(Editor’s note: Throughout the summer, MontanaSports.com visited golf courses to feature ‘signature holes’ or holes that tie in to what makes the courses unique. To view more courses highlighted in our Signature Series, please click here . Sidney Country Club features a pair of difficult, narrow holes.)
SIDNEY -- The 11th hole at Sidney Country Club is a devilish par 3. It plays about 180 yards and it looks downhill, but that’s where players are mistaken.
“It is deceiving from looking up here at the tee box, because it does look like the green is actually lower in elevation than the tee box, but in reality the green is actually higher in elevation than the tee box," Sidney Country Club interim pro Colleen Koterba said. "A lot of people do come up short on it because they don’t realize that you naturally need to take that extra club to get up to the green.”
Finding the right distance is where the troubles begin. If you spray your shot left or right, scratching out a par becomes nearly impossible.
“The Russian Olives on the left and right-hand side," Koterba said. "If you do hit the Russian Olive it will drop down and go into the sand trap where you’ve got a pretty nasty chip down the hill and onto the green.”
The par-5 18th is quite different from Hole 11. It plays nearly 600 yards for men and has a narrow fairway pinched by large cottonwood trees.
“There’s no sand traps. Once you get down to the green, you’re pretty well open. Just a matter of that narrow path to the green from the tee box. … A lot of people tend to get lost in the trees,” Koterba said.
Hole 18 is like much of the course – covered in trees. Those trees and firm greens can make it a long day for the amateur golfer at Sidney Country Club.
“It makes it a little bit more difficult and challenging to reach those greens in regulation sometimes, especially if those greens are so firm that you can’t get a ball to check up and stop on them," Koterba said. "A lot of times people have to club down a little bit and land the ball 10-15 yards short of the green and let it roll up to the hole.”
