The opening tee shot at Ross Bridge is strategic. Take aim over the fairway bunker on the right to avoid the water on the left. You'll have to choose whether to layup or be aggressive and challenge the water that splits the fairway on your second shot. A smart choice could set you up for an opening birdie.
Avoid three fairway bunkers off the elevated tee on this dogleg left par 4. Your approach must cross one more bunker, but there is plenty of room in between it and the green. If you miss, make sure you miss left to avoid a steep embankment leading to the water right and long.
You have a decision to make on the third tee: challenge the water and bunker with a driver or use less club to find the fat part of the fairway but leave yourself with a very challenging second. Any shot left of the long, narrow green will find high grass or water.
The first par 3 at Ross Bridge is a beauty. The hole is played entirely over water from an elevated tee and is one of two holes at Ross Bridge without a bunker. The green is 23 yards deep, but very wide with rolling undulations, making the right club selection a must.
The first hole without water at Ross Bridge provides a little relief and possibly a birdie chance, if you can find the fairway on this uphill par 4. A drive placed on the right side of the fairway will leave the best angle into this wide, but mostly flat, elevated green.
The sixth hole plays around 200 yards to a large, sloping green bordered in front by three bunkers. The green falls away on all sides, so make sure you knock it close off the tee. The further right the pin is placed, the more treacherous the shot.
The par 5 seventh hole doglegs softly to the right and drops sharply downhill. A long tee shot will give you a chance to reach the green in two, but be careful of the sand short and left of the green. The green is massive - 48 yards deep - but mostly flat, so be aggressive with your birdie putt.
The par 4 eighth hole is long, but has no bunkers and plays downhill. A hill to the right of the fairway will funnel an errant tee shot back into play. A pond guards the left side of the green. If the pin is front, consider playing a run-up, links-style shot to knock your approach close.
A cavernous bunker sits in the middle of the ninth fairway, but can be carried with a well-struck tee shot. From there, your approach must be accurate to a green that angles toward the lake and is guarded by two bunkers. Par is always a great score on the ninth at Ross Bridge.
The fairway is not as narrow as it looks on the tee, but you do need to bend your drive from left-to-right on this sharp dogleg right. Add an extra club on your approach to carry a massive bunker and find the elevated green.
Take plenty of club on this par 3. Any shot short of the green will back down a hill about twenty yards from the green and leave you with a very difficult chip shot to save par. The green has a false front and is one of the more sloped greens at Ross Bridge.
The 12th fairway favors a left-to-right shot off the tee to set up the best angle into the elevated green. A deep bunker sits in front of the green, but there is plenty of room to miss right and leave yourself with a fairly makeable putt for birdie.
This par 5 plays much shorter than the yardage because of how severely it slopes downhill. A fairway bunker is left of the fairway about 150 yards away from the green so, if you layup, make sure you take enough club to avoid it. Do not miss long of the green as there is a severe downslope.
Play to the center of the green on this long par 3. An overly aggressive shot to a tucked pin could finish in the bunker or the water that guards the front and left of the green. A conservative play will leave your round intact and poised to make birdies on the next two holes.
The par 4 15th is a hero's hole. Bite off as much as you like from the elevated tee and leave yourself with your most comfortable yardage into this deep, but accessible green. The green is guarded by a deep bunker in front and slopes toward the water on the left.
Find this wide fairway and you can have a go at the green on the shortest par 5 at Ross Bridge. If you layup, however, the fairway is pinched in by bunkers, so play short of these to leave an approach into a very large green and slightly elevated green.
This straight away par 4 is one of the most difficult holes at Ross Bridge. Two left fairway bunkers force you to aim for the right side of the fairway which will leave you with an extremely difficult approach into one of the smallest greens on the course, especially if the pin is tucked on the right side.
An accurate tee shot is needed to avoid three bunkers in the center of the fairway and a lake that borders the entire right side of the hole. Your approach must carry more sand and water and stay short of the spectacular waterfall that drops eighty feet between the ninth and eighteenth greens.