Clear Creek

Laid out by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw in 2009, the visually attractive fairways of the Clear Creek Tahoe course are routed through towering Ponderosa and Jeffrey pine trees, veering past a number of prominent rocky outcrops and stone piles along the way.

Any reservations that the architects may have had about working in such a rugged mountain environment were quickly overcome when they established that the soil on site consisted of a mix of decomposed granite and sand that was at least five foot deep around the property so from that point on, it was full steam ahead with the project.

The 510-yard 3rd is a wonderful transition hole, taking the routing from the highest point on the property to one of the lowest (with a drop in elevation from tee to green of almost 200 feet) where a dry ditch runs diagonally across the fairway in front of the hole.

Another exciting hole, the 445-yard 9th, doglegs left round a massive rock pile before dropping down to an extraordinary multi-tiered green that measures 48 yards in length with a 6-foot drop from back to front.

On the back nine, which many consider even stronger than the outward half, the pick of the holes is the 450-yard 15th, where a beautiful old dry ditch runs down the left of the fairway before cutting in front of the green.

The 150-yard par three 17th is also a worthy contender for best hole on the entire card. Played slightly downhill, an intimidating waste area of large stone boulders, native scrub and sand fronts its contoured green – short off the tee is definitely not a good idea at this hole.