Shadowlands
was the follow up design to Royal County
Kilderry and was released in December
2002, becoming the first course to have a
3 hole pre-release demo, relatively early
in the days of pay to play courses.
Shadowlands is a blend of woodland trees
and scrub, feeling closest in style to an
Australian location such as Royal
Melbourne, and with a dryer look to the
grass textures. You can almost feel the
sun beating down as you play here. At the
time of its release it was considered a
fantastic all rounder in design terms,
and featuring the first texture blending
around the tee areas to give a worn
effect. Unlike some earlier releases, it
is not a course that tries to overpower
you with features and ideas, it is
natural looking with some nice colours
here and there. It does however have a
standout feature, a large lake complex
which you will negociate from the 9th to
14th holes and like Augusta, your
performance around the turn can make or
break your round every time.
Four
Favourite Holes
Hole 9
- This is the first sight of the large
lake which borders the left side of this
hole and effects both your tee shot and
approach. If you dont hit the fairway
then your second shot will be really
nasty. To make things tougher if you want
to play safe and short off the tee then
the right hand side of the driving area
is protected by bunkers. However at 440
yards an attacking tee shot into the
tighter gap can set up a relatively
straightforward approach and a birdie
chance. There is some lovely planting at
the tee area too.
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Shadowlands
(9th hole)
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Hole 10
- You play this par 3 back over the lake
to what is close to an island green in
style. Water protects the front and right
side, and a pin position on this side
will be tempting fate for sure. Bunkers
are found left and long so this forms the
bail out area, but then you wont enjoy
playing back towards the water either to
save par. At 150 yards, this hole
definately has its roots in the 17th at
Sawgrass. There is also a ridge running
across this green splitting the left hand
side.
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Shadowlands
(10th hole)
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Hole 11
- This hole runs back down the side of
the lake with water to your left and is a
450 yard par 4. Tee off over the water to
find the fairway will leave a view over
the reeds and lake edge scrub to a raised
green. This will make distance control a
tad more difficult, and anything short
will stop pretty quickly. There is a nice
treeline behind this hole and 2 tall
standing pillars each side make a nice
frame effect.
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Shadowlands
(11th hole)
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Hole 13
- This 540 yard par 5 plays back towards
the lake which surrounds the back of the
green. A creek also cuts across the
fairway which means your drive will need
to be laid up, forcing you to take a long
approach if you want to make the green in
two shots. There is a superbly planted
scrub area down the left side of this
hole, and with the water backing this
green you need to make sure you get your
distances right.
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Shadowlands
(13th hole)
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Shadowlands still
remains a natural beauty with unsung
charm, and is one that has not really
aged too much against the newest releases
and design techniques. Built around the
central lake complex this course can
almost feel a little ordinary compared to
Mike's previous and more dramatic
designs, that is until you hit the 9th
hole when the test and drama really
begins. This is a lovely course to play,
has some of the best planting effects
ever seen to create the dry waste areas.
Play a round there and you will find that
your heart will always beat a little
faster when you hit the 9th tee.
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