Par 4 – 367 yards
The 8th at Sand Hills is the second of back-to-back short par 4’s. It plays in the opposite direction of the 7th hole, so the wind direction is counter to its predecessor and its appearance from the tee is totally different. The study of the holes at Sand Hills could be a life’s work but this is THE hole for me. From my first impression to my latest it is on the shortest of lists of my favorite holes in the world. You encounter it deep enough in your round that you are acclimated to the experience of S.H. but the angling of the fairway is beguiling, and the green is to me the most natural setting of a set of greens that truly were there for Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw to reveal.
The bunkering down the right side begs you to challenge from that direction off the tee and the left fairway bunker appears closer which amplifies the desire to cheat right. The firm turf conditions with a favorable wind entices the longer hitter to chase it as close to the middle front bunker as possible. The green complex is extraordinary in that it sets into its surrounds as if it’s been there since the ice age. The bunkering and natural landforms that create an appearance of a worn catcher’s mitt from the fairway are accentuated by the front bunker that encroaches into the front of the green surface with tongues of the green flanked out right and left. The green is pitched from back to front, but any reasonably good tee shot is left only with a scoring club for your second. Choices make short par 4’s special and the 8th at Sand Hills provides them and it is the most true example of what Sand Hills is, a natural, golf wonderland.