Review: Quail Valley Golf Club (Part 2)

It's time to check out the back nine at Quail Valley, go here to see the front.

The tenth hole is a fairly short par 4, playing 355 yards. The hole doglegs nearly 90 degrees right about 225-250 yards out, with O.B. out beyond, so you'll either want to lay back or cut off a significant amount of the dogleg. I imagine long hitters could actually get quite close to the green if you're confident enough to hit at a blind target. For most, a fairway wood or long iron will leave a wedge into the green, which is protected by a bunker front right. 

The tenth hole.

The tenth green.

The eleventh hole is quite literally routed through a farm. There's corn on the right side, some other crop on the other (I'm not a farmer, so I don't know what it is), and a long par 4 heading through. Beyond the need to keep it out of the farm on either side, there's no trouble on the drive, and the fairway is reasonably wide. A good drive will leave a mid iron or so into a bunkerless, fairly large, reasonably undulating green.

The eleventh hole.

Approaching the eleventh green.

The eleventh green.

The twelfth hole is a mid-length par 4 playing uphill to a wide-open fairway. No reason not to hit driver on this one. A good drive will leave a wedge or short iron up to the green, which is fairly undulating and flanked by bunkers.

The twelfth hole.

Approaching the twelfth green.

The twelfth green.

The thirteenth hole is, most unfortunately, a par 3 with an island green. And if you play from all the way back, a very tough one too, since the hole can stretch as long as 180 yards. The tees were up for my round, and I wasn't playing the back tees anyway. Even still, the green is fairly narrow, so there's not a lot of room to miss, and shots that miss the green at all will hit a sideslope and bounce down into the water. Just aim for the center of the green on this one and hope for the best.

The thirteenth hole.

The fourteenth hole is a straightaway mid-length par 4, playing to a deceptively open fairway. Right is fine, and you have to miss pretty far left to lose a drive. A solid driver will leave a wedge or short iron into the green, which has a bunker right and is sloped fairly significantly from back to front.

The fourteenth hole.

The fourteenth green.

The fifteenth hole is the longest hole at Quail Valley, and in this case that really means something. This hole can stretch all the way to 625 yards, which is quite a lot. It's not very exciting for the first 500 yards either; there's noting on the drive save a large tree about 150 yards out that can catch pulled or hooked drives. However, the same creek that crosses the fourth returns here, acting in a similar fashion, splitting the fairway about 100 yards from the green and forcing the golfer to either risk carrying it or staying short and leaving a slightly longer third than one might like. The green is wide and shallow, with a single bunker behind.

The fifteenth hole.

Approaching the fifteenth green.

The fifteenth green.

The sixteenth hole is 430 yards, and the drive is simple. However, it is advantageous to favor the left side of the fairway. Doing so will leave a superior angle, since the green is not particularly large or deep, and three small bunkers protect the right side.

The sixteenth hole.

Approaching the sixteenth green.

The sixteenth green.

The seventeenth hole is the shortest hole at Quail Valley, playing 160 yards over a pond. The green is on the larger side and two tiered, with bunkers on either side. The front hole location is tricky here, since you don't want to go over and leave a tricky putt or chip down the tier, but obviously you don't want to be short either.

The seventeenth hole.

The seventeenth green.

The eighteenth hole is 40 yards shorter than the fifteenth, but at 585 yards it's still pretty long. The drive is pretty wide open, but things get trickier on the second. You have a choice to make: Either stay left of a pond right that splits the main portion of the fairway from the green, leaving a long third, or attempt to carry the water, leaving a short and simple pitch into the green. The green itself is elevated and slopes from back to front; while there is a bunker right, the main issue is a massive grassy hollow left. Getting up and down from there is likely near impossible. 

The eighteenth hole.

Approaching the eighteenth green.

The eighteenth green.

It's a shame Quail Valley waited until the very end to throw an interesting green complex at the golfer. More greens like the eighteenth would make this course worth a second visit. But alas, it is just the one, and nothing else here is memorable in any way. It's an easy and inexpensive course, and while there's nothing wrong with that, I don't feel any need to play here again. This is about as generic as golf courses get.