*Note: Yardages measured from white tees. Hole...

*Note: Yardages measured from white tees.

Hole 5 -- Pelican Hill Golf Club (Ocean North Course)

Par 4, 401 yards

Part of the difficulty of playing this hole is trying to maintain

focus with the picturesque views of the Pacific Ocean and the Newport

jetty in the distance. The hole zigzags slightly from start to

finish, with an ideal tee shot favoring the right side. Even though

the hole shortens considerably along the left side, there is greater

chance for an uneven lie whereas the right side offers a flatter

landing area. The second shot is typically downhill with little wind

into a fairly large and accepting green, which slopes from right to

left and has one bunker fronting the right side. There can be as much

as a three-club differential depending on pin placement, said Glenn

Deck, Pelican Hill’s director of instruction. Go too far right on the

approach and a canyon awaits, ready to grab wayward shots.

Hole 6 -- Costa Mesa Golf & Country Club (Los Lagos course)

Par 5, 506 yards

The shortest of the three par 3s on the front nine from the white

tees, but you wouldn’t know it. This dogleg left feels more like 550

or more yards because of the steep approach to an elevated green.

Winds blowing left to right across the fairway can make the approach

shots even longer. The green isn’t too large, but subtle breaks make

putting a challenge. Take advantage of the view when you’re standing

on the green.

Hole 7 -- Santa Ana Country Club

Par 4, 364 yards

A slight dogleg right with a demanding second shot into a green

guarded by a lake front left. A fairway bunker 230 yards from the tee

along the right side forces golfers -- unless they want to clear the

sand trap -- to veer their tee shots to the left. The bunker has a

steep lip, making the approach shot out a bit more tricky. Hit too

far left off the tee and a lake could catch the wayward drive. The

same lake stretches up to the green. With a good tee shot, golfers

are usually faced with a downhill approach to a fairly large green

without any substantial undulations.

Hole 8 -- Shady Canyon Golf Club

Par 3, 140 yards

Golfers are faced with a downhill tee shot that must clear a

brush-filled ravine to reach the green. A large bunker wraps around

the left side of the green. Further left of the bunker lies an

environmentally-sensitive area. The right side affords little relief,

with native brush ready to catch wayward shots. Director of Golf

Brian Gunson advises aiming to the middle of the green, regardless of

where the flag is.

Hole 9 -- Big Canyon Country Club

Par 4, 337 yards

Played as the toughest hole when the two-day Southern California

Golf Association Mid Amateur championship was held at the course in

2002. Usually plays into a prevailing breeze with out of bounds left

and a lake on the right side. This a fader’s hole. The lake begins 80

yards from the front edge and runs up the right side to the green. A

bunker guards the green’s front left. A narrow opening not more than

10 yards from the bunker’s edge across to the water allows golfers to

roll their ball onto the green, if they so choose. Best place to lay

up is short left. Any approach shot that flies over the green can

leave a downhill chip that, if hit too hard, could end up in the

water. The kidney-shaped green runs left to right, away from the

golfer.