Duffers Canyon is a fantasy course in every sense of the word. It is designed to take full advantage of the spectacular views and scenery which the golf course designer allows. But it is a playable course. No tricks where you have to hit off rocks or under obstacles.
The course plays through the canyon created by a river cutting a horseshoe shape route through the rocks. The first seven holes play up and down the canyon along the inside of the horseshoe. Number eight plays across the river, and the remaining holes play along the outside of the river.
Duffers Canyon is not a course you are likely to master the first time around. The variation of steep uphill shots and extreme downhill shots require a few rounds to get club selection right. That that is part of the fun. And along the way you'll get to experience some great views.
BACK STORY
Duffer was a barnstormer and a swindler. He travelled from town to town, making friends with the local elite and then conning them into a high stakes golf match. After sandbagging a few rounds, he'd play his best golf when the money was on the line.
But the more Duffer traveled, the harder it became to pull of the scam. He realized he needed one big haul to live off for a while. So he organaized a winner take all tournament. He got word out to all the nearby communities, and attracted all the best golfers, and fools easily parted from their money.
The plan was the same as always… lure people into a match and then win fair and square. The tournament was two days, and at the end of the first day, Duffer found himself several shots back. Desperate, and unwilling to miss out on the take, Duffer left town with the entry money over night. As golfers showed up for day two, concern morphed into anger as people realized Duffer had fled town.
With a nights head start, Duffer headed west. He knew of a canyon that had many caves where he could lay low. A posse from the tournament had taken pursuit. But they never caught Duffer, and Duffer got away with the heist.
But Duffer couldn't return to his barnstorming ways. His story soon turned into legend, and golfers across the land were on he lookout for a scammer. He wasn't even sure he could return to a legitimate golf course and play without being recognized.
Problem was, Duffer longed to play. He really did love the game. So he began scouting out the terrain around his new home. Found that he could lay out some of the most dramatic golf holes ever seen. First, he built a loop of three holes, what would become holes three, four and five.
Knowing of the natural stone arch bridge, he routed the next two holes in that direction. Over the years, he routed the course around the permiter of the canyon. Passer-bys started to take notice of the patches of green grass. Some offered to pay money to try their hand. A few stayed on to help.
Eventually Duffer finished the course. Hole one was placed near the entrance to the canyon, a short distanct to the trail leading settlers and travelers west. Duffer spent the remainder of his life managing the course and selling tee times. He never scammed anyone again. And while many suspected he might be the subject of the old legend, Duffer only claimed to be aware of the story. He never owned up to his role.
Your Day At Duffers Canyon
You are here today because of your loving partner, who saw an add for a golf experiene unlike any other in a magazine. You received your ticket for a tee time on your birthday. Your partner, not being a golfer, didn't really think to send a friend with you, so you ended up making the trip alone.
Travelling alone has its perks… and it has its disadvantages. Today, you will experience one of the disadvantages. Let me explain.
You will not find a golf cart at Duffers Canyon. The terrain is far too rugged for such a rather flimsy mode of transportation. No, you get from hole to hole on horse back. That alone will throw some golfers for a loop. But that is not the worst of it.
Like any true golf course, Duffers Canyon works to limit expenses as much as possible. And in the tradition of two to a golf cart, two golfers are assigned to a horse. They say having a bag on each side of the horse keeps the horse balanced. It’s a safety thing, they tell you.
You quickly realize this means you'll be bear hugging a complete stranger for the next five hours. No longer thinking of golf,you anxiously wait to meet your partner. Its not long before the starter approaches with a giant of a man. Your worst fears are realized.
The starter introduces you to Albert. He's a deli meat and cheese salesman from the upper penesula in Michigan. And Albert is about three hundred fifty pounds.
In the minutes you have before teeing off you learn a few things about Albert. First, he's talkative, and loves to talk about his job. Think of Albert as the Bubba (from Forrest Gump) of salami. Second, being from upper Michigan, Albert is not accustomed to this heat. His polo is completely saturated long before you head out to the first tee. For as long as this round takes, you are never going to know if the sweat on your brow is yours… or Alberts.
With that, the starter points you off to the first tee and wryly says ENJOY YOUR ROUND.
Hole
Par
Yards
Hazzards
Descrption
Picture (click on image for larger size)
1
4
455
412
The first hole plays from the entrance to the canyon, and is fairly wide open. You must avoid the bunker in the fairway, or you will not be able to reach the green
2
4
450
399
The second is steeply up hill. You can drive your tee shot into the hill side and it won't roll across. But it does leave a side hill lie for your second. The green is extremely narrow. Anything on or near the green gives you a chance at par.
3
5
602
564
Bombs away. Don't let the length of this hole fool you. Take your tee shot over the dead tree and this green is easily reachable. Your challenge is to get the club selection correct on the second shot. Anything long and left will run down the hill and may go out of bounds.
4
3
154
154
The first of the sharply downhill par threes. Play two clubs down to start. The bunker short is better than the pot bunkers long as the chip back to the green is downhill from the back, and very difficult to stop.
5
5
537
511
This hole was shortened for PGA 2K21, and in doing so, it is reachable in two with helping winds. Avoid the bunker off the tee, and if you play to the fairway on your second, you are much better off at the top of the fairway. Anything to the right rolls back down leaving a long approach.
6
3
184
178
The most dramatic downhill shot of all the par threes, you may drop as many as four clubs for this shot. There is really no good way to play for getting it close. The goal is to just get on the green and two putt from there.
7
4
430
388
A fun driving hole, get the ball in the fairway and it will chase down hill, leaving a modest approach shot. This is the first par four that you have a legitimate shot at birdie.
8
3
171
169
Eight is another downhill par three. After your tee shot, you'll cross the stone arch bridge before descening to the hole. A good birdie opportunity here if your tee shot is true.
9
4
456
361
The difficult shot on nine is the second. It is up hill over a gulley that is out of bounds. You cannot see the green or the bunker that guards the front right.
10
3
175
161
An uphill par three! Wasn't expecting that? This is a pretty simple par three with a mostly flat green. Get the club selection right and you will be birdie hunting
11
5
560
526
You can fly the water off the tee, unless there are strong winds against you. A long tee shot leaves a chance to reach, but the better play is to the fairway. Avoid the cactus short of the green.
12
4
501
437
The toughest hole on the course, you want to leave your tee shot short of the bunkers. The second is severely downhill. Missing short will be in the water. Left, long is out of bounds, and right can play from a plateau that is very difficult to get back on the green.
13
4
485
384
Another fun driving hole. Fly the top of the hill and the ball will funnel down to the center of the fairway. The second shot isn't too difficult and yields another good opportunity for birdie.
14
3
171
160
This hole looks worse from the tee than it really is. It looks like you are hitting directly into the face of a cilff. The green sits on top. Clear the front and the landing area is pretty flat. If you do not clear the edge, you'll be left watching your ball plumet to the river below.
15
5
575
559
Fools Gold. That's the name of this hole. The yardage will tell you you can reach the green. But the shot is uphill, and a mound in front of the green loves rejecting approach shots back into the canyon. You're gonna try it once, but eventually you learn to lay up in the fairway.
16
4
361
347
The risk on hole is hitting through the end of the fairway. This puts you at the base of the cliff, making an extremely difficult up hill shot that may get sent right back in your face.
17
4
389
377
The smart play hear is to go for the green off the tee. Severely down hill, you'll have to figure out what club to play. And missing left goes into the canyon. But playing to the fairway still leaves a steeply downhill approach. So you might as well be chipping two from greenside as opposed to being one hundred yards out.
18
4
580
431
Hope you are not afraid of heights. An elevator ride delivers you to this tee box. From the tee, you are 350 feet above the green. To say you get some carry off the tee is an understatement. But you must hit the large fairway in the distance, or you may have to layup on your second.
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