Mike Strantz is known for creating visually deceiving golf holes. The deep green on the 8th hole at True Blue comes to mind. However, some holes that Strantz created are just plain tough, and the 15th at Caledonia Golf & Fish Club is the quintessential example.
This brute of a par 4 greets you on the back end of your round at Caledonia. This hole doglegs to the left around a massive waste area that sits off the front of the tee box. Playing 462 yards from the tips, a great drive off this tee is a must. Missing left of the waste area will put you into some woods that will make it virtually impossible to get out. Right of this fairway sits much of the same.
Chances are you will have 190 to 200 yards left for your second shot, to a green that requires your full attention. Shots that land on the front will have to climb the small false front on this green. When the pin is in the back-right position, shots can land short and use the funnel around that hole location to get close. The surrounds of this green act as a punchbowl that kick golf balls back toward the green a bit. Make sure you fly the two bunkers that sit just short of the putting surface.
Strantz famously said “I don’t care if people think my courses are too hard.” That statement holds true when you take on the 15th at Caledonia Golf & Fish Club. If you successfully execute a par on No. 15, take it happily as you move on to the final three holes the next time you play at Caledonia.