Tijeras Creek Golf Club

Great golf holes

9/8/2020

The 10th hole at Tijeras Creek
has been known to test the best

No. 10, par 4, 374 yards
Tijeras Creek Golf Club,
Rancho Santa Margarita

The fabled back nine at the Ted Robinson-designed Tijeras Creek Golf Club begins with a par 4 that can easily trip up the backside of your round.

In fact, during the course’s annual RSM Amateur Championship in 2015, the short 374-yarder even burned a budding PGA Tour player when Sahith Theegala made a bogey on the 10th and first playoff hole in the tournament. Theegala’s 5-foot par putt slid by the edge of the cup and he lost the tournament, but he did go on to become a star at Pepperdine University, earning three NCAA All-American selections and, recently, sponsor exemptions into PGA Tour events.

To tackle this hole, you need to hit a tee shot about 200-220 yards to the center of the fairway, which will put you in the most ideal position for your second shot. Avoid going left off the tee as the lake and long bunker in the distance are reachable as is a bunker on the right.

If you make it to the center of the fairway, you’ll be left with a testy short-iron shot over water to a green well-guarded by the lake and several bunkers in back. It is imperative to hit the green here, otherwise you’ll be hitting a tough chip out of a bunker or grass to a slick, fast green.

Make a par on this hole and you’ll be well on your way to conquering the rest of Tijeras Creek’s back nine, which will offer you plenty of challenge and some of the most beautiful scenery in South Orange County.