just when he thought things were going to get easier. For that reason, Oldgolfdawg is adding it to his Elegant Eighteen list.

A pond sits in front of No. 11's hourglass-shaped green and it gobbles up balls hit without conviction the way John Belushi inhaled jello in Animal House. Balls hit through the green often collect in one of two bunkers just off the backside of the putting surface or roll down off the crowned fringe, leaving a difficult second shot and the possibility of visiting the aforementioned pond with the comeback effort.

There's always an anxious moment while watching one's tee shot to the green because it's hard to be sure if you've dialed in the distance just right and there's little margin for error. If you figured right and hit a solid shot that settles on the green, your work isn't over. The green is severely sloped with balls running off the highest, narrowest part of the hourglass to lower elevations on the right or left, similar to a saddlebag on a horse's back but not quite as extreme.

When the pin is positioned on the right half of the green, the hole plays easier because the putting surface is a little deeper from front to back than on the left side. Also, one can bail right and avoid having to carry the pond and still manage par from just off the green with a good chip. If the pin is positioned on the left side, however, the degree of difficulty goes up a couple of more notches. The hole plays longer when one is going for the left side of the green and there isn't a lot of room to work with for low, boring shots.

The best way to play the hole is to hit a high shot that floats straight down like a spider dropping from the ceiling. But distance control is crucial. A miscalculation in that department can quickly lead to a bogey or worse, and a good deal of the time it seems like you're hitting into a shifting breeze.