Hole Profile: No. 9 at
Las Sendas Golf Club

By Shannon Gazze,
TravelGolf.com Staff Writer

MESA, Ariz. - Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink! Well, that's not entirely true. You can get plenty of drinking water from the cooler beside the Ninth tee at Las Sendas Golf Club. But for the next 503 yards (from the Blue tees), it's nothing but lake.

Las Sendas' No. 9 is quite a departure from the course's typical layout. One of only two holes with water hazards along with No. 10, it bends first to the right around a small watering hole that just happens to sit approximately driving distance away from the tee box, then doglegs back to the left around a more formidable lake to a green that slopes ominously back toward the watery abyss.

The intelligent drive starts left to a generous landing area. It takes a shot of about 270 yards for the larger lake to come into play off the tee, so longer players might want to consider using a three wood. Shorter drivers might also be well advised to club down and make sure they stay left, considering it takes anywhere from 210 to 260 yards to clear the more imminent lake on the right.

Safely in the fairway, you've got at least another 200 yards of carry over the next lake to the green, which is situated precariously at the edge of the water. If you choose, you can bail out to a fairly open landing area left of the green, but that requires about 180 yards of carry directly over the water and a good deal of confidence. The wise play is to lay up to the right with a four- or five-iron.

Even this shot is a tricky one, however, as the fairway narrows to about twenty yards across at it's narrowest point. The lake is on your left and the desert is on your right as you thread the needle, and more than likely you'll have to resign yourself to hitting over the water with your third shot.

From about 100 yards, you've still got the lake to your left, but now bunkers on the front and back of the green come into play, as does the parking lot to your right if your not careful.

The green slopes from your right to your left at this point, and as with all the greens at Las Sendas, No. 9 is like the Superstition Freeway you took to get there - fast and bumpy. Don't let down your guard until your ball is in the hole.