No. 2 at True Blue defines what makes a great, short par 4
After conquering No. 1, the longest par 5 at True Blue Golf Club, you move on to No. 2, the shortest par 4 at True Blue and a hole that requires you to commit to a precise plan of action from the get-go or risk hitting yourself into significant trouble. Here’s what you’ll need to know to have your plan ready on your next trip with Caledonia Golf Vacations.
No. 2 is a short, dogleg-right par 4 with two primary challenges to avoid from the tee: If you are too far left, you can drive it through the fairway and into woods, and if you go too far right, you will find yourself in a waste area that is blocked out from the green by a large oak tree.
True Blue Head Golf Professional Bart Romano said, “You can literally select seven clubs out of your bag to hit off of that tee box depending on what you want to have in for your second shot. For someone who is playing it safe, you could have an iron off the tee and leave yourself a short iron to a wedge. Or, you can challenge the bunker where the fairway ends by hitting a fairway wood or hybrid.” But Romano added, “If you go into the bunker — if you hit it too far and it ends up in the bunker — it is going to be a very, very difficult par.”
On going for the green from the tee box, Romano had this to say: “For the crazy people — and I highly recommend not hitting driver — I usually hit driver. But if you want to try to make a two, the front portion of the green is reachable from most tees if you’re playing the correct set of tees.”
As for the green complex at No. 2, it is very unique. There’s a lower-front portion that is very narrow, so if you’re coming in with a wedge or a 9-iron, you have to be precise or you’ll end up in the collection area left of the front part of the green or a bunker to the right. Meanwhile, the back portion of the green is quite wide but very narrow in depth. There’s also a substantial rise from front to back, so that that top portion of the green requires a precise iron shot as well to get on the appropriate level to actually have a birdie putt.
For Romano, these complexities in the green illustrate what make True Blue designer Mike Strantz such a genius: “The green complex itself is exactly on shorter holes what Mike Strantz will do. Very undulated, obviously a huge difference from the front tier of the green to the back, a five-plus foot rise, so you have to be very precise.” Romano concluded on No. 2, “You look at the scorecard, you see 300-yard par 4 and people will probably chuckle, but if you don’t play the hole correctly, it could be an embarrassing double bogey.”