Review: Whitetail Golf Resort (Part 2)

It's time to see for the back nine at Whitetail, go here if you haven't seen the front.

The tenth hole, for my money, is the toughest hole at Whitetail. At least, it's the hole I've always had the most trouble with. Time for a bit of a story. As someone who typically shoots in the 80s, I'm supposedly a pretty decent golfer, but man, I am probably the worst decent golfer out there. I've hit so many bad shots that I very rarely feel embarrassed when I do something particularly egregious. They've happened before, and they've happened again. But this hole ... I have very bad memories. The first tournament I played here, I was maybe 14, and I had to start on this hole. I could see right away how narrow the hole was, and that I'd have a terrible time getting the ball in play. To make matters worse, there were 30 or 40 people standing around, watching each group tee off. I was paired with kids who were older and way better than me, and who I really didn't know. I got up on the tee, did my routine, stepped up to the ball, swung, and ... topped it into the brush in front of the tee. In front of a crowd, no less. Needless to say, I made an 8, and I shot a 54 on the back nine. I redeemed myself a bit on the front by shooting a 39, but still, standing on the tee back in 2019, I couldn't help thinking about that really fun and not at all humiliating incident.

The tenth hole. Boy, even the pictures fill me with dread.

Anyway, the tenth hole. It's the longest par 4 on the course at 424 yards from the blue tees (and 450 from the back), though mercifully the tees were up when I played and I was able to get away with a clunky 4 iron bunted out about 200 yards. There's long grass right and bunkers (plus more brush) left, and not a lot of fairway in between. The second shot is a bit easier, with only one greenside bunker left, but if you miss right, you'll probably end up in a collection area mowed as fairway, which leaves a tricky chip off of short grass. If you can make par here, you've done well.

Approaching the tenth green.

The tenth green.

The eleventh hole is not my least favorite hole at Whitetail because the previous hole exists, but it comes closer than it should. It's only 360 yards from the blue tees, but it's a 360 yard tightrope walk. To the left only a few yards from the fairway is a woodcock migration area, which is clearly unplayable. To the right is a steep dropoff into, you guessed it, more unplayable native area. Oh and there's a few fairway bunkers as well. Use the driver at your own peril; I certainly would never use anything more than a long iron. There's slightly more space to breathe on the second shot, but still, this is a very claustrophobic hole.

The exceedingly narrow eleventh hole.

If you can your tee shot here, you've done well.

The eleventh green.

After an exceedingly long journey from the eleventh green, the twelfth hole is the start of a five-hole stretch that is, for all intents and purposes, on the side of a mountain. And yes, it is about as disjointed as it sounds. But anyway, we start off this wooded stretch with a downhill par 3 protected by a single bunker short and left and many slopes. Clearly, missing long or left is bad, and shots hit right will occasionally bounce down into more favorable positions. Not a good hole, but nothing terrible.

The twelfth hole.

The thirteenth hole is yet another hole I have less than fond memories of. I'm pretty sure I always ended up pushing my drive way right, having to pitch back out, and ending up with a double bogey or something. Perhaps unsurprisingly considering the abrupt nature of the terrain, a lay-up is called for off the tee on this mid-length par 4. A 3 wood should be safe enough, but a long iron would be safer. The fairway is pretty wide, but clearly left is bad, and right isn't much better. You'll almost certainly have to pitch out sideways because of the encroaching trees. The second shot is over a big valley with brush at the bottom, and while I suppose it's technically possible to hit from down there (the brush isn't too thick), you'd be going basically 50 feet straight uphill. Don't leave your second shot short is the best advice I can give you. Funny enough, after all the trouble this hole's given me in the past, I made a very casual birdie during this round. Any hole is easy when you hit a good drive and then stick a wedge to 8 feet.

The thirteenth hole.

Don't miss the thirteenth green short.

The thirteenth green is at least in a nice spot.

The fourteenth hole is your classic do-or-die short par 3. The green is fairly generous, if rather undulating, but there's basically no bailout. Short, dead. Right, dead. Long, dead. Left, there's a chance of finding your golf ball among the roots of the forest, but you won't have much of a shot, so basically dead. It's not an island green, but it's basically an island green, so play it accordingly.

The fourteenth hole is short but there's nowhere to hide.

The fourteenth green.

The fifteenth hole has quite a few things going on. The playing corridor on the 500 yard par 5 is extremely wide, but the fairway manages to be a less-than-inviting target thanks to a pair of true fairway bunkers sitting right in the line of play. You can go left of them, turning the hole into a likely three-shot affair, or play aggressively over them, giving you a good shot at going for the green in two. Oh, except there's a ravine cutting the fairway off so you probably won't want to use a driver. Like I said, many things going on here. But wait, there's more, because once you clear the ravine, there's a tree sitting in the middle of the fairway as well. It's not quite in the way unless you've gone right, but it's close enough to be concerning. Especially seeing as the green is best approached with a draw around the bunker front left. I don't think this is a bad hole, it's just very busy, and some streamlining would benefit it a lot.

The fifteenth hole.

Approaching the fifteenth green.

The fifteenth green.

The sixteenth hole is a straightaway mid-length par 4, and unsurprisingly, a driver is really not the best play. The fairway cuts off about 100 yards from the green, so shorter hitters could get away with it, but this is a very claustrophobic tee shot. I don't even think it's the narrowest playing corridor on the course, but because of the trees, it feels incredibly narrow. One of my brothers made an 11 here during a tournament, so clearly, this is a hole to play cautiously. Assuming you lay up with a long iron or fairway wood, you'll be left with a short iron down the hill to a small green that does actually slope away from the line of play. This is the last hole in the forest; like I said earlier, this stretch feels very disjointed, but it's not the worst five holes in the world.

The blind tee shot on the sixteenth.

Approaching the sixteenth green.

Looking back down the sixteenth hole.

The seventeenth hole is the last par 5 at Whitetail, and finally, for the first time on the back nine, you can comfortably use a driver off of the tee. There is jungle left, but it's not particularly close to the fairway, and right is fairly wide open, save for some bunkers. Just don't be surprised when your driver is a bit lackluster because you haven't used it in a while. If you hit a good drive, the green is reachable in two, if not, there's a pond that splits the fairway about 150 yards from the green. It shouldn't be a problem to clear it unless you've done something truly catastrophic, but it is something to think about. The approach, either on the second or third, will be uphill; if you're going for it, a bunker about 30 yards short will definitely be a concern for run-up shots. The green is long and narrow, and again, missing left is not a great idea.

The seventeenth hole.

From the fairway (well, right of it anyway).

Oh yeah, there's a pond splitting the seventeenth in two.

The seventeenth green.

Interestingly, Whitetail both starts and ends with mellow mid-length par 4s lacking in forced carries. That makes two holes in a row where you can use a driver! If you hit a good drive, all you should have into the green is a wedge, but the green is small and protected by a pair of bunkers. Even so, this is a pretty easy hole and it's entirely possible to finish your round with two birdies in a row.

The eighteenth hole. Finally, no forced carries!

The semiblind approach to the final green.

The eighteenth green.

As it does with so many other things, time has somewhat tempered my opinion of Whitetail. Don't get me wrong, it's certainly not my favorite course in the world, far from it. But it's not nearly as difficult as I once thought it was. Actually, with a few exceptions, the course isn't that tough, so long as you're, say, breaking 90 on a regular basis. A forced carry of 50-100 yards isn't an issue for someone like that, and in most cases, the playing corridor for each hole is pretty wide.

Those forced carries are a much greater issue if you're not such a good golfer. I can't imagine someone who struggles to break 100 having a very fun time here. And while better golfers won't get tripped up by the endless hazards crossing the fairways, it does make for a very stilted and dull round when you're forced to lay up again and again and again. Seriously, I think I was only comfortable hitting driver on 5 of the 14 non-par 3s, and on one of those (the fourth hole), I chose to hit a 3 wood. Whitetail rarely gives you the opportunity to be aggressive, and that makes all the trouble it does possess mildly useless. It doesn't punish good players nearly as much as it does bad players, and that's just not good design.

Another negative for Whitetail: It's decidedly not walker-friendly. Oh, you could theoretically walk, and back in the junior tournament days we did walk it, but there were carts to shuttle us along on the longer trips between greens and tees. In reality, no one paying to play would walk. It's hilly, there are big gaps between greens and tees, and there's very little shade on the two-thirds of the golf course that isn't up on the mountainside. The price isn't terrible, but it's nothing to brag about either. All in all, it's not a golf course I'd jump up and down to return to, and I think I'd be just fine never playing there again.