I got back over to Royal American Golf Course after not having played there since September 7, 2003 when I shot an 87. I had played one time before that but don’t have that record handy. Overall, Royal American is an enjoyable round of golf.
For example here’s the picturesque par 3 12th hole at Royal American. This is an absolutely gorgeous golf hole. Click on the picture for the full size version.
Or how about the 323 yard par 4 third at Royal American. It demands a tee shot over water and one that will find the fairway between trees on the left and right. Hit it too far in either direction and you are blocked out from the green.
But Royal American has a bunch of downright goofy par 5’s. Here’s the first hole. Like all the par 5’s, the first will potentially punish you for hitting a good shot. I smashed a drive right down the left side of the fairway. After watching it bound down the fairway, I got worried that I had hit it too well. You can see that a creek crosses the fairway with about 210 yards to the hole.
Luckily, the rough before the creek caught my ball. I would have been extremely disappointed to have been punished for hitting a good shot here. I did enjoy the challenge of the second shot. The creek continues all the way up the right side of the fairway past the green and two bunkers guard the hole. I took a three iron with the thought of making my mistake short of the green. I got lucky and the ball rolled up on the green to get home in two leading to an opening birdie.
The par 5 ninth is the same way. I took out a three wood to stay short of the water but still flirted with disaster. My buddy hit the water with a hybrid club.
The par 5 tenth prevents you from using a driver unless you decide to fly the trees that are right of the fairway. But if you go too far right, good luck finding your ball in the tall stuff.
Here’s the 581 yard par 5 14th hole. Another creek makes you let up on the accelerator once again. When we played, a strong headwind allowed us to pull out the driver anyway.
The 13th is probably the goofiest hole on the course. We have a long par 4 but we are forced to either lay up because of the tree on the left or try to hit a draw/hook around it.
The situation gets a little better from the back tees on the 13th hole. Now you only have to hit a little fade instead of a hook. Granted, I think the middle tees are normally placed farther back but the front tee position is ridiculous on this hole.
Perhaps the solution is to just play the course from the back tees. I did improve 6 strokes over my last appearance at Royal. I enjoyed it overall and will be back. Thanks to the divot card, I paid $15 to ride 18. Not bad!