The par 5 16th hole has been dubbed “Stairway to Seven”, but in my opinion it's a design masterpiece. It measures 366 yards from the forward tee to 536 yards from the championship tee that also offers a stunning view of the hole. The entire hole unfolds before you with the lush green fairway contrasting with the stark hills and arroyo that surrounds it. At first sight, the challenge of finding the seemingly narrow fairway seemed daunting to me, but after playing the hole a few times I realized that it’s a very generous landing area.

The tee shot requires a carry over an arroyo before reaching the fairway that slopes from right to left and uphill. Very short tee shots will find an uphill slope while shots clearing a low ridge will find a level lie at the bottom of a natural drain or an uphill lie as the fairway climbs upward. Most players will prefer an uphill stance for an easier second shot for those trying to reach the green in two or just advance the ball up the fairway. The arroyo on the players’ left has a deep bunker before it which will stop a pulled tee shot. However all bunkers and the arroyo on this side are below the playing surface and require a high second shot.

Two bunkers guard the deep right side of the landing area, but they aren’t reachable from the back tee. For those of you out there that can reach them, we have random steroid testing on the 17th tee. I have not mentioned the area to the right of the fairway up and until now and my only advice is to “don’t go there.”

For second shots from the right side of the fairway where you cannot see the green or the landing area, I use a huge rock formation behind the green that looks like the outline of a rooster to me. I aim to the right of it for the correct line on shots when I try to reach the green in two.

For players choosing to lay up on the second shot around the 150 yard marker a shot of anywhere from 175 to 125 yards is needed. The 150 marker will give you the most level lie for your third shot, but the fairway narrows as it reaches the 100 yard marker with a deep bunker on the left before opening up more generously. After the 100 yard marker, the fairway slopes from right to left with a deep arroyo on the left side that allows only the luckiest individuals a chance to find the green on their next shot.

The green is set on a pinnacle with deep bunkers guarding the left and right sides and one of the most challenging on the course. The green has three very distinct areas that are divided by a ridge that runs diagonally from the front left before splitting like a “T” about two thirds of the way and running to the back middle and right front of the green. The whole green slopes from back right to front left with the back of the ridge more elevated than the front. All putts on this green are tough if you are on a different area and level and all putts from the back to the front are very quick.

The front right of the green closer to the ridge is the easiest pin position as the ridge will act as a backstop for almost all shots, but shots that fall closer to the front of this area will roll off to a collection area below the green. Pins located in the front left part of the green are the most challenging due to the slope of the green and are one of the fastest putts on the course. A rear left pin position is very accessible because it sits in a hollow that collects long shots. Anything longer will drop into a grassy collection area or reach the native hillside.

The right rear pin position has always presented me with little chance to reach it until I started using the hillside. The steep ridge makes it difficult to run shots up to the rear, but you can use the hill on the right to funnel shots into the rear area. The hill will stop most shots, but it presents a much larger target than the actual putting surface.

I love this hole because it presents so many options on every shot. Once you decide to go for the green on either the second, third or fourth shot you must be a problem solver to score well. This hole is the ultimate challenge and will leave wanting a second chance if you miss making par. Holing out for par or better will leave you the most satisfying pleasure as you look back down the fairway to the tees where you can see the next group of players pointing up the hill and mapping out their plan of attack.

Good luck taming the “Stairway to Seven!”