High Stakes at Carolina Colours

Over the last 2 months, we have been replacing the red, white, and yellow stakes throughout the golf course. Not only are they higher quality stakes, but they are also much easier to see. Obviously, it makes the golf course a little more visually appealing, but it can also be useful to be able to see these marked areas from a distance. For example, if you wanted to take an aggressive line off the tee but realized from the tee box that there is an out of bounds (white) area that comes into play, it could affect your club selection. This is because if your ball enters the marked out of bounds area, you will have to go back to the tee and hit your third shot instead of getting to take a drop from where your ball entered like you would in a hazard (red).

If you do happen to hit a shot that you believe went out of bounds (white), you can hit a provisional shot while you are still there instead of going all the way up to the spot to check if it stayed in, then go all the way back. This is a great way to manage your pace of play. However, when hitting a provisional, be sure to use a ball that is different in some way from the ball you used in your original shot, so you know which ball was which if you hit them both in the same area. This could be a different marking, a different number, different color, or really anything that allows you to tell the difference. This is important because if you hit both shots in the same area, but they are both identical balls, you need to assume the ball you end up using was your provisional and not your first shot. I may or may not have learned that the hard way…. Play well!