The Seventh Hole is approximately 320 yards, but like the third hole, you must negotiate a chute of trees off of the tee. The picture to left was taken from the middle of the tee.
From the new back tee a player could feel claustrophobic because of the narrowness of the chute. After threading it through the chute of trees you must then keep it in the fairway or you will probably have a tree in your way as both sides of the fairway are guarded by trees.
The green is protected by a huge maple tree that blocks the left side of the green, leaving anyone who hit his tee ball to the left an interesting decision: try to fly your shot through the tree or hit a bump and run to a green that slants hard left to right and to the back. The green is also built up about 2 feet above the surrounding ground. So any shot hit long will leave you with a tricky pitch for your recovery.
Finally, the seventh green is one of the most undulating on the course, with the pin often tucked in the back corner behind a hump in the green as seen in the picture above and to the right. The seventh hole is definitely a birdie opportunity and is often birdied by many players in club tournaments.
The eighth hole is one of the toughest short par 4s in all of the Buffalo area. The picture to the left, taken in front of the tee, gives you a good idea what you see from the tee - trees and more trees.
While only 325 yards from the middle of the tee and about 340 from the back, you must lay your tee shot up before a grove of mature trees that are 100 yards from the green or attempt to place a drive in a 10 yard wide landing area that is right next to the out-of-bounds. Most players lay up with anything from a 7 iron to 5 wood to leave them far enough back to clear the trees with their approach.
As is evident from the picture of 8-time club champion Sean McNamara to the right, a tree line and out-of-bounds guards the entire right hand side of the hole, which is the desired side if you want a clear approach to the green.
Anything hit to the center to left side of the fairway will ensure you have to shoot over the trees to the green, as Sean is doing to the right. Large, mature black walnut trees guard the left fairway, while the grove of elms, maples and catalpa trees guards the approach.
To make matters worse, a huge old maple guards the left half of the front of the green, and anything not hit to the right of it will often hit it and bounce back into the grove of trees. While a player can bail out far left off of the tee, you are left with an almost impossible approach through the trees. Even if you should hit the middle of the fairway a good approach is often not rewarded and hits the tree and a player is left scrambling for par.
The Seventh Hole is approximately 320 yards, but like the third hole, you must negotiate a chute of trees off of the tee. The picture to left was taken from the middle of the tee.
The green is protected by a huge maple tree that blocks the left side of the green, leaving anyone who hit his tee ball to the left an interesting decision: try to fly your shot through the tree or hit a bump and run to a green that slants hard left to right and to the back. The green is also built up about 2 feet above the surrounding ground. So any shot hit long will leave you with a tricky pitch for your recovery.
The eighth hole is one of the toughest short par 4s in all of the Buffalo area. The picture to the left, taken in front of the tee, gives you a good idea what you see from the tee - trees and more trees.
As is evident from the picture of 8-time club champion Sean McNamara to the right, a tree line and out-of-bounds guards the entire right hand side of the hole, which is the desired side if you want a clear approach to the green.
To make matters worse, a huge old maple guards the left half of the front of the green, and anything not hit to the right of it will often hit it and bounce back into the grove of trees. While a player can bail out far left off of the tee, you are left with an almost impossible approach through the trees. Even if you should hit the middle of the fairway a good approach is often not rewarded and hits the tree and a player is left scrambling for par.