Shannon Lake

The course at Shannon Lake Golf Club occupies a compact site extending to only 95 acres – nine holes on the other side of a main highway are accessed via an underpass – with the signature 8th hole wrapped around the lake.

Following a resequencing exercise in 2015, holes 1-4 are now played around the clubhouse, holes 5 to 6 are then tackled on the other side of the highway before golfers return to play holes 7-10 near the lake. After crossing the main road again, holes 11 to 17 are routed around the northern portion of the property before the road is crossed for a fourth time in order to play the home hole towards the clubhouse.

It’s rather a convoluted routing, created to offer the club “better 9-hole options”. We were told the previous routing had the three toughest holes playing at the end of round, resulting in “lots of unhappy customers walking off #18” – nonetheless, it still seems a very big hammer has been used to crack a very small nut here in regards to the order of play.

The course extends to 6,120 yards from the rear tees, with both nines playing to a par of 35. Highlight holes include the par five 3rd which is rated stroke index 1; the last of the five par threes at the 157-yard 16th; and the par four finisher which doglegs severely left to the home green – a little water feature also fronts the final putting surface, mandating an aerial approach shot.