Round 16: Waverly Oaks

Waverly Oaks was almost turned into “Hollywood East” in 2008. The property nearly became soundstage and production for movies. I am glad it wasn’t.

The Brian Silva design is wacky and fun and big. The course has quite a bit of elevation change and massive escarpments that seem to bisect the property and get in the way of your golf ball.

The starter assured us the tips were not to stretched out on Sunday to the usually 7100 yards, which was a relief because there were some beasts even with a little help form the superintendent.

The holes that will stick out in my mind are the par 3 8th, a tough 200 yarder that’s a forced carry and sneaky downhill over a large hole in the Earth. The 9th was a ridiculous par 4 requiring an short, yet nervy, tee shot and then a mid-iron on to a green that might as well have been in the clouds. The middle of the front 9 had back-to-back par 5s followed by two 420+ par fours.

The back had its own set of big holes. The stretch of 15-17 packs a punch. 15 is a long par 4 with an incredibly large punch bowl to catch long irons like Fred Lynn. The 16th is a 600 yarder, downhill but into a stiff breeze. 17 is a mammoth par 3 (first picture). It’s 220, uphill without much safety up top and a near guaranteed 5 if you get stuck in the bunker or hill.

I’ve played a lot of Brian Silva courses, and this one had the quirkiness and the movement that’s expected, but it had some difference in size. This place felt a bit bigger. I enjoyed the course and it was in great shape and very fair from hole to hole and shot to shot. The there were a handful of visual tricks off tees and the bunkering was awesome throughout, too.

THE FACTS

Date: August 23

Tee TIme: 9:40am

Playing Partner: Dan, Eliot, Joey

Tees: Black Tees (7100 yards)

Game: 2-man Match Play

Score: 79

Birdie Count: 1 (21 total)