Pembroke Pines
Country Club
Hole 14 – Par 5
Distance: 546 yards (blue tees), 516 yards (white), 478 yards (golf),
475 yards (red)
The course at Pembroke Pines Country Club has been under the knife since a redesign was initiated on the back-nine last year, but players can still find lush fairways and smooth greens across all 18 holes. A completely new 18th hole is being installed, but we’ll discuss that hole when it opens later this summer. For now, we’ll examine the 14th hole, a 546-yard par-5 from the back tee. The hole doglegs right and leaves open a tempting opportunity to cut the corner make the green in two strokes. If you are not as confident with the driver, course management added about 20 yards of fairway on the left side by shaving back the rough and some trees. A low iron or wood will get you started just fine. But if you can swing for power, try to clear the pond and trees on the right. That will set up a clear iron stroke to descending green.
Club Pro Ben Stone tells us more about the hole.
Q: What’s unique about this hole?
A: “It’s definitely a risk-reward par 5. It gives you the chance, if you hit a really good drive out there, you can go for (the green) in two. You’ve got to hit two great shots here to go for it in two because up by the green there’s a little cross bunker that’s probably about 75-100 yards in front of the green and there’s a little creek to the right of the green. It might look like a straightforward par 5 but when you actually stand over the shot, there’s a lot that goes into the process of how you want to play this.”
Q: What’s the strategy to attacking this hole of the tee?
A: “There’s a little pond right there (to the right). Probably from the white tees it’s a 220 yard carry to get over that. If you don’t feel comfortable hitting the driver, you could hit 4 iron or 3 wood or hybrid just left of the pond or over the left edge and you have another 20 yards of fairway. That used to be rough and trees. Some of the longer hitters can aim right at that pine tree (to the right) and hit it over that corner.”
Q: What challenges do players face once they reach the green?
A: If you hit into the wrong quadrant of the green here, it’s no easy two-putt. It does give you quite a few pin placements on this hole, not all easy ones. We can tuck it in the back. There’s one that’s way over on the right that you can put in, but they don’t usually do that for the average weekend play.
Q: Beyond this one hole, what is noteworthy about this course at Pembroke Pines to your average weekend player?
A: It’s a fair and friendly test. There’s going to be some challenging holes, but there’s definitely a lot of holes on this course that the average golfer can come out and make a birdie. It definitely provides a lot of opportunities for people to score well, have fun and enjoy their time here.