Erin Hills course guide back 9

If you're still beathing after that front nine, you'll be pleased to know that the back nine is even tougher...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMODwM4eV50

 

The 10th. 504 yards, par 4

Despite the blind tee shot, the expansive fairway encourages the player to open his shoulders off the tee. To give himself a reasonable approach to this shallow green that is heavily bunkered on the right, the player needs to hit his tee shot down the hill. The closely mown area right and behind the green can be used to work the ball with a longer club towards the hole, though.

 

11th hole. 403 yards, par 4

After a number of demanding holes, the 11th provides a bit of a breather as the fairway can gather tee shots and the approach is usually just a pitch. However, care still needs to be taken with the small green that slopes from left to right. The back nine presents a variety of challenges and not just the stereotypical long par 4s seen on most championship courses.

 

12th hole. 464 yards, par 4

With its wild topography and partially hidden green, the 12th hole showcases the minimalist approach the architects took to build Erin Hills. The tee shot must reach the plateau to afford the player a reasonable approach to the green set in a hollow. With a rare wind from the east or for the long players, the tee shot that flirts with the right side can go down the hill and leave just a pitch.

 

13th hole. 215 yards, par 3

The 13th is a rendition of the classic hill-to-hill par 3. In this case, the player’s eyes are drawn to the expansive bunker left of the green, to which a swale in the left side of the green directs balls. However, the fall-away short, right and behind the green cannot be ignored or looked at as safe places to miss the green.

 

14th hole. 613 yards, par 5

The 14th is a gambling par 5 where fortune does in fact favor the bold. Here the player who lays up faces an awkward third, where the pitch is nearly blind to a green that runs away from that angle. The player who goes for the green with his second shot certainly faces his share of trouble, though, such as the thick rough short of the green, the severe false front of the green, a cavernous front-right bunker and a river right of the green.

 

15th hole. 370 yards, par 4

The 15th presents the player several options – to lay up short of all the bunkers, to place the tee shot in the middle of the bunkers or to have a go at the green itself. The sharp drop-off right of the green encourages the player to favor the center or left of the green with his pitch, but the spine that extends from the hillside into the green provides a challenging two-putt for a player on the wrong side of the green.

 

16th hole. 200 yards, par 3

This narrow, slightly angled green is nestled against the hillside on its left. At first glance one might think that left is a good place to miss the green in that the hill should kick balls down towards the green. However, there are bunkers at the base of that hill that the golfer cannot see from the tee that will catch a ball trying to find the green off the hillside.

 

17th hole. 481 yards, par 4

With the green tucked behind a hill on the left, a tee shot down the right provides the golfer with a clear view of the green while one down the left leaves a partially blind approach. Like the 1st, the 17th hole does not need greenside bunkering as the natural terrain provides plenty of challenge.

 

18th hole. 663 yards, par 5

Erin Hills closes with a long par 5 that lines up with Holy Hill in the distance. The player must fight his natural tendency to play directly towards the green and must force himself to play his second shot well to the right. The cluster of bunkers short of the green visually dominates the approach, but the player needs to take care not to miss the green to the left, where the closely mown area will propel the ball well away from the green.

 

 

Related:

The front 9...