The Babbling Brook, Part I: Hole Six

After putting out on five, you'll cross a break in the stone wall and have a short walk through a fern carpeted part of the forest to reach the 6th tee.

Ferns love shady moist places. The sixth hole is moist indeed, a brook runs just off the whole left side of the sixth fairway. During the spring runoff the brook might roar, during a dry summer it might be a mere trickle, but for a good part of the year it's been a pleasant babbling flow. It doesn't come in to play often unless you get a bad kick or really turn one hard to the left.

Six was the last hole of the front nine to be built, and still is in a little flux. With all of this spring's rain we've been dealing with some spongy ground and are still trying to figure out optimal placement for our tees. This hole might be lengthened, possibly even to a par five.

For the moment, it's playing as a 375' tight downhill dogleg right from a single tee. Red level plays it as a short par four, but if your playing the white tees this is a par three for you.

The primary line is between a couple of huge pines, aiming at the ever-growing wood pile. The fairway opens up near the pile, then turns downward and to the left to a raised basket tucked down toward the stream. A big RHBH hyzer off the tee can get close. For a rec player like me, a good drive that avoids the early trees will get past the wood pile and leave a fairly short approach for a shot at birdie. The line is tight, I often catch a tree, but with a short par four I still have a chance to scramble to save par.

The stream plays as casual, so if you get too aggressive and somehow land in the water just dry off you disc and take a penalty-free drop.

The basket is built up on a pyramid of native rocks pulled out of the nearby stream and makes for just enough of a "different look" to get your attention.

While hole six might not be in it's "final" configuration, it's an interesting hole in a unique part of the property.