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Mike Weir’s Hole by Hole Commentary of Taboo

First Hole The big tree down the left hand side is a great target. It's a dogleg to the right; it's framed very nicely even though it is difficult to see the ball land because you have to turn around the corner. For the average player, the big tree is a great aiming spot and then moves into a well-bunkered green right out of the gate. I love the way the first bunker is sodded right up a bank. It reminds me of the British Open. The contour off the front, with the front pin positioned as it slopes off is a good, challenging pin. There is a unique aspect again to the front, middle part of the green. On the right hand side you don't need to fly the ball all the way to the hole, you can use the run-up area, which for the average player may be hitting a long iron or perhaps a fairway wood into the hole. You can play a run-up shot without getting into a bunker on the right hand side. That's pretty unique.

Second Hole The second hole is a great hole. The tee shot is very demanding. With the tree hanging out off the left hand side, you really have to work the ball right to left. You can work the shot off of the bunker on the right hand side of the fairway - it's a nice target. As a pro, I have to hit a little right to left fade and then your left with a medium length shot. An amateur would hit a longer shot. if you play the back tees into a pretty nice receptive green. The front of the green again gives you options, which I really like. You can play a run shot into the green or you could fly in onto the tier you want on the green. I like golf courses that give you options and the first two holes give you those options into the greens. Aesthetically, the tee shot on number two is pleasing. It makes you stand up there and want to hit the tee shot, it's the best way I can describe it. The view of it, the shape of the hole, the contour of the fairway and the criss-cross cut of the fairway looks beautiful. The second hole is just an all-around great hole.

Third Hole This is a beautiful par three, a little bit downhill from the back tee. It's probably close to 200 yards to the center of the green. A waste area in front lined with rocks and little mounds of grass give a great contrast and fools with your depth perception a little bit. I noticed that the first shot I hit looks much further than where I first thought (it landed); you really have to trust your yardage on this hole. Ron did a really great job. The architect's job is to try to create illusions that fool the player's eye and that is exactly what the third hole does. It looks like the wind will swirl around a little bit through these trees, which will make the shot a little more difficult as well. Another great waste bunker right in front. Your bail out area is to the left where the amateurs can still play the hole and make a par from the left side of the front part of the green, and chip the ball up and down. Great little par three. Now that I have seen the green off the back right it gives you a great little pitching area. Difficult little up and downs, but again, it gives you options. You can flop the ball or play a bump and run. The back part of the green is generous enough that the average amateur can play those types of shots and still maybe get the ball up and down for par. The tee boxes here also give you many different angles - so you are looking at the green differently from the many tee boxes. This can give you many different perspectives of the hole, which is also unique to this course.

Fourth Hole The par five No. 4 requires another pretty good tee shot. . For me to get to the green in two I have to hit in quite a bit up the right or these trees on the left will really block your second shot out. The average amateur will have to make a decision as whether you hit a big enough drive, whether to challenge the rocks and go over, or to lay it short. Another really unique aspect is this magnificent granite coming right across the middle of the fairway. I have never seen anything like that, and I think that sets Taboo apart from other courses. It is really cool. The real challenge comes on this fourth hole. Again, your decision is to either try to go over these rocks or lay up in between the two bunkers short of the rocks. Then you're left to play a little uphill third shot to a pretty elevated green if you lay up short, but you can't really see the contours. It's a pretty difficult par five, but a very good one.

Fifth Hole This fifth hole has the most picturesque tee shots so far, with the lake to the left of the bunkers framing the hole. Just a beautiful tee shot here. You have to thread through the bunkers. From the up tees, amateurs might have to lay up short of the water but then play a very difficult shot into the green. But once again, it gives you options. You can run the ball up to the green or you can try to fly it on the green with a big bunker looming left. The trees behind it frame the hole really nicely and you can pick out a good target on one of the trees behind the green. The bunkers off the tee are challenging; it's very important to hit the fairway even if you have to be short of the bunkers off the tee. If you get into these bunkers it is going to make for a long hole.

Sixth Hole The sixth is another great tee shot- very visual - giving you a lot of options. Shorter hitters can play it up the left hand side; longer hitters can cut the corner a little bit. Some rocks, trees and water come into play on the right side. Your second shot is coming over a small little pond into a pretty undulating green that slopes right to left up the front. If you hit a good tee shot, you can maybe take advantage of a short second shot with a short iron into the green where you can possibly make a birdie. The tee shot is what makes this hole beautiful - but fairways get hard in the summertime. It may not be a driver because it runs downhill and can run through the fairway.

Seventh Hole The seventh is an unbelievable par three. Amateurs can run a shot in from about three yards short of the green. They can play a bump and run because it is open to the front, but of either side, the right side is a little more forgiving. The rocks are in the way a little bit on the right, but the left side is really difficult with two very, very deep pot bunkers that will probably gobble up some balls because it is sloped right in to the bunkers. It is a fairly forgiving green, but considering the length of the hole you need that because it is very demanding. Basically, if you hit a good shot right up the centre, you'll get on the green - otherwise it's a very demanding par three.

Eighth Hole Another nice tee shot framed very well with the bunker on the right, a good spot to aim at. Although there are mature birch trees that line both sides of the fairway, you want to hit to the left side where you have a lot of targets to aim at with the bunker and the birch trees. The fairway starts and slopes right to left. This is a good design feature for this hole; it's the way the hole should be set up with nothing unusual there. It's just pure golf out here! The fairways are forgiving if you hit good tee shots but penalizing if you miss it. It's nice for me to see bent grass. I've played a lot on the west coast, in Bermuda, at college and professionally, so I really appreciate a pure Ontario course with bent grass and lots of mature trees. These are absolutely distinct aspects of Ontario golf.

Ninth Hole This hole is tough. It is a long uphill into the prevailing winds, and you have to shape the hole left to right off the tee. The average amateur is going to have a tough time here. If you don't carry it far enough you may not be able to get around the corner far enough to see the green, but if you hit a strong tee shot in the summer when the fairways are running you can get it out there. Once again I would like to note the playability of this course - at the approach shot you can again choose your option. Since there is no bunker right in the front, you can play a run-up shot or you can try to fly in on the green. The left pot bunker looked very neat - you want to stay away from that!

Tenth Hole The tenth hole has a nice elevation on the tee. It drops down with the left bunkers off the tee making for another good aiming point. The big birch that is situated right in the center of the green that shapes up like a v is a great aiming spot as well. Again, you must stay away from the left front bunker. The right hand side has trees but then into a difficult green, especially the back left where you have the front left sloping off the front. If you don't carry it enough on the left it will roll back off the front. You can run it on the front part of the green; it gives you that option again, though it is a little bit more of a narrow green. The right side is very narrow, and so is the back left, even though if you hit a good drive you have a shorter iron in. Still you have to be pretty precise with that club to get it close to the hole. Very good hole! I have a great feel about this place - great transition into the back nine. Great visuals at this golf course as well. I like golf courses that have a lot of targets. You can stand up there and get something very distracting and this course does that.

Driving Range Just a note or two about the driving range, it has a lot of targets at the hitting area to practice your wedge game. You have two tees, the back tier so you can play at different wind directions, fairway bunkers, green bunkers and lots of greens to putt and chip around. It is a complete practice facility. You can find whatever you want out there, and work on whatever part of your game you want. They have really left no stone unturned in the practice facility.

Twelfth Hole Downhill tee shot with good position off the tee and leaves you a nice little intimidating shot over a waste marsh area with a big pot bunker staring back at you.. There is a back bank behind the green, which is nice if you do get a little long, the ball won't scoot into the trees. It'll just hit into the hill and stop a little bit. It's a great little hole. It is a generous fairway; you just want to make sure you lay up short of the hazard because this hole is all about the second shot. Watch your distance control, but overall, it's a really neat little hole with beautiful rock outcroppings out in front. Really cool.

Thirteenth Hole This is a great looking hole. With the rocks all down the right hand side, rock cropping, bridge on the left with a huge rock right behind the green, it really frames the hole. It's awesome with these pot bunkers on the front right. It really has a British Open look to it. Not a long hole, but the tee shot is really important to be between the rock on the right and the bunker on the left. It is just a beautiful and fun hole. If you hit a good tee shot you can make a birdie, but with the granite and those pot bunkers, there is some trouble out there as well. It is just a beautiful hole to look at with all the natural granite around. You are constantly reminded that this is a course that was designed around the natural aspects of the region - the Canadian Shield. Beautiful. The green is pretty receptive. I like the way the left hill banks and funnels back into the middle of the green. It slopes off at the front and the back of the green is pretty difficult. It slopes back to front pretty well and is just a great hole.

Fourteenth Hole Another good tee shot you have to fit between the bunkers. I think the outstanding feature on this hole is all the rocks down the left hand side. The green really looks at you and you can see all the contours. Nice visual into the green. Back left looks like it will probably be the tougher shot. If you miss it left, there you are, kind of down in that bunker, or you are going to be on a side slope, a difficult hole there. I like how Ron has opened up all the front of the green. I love the playability in that you can really be creative in deciding whether to play a bump shot into the front off the green, or fly one in there. He has really left that option open which I really like. I also like that there is trouble around the edges of the greens with the bunkers. Because they are not right in front of the green, it does allow for a number of different types of shots that you can play into the green.

Fifteenth Hole Great little par three here for about 180 yards. It is well framed by the back bunkers and the front part of the green has a very deep penalizing layered bunker on the left and another one on the front right. A difficult green too, as you go along it slopes away from you. Beware; there are some tricky slopes in there.

Sixteenth Hole Great par five here. There is a big beautiful tree that you aim your tee shot off. Most amateurs would just aim straight at it and keep it up the right side away from the left hand bunker and the big rock just left of it. You are going to lay up because there is a little pot bunker in the fairway. It is a cool aspect of this hole. The amateurs are going to have to play around. You can leave yourself a medium range fairway wood or a long iron into the green. It is just a beautifully shaped hole, right through the trees again. This golf course is just absolutely beautiful. You have the rocks and the trees, just the general layout of the land, the way the bunkers are- it is unique. That is also what is unique about Muskoka, the rocks and the different types of holes that you can create out here. The second shot into that green is very rewarding. It has a lot of run up area in the front, and lots of chipping area around the greens that you can pitch in from. It is a hole that an amateur can make a birdie on if they hit a couple of good shots.

Seventeenth Hole Another good tee shot here on seventeen. You just want to get up and rip it because it's downhill, has great visuals and great targets to aim at on the right side of the rocks just beyond the big tree. The average amateur can aim it just at the base of the tree and try to keep it away from the bunker. You're left with an elevated tee shot with the rocks down the left side. The shape of the bunkers makes this a beautiful hole. Really well done.

Eighteenth Hole Coming up and over the ridge after your tee shot is really nice. It'll be tough off this down slope. Really demanding second shot in there- you have to curve around both ways but you have options. Alternatively you can lay it up over the first rock. You really get a sense for this hole when you look back down the fairway when you are up close to the green. You see how the rock is and how the contour is around here. It's a little like playing the big island of Hawaii with some of the lava flowing through the golf courses that you have to play around. Although it is similar, this is such distinctive rock. Beautiful natural granite follows you around this course. The thing I really love about Taboo is you really have to drive it well, and then you can be creative on your second shots and play a bunch of different types of shots into the greens. I think that is the real strength of this golf course - it's flexibility and appeal for all types of golfers.