The par-three 149-yard hole number one requires a precise tee shot, since water and woods wait for your ball on either side of the extremely narrow fairway. If you go short with your tee shot, there is a deep, long and wide waterless gully full of high weeds. Even If you are lucky enough to find your ball, chipping out of the gully is no easy task. The scorecard says to take an extra club and to play to the far side of the green, which is good advice indeed.
On the par-three 205 yard hole number eight, you have to clear a lake off the tee. The green is protected by a sand trap on either side, so it might be a good idea to lay up short and pitch onto the green, rather than chance a tee shot right to the green. The green is also extremely long, so pay attention to the pin placement. Otherwise you will be looking at a three-putt.
The hardest ranked hole on the course is the par-four, 402-yard hole number nine. Again, there is water on both sides of the tee box, but the landing area is big and wide. There is also a hidden pond on the lower left side of the green, and a sand bunker protecting the right hand side of the green. Since this hole is long, even compared to par-fours on par-72 golf courses, unless you are a long hitter, it might be best to play your second shot short of the green, then pitch and putt for a par.
The back nine starts with the 351-yard, par four hole number ten. You have to carry almost 200 yards over a huge lake off the tee to land in a dry spot. The fairway then doglegs left to the green. There is a sand bunker protecting the right hand side of the green. If your carry the water, a short iron to the green should do the trick. If not, drop and start hitting three. If you play the whites here, it¹s only a 140 yard carry over the water. Another good argument for playing the white tees at Oyster Creek.
The hardest ranked hole on the back nine, and the second hardest hole overall, is the finishing par-four 350-yard hole number 18. There is a huge body of water on the right side of the tee box, plus a 100 yard carry right off the tee. The fairway doglegs extremely left about 220 yards from the tee. The idea landing area for your tee shot are two tall pines almost in the middle of the fairway. The best bet here is to lay up short on your second shot, then pitch up and putt for a par. The bottom line is that if you like a short three-hour romp of enjoyable golf, Oyster Creek is the place to be. The course is well kept, the staff cheery and helpful, and the greens play like those on the bigger courses.
