Indian Trails 8

8
Par 4, 233 yards

You might consider this the signature hole at Indian Trails. The chute through the trees with slices of sun poking through making for the most scenic view of any tee. Although the hole is par-3 length, the proximity of trees on either side make for a demanding tee shot, and the elevated green is guarded by a bunker on the front right.

I try a 5-wood off the tee and it's a bad idea, swerving into the trees. But then I catch the most unbelievable break of my golfing life. The ball finds the lower branches of one of the sturdy oaks, then rolls right down the trunk, as though through a tube, right down to a root that shoots it straight back onto the fairway, as though a hand were rolling it there. I end up in the exact center of the fairway. I assume the golf gods are teasing me and telling me not to complain so much about my luck.

It seems petulant to complain after that, but my lie is very bare and I end up topping the ball with my pitching wedge. Still, it climbs up onto the green and idles in the back of it. I just tap my downhill 18-footer, but it rolls a full 3 feet past. I sink the putt coming back to make par, 4.