Risk / Reward Hole 14

Arrowhead Golf Club:

A Fine Option for Buffalo Area Golf.

The Western New York region has a wide variety of golf to offer. An invitation to play in a charity event just outside the city opened my eyes to a quality design and fun day of shot making. 

Arrowhead Golf Club was opened in 2003 and has rightfully become regarded as one of the region’s premiere public golf courses. Local architect Scott Witter crafted a windswept routing from gently rolling terrain just west of the Town of Akron. The easily walkable design embraces a natural feel, utilizing what Mother Nature provided and enhanced with subtle mounding and strategically placed ponds. 

The course is open to the elements providing a windswept experience should it be a breezy day. Treed holes are few leaving your ball flight to the mercy of the prevailing west winds. Tricky greens with plentiful slopes make for an attention grabbing proposition should when you eventually find the short grass. A number of interrupted fairways make gauging club selection a tricky challenge. Compounding the challenge are deceptive mounds which hide portions of the target areas. Being able to shape the ball effectively will aid the skilled players to go low, while the less skilled player will enjoy the ability to take advantage of accessible greens with a ground game and the playability that affords.  

Our shot makers selections for Arrowhead highlight a quartet of holes that make you carefully calculate which of the numerous options you are going to take to play the hole. The opening hole is a lengthy par 5 that gently bends to the right. The safe play is to aim for the generous landing area long and left, which will avoid the lurking pond on the right and crossing creek. The semi-hidden green is best attacked from that left side, but is reachable if you take the aggressive line hugging the right. A low-stress par or exciting eagle or birdie could be the outcome. The 10th is also a par 5, similar yet has a more severe dogleg right off the tee and a very reachable creek in the landing area. Should you cross the creek, you are left with a decision to take on the uphill, heavily bunkered green with a hybrid or lay up behind a large mound and waste area fronting the green, leaving you a blind wedge shot and no easy par. 

A short par 4 hole can be a great addition to any routing. The 14th designed by Witter is an example of getting it right. The hole plays into the prevailing wind and has a thick treeline and OB entirely down the left. That combined with an expansive pond from tee to green on the right leaves little room for error and a major risk / reward element. The larger than average green is receptive, but the series of bunkers collecting anything struck less than true makes for a difficult up and down. The final hole has one of the best green sites on the property. The multi-tiered surface is perched above a pond that guards the front of the green. A rough-covered slope and large bunker on the left pinch the landing area tight to the pond. The conservative play short of this will leave a lengthy approach to a final par, while a gutsy play to challenge the bunker and water could reward with a short iron or wedge to the slopey putting surface. 

The routing at Arrowhead provides a playable, fun experience regardless of your skill level. Not often does a course allow for and encourage players to be able to play both the pin-seeking high shots and roll-up ground game. The design is forgiving in places and demanding in others. Having enjoyed myself with some friends and appreciating what the architect was aiming to accomplish, it is no wonder the USGA selected Arrowhead as one of the 2005 US Senior Open qualifying sites.