By Olle Nordberg, Former Asian Tour and European Tour professional

At most tour events there are a few key holes that have the possibility to make or break a round, scoring wise and mentally. Holes that can prove pivotal to a win or top finish on Sunday afternoons if they are managed successfully or mean a missed opportunity if not executed well.

They can be risk/reward type of holes such as reachable par-4’s or par-5’s where eagles and birdies can be had, but with trouble waiting for errant shots bringing bogeys or worse into play. They can also be difficult holes where par is a good score that players will have to navigate safely to keep a good round going.

At Saujana Golf and Country Club’s Palm Course, also nicknamed the Cobra, holes number 2, 13, 17 and 18 has been key to victory in the last two editions of the Maybank Championship:

KEY HOLES

• Hole 2*: A long 493-yard par-4 and the hardest hole on the course, playing to an average score of 4.265, or 0.265 over par the last two years. Only one eagle and 31 birdies were made on this hole in 2017/2018, but 232 bogeys, 31 doubles and 8 triple bogeys or worse. It has proven to be the most difficult green to hit in regulation, with a GIR percentage of only 45.63%. (*This hole was played as number 9 in 2017)
• Hole 13: The shortest par-5 on the Palm course playing only 523 yards on the card, and downhill as well. Should be reachable in two for most if not all players in the field, assuming they find the fairway off the tee. There is water to be found in front of and right of the green, so hitting the fairway will be key in order to go for the green on the second shot. Only 46.79% of players found this fairway off the tee in 2017/2018, but those who do should have an excellent chance for a birdie or better. The hole has played to an average of 4.735 or 0.265 under par with 14 eagles and 340 birdies made, but also 10 doubles and 4 triple bogeys or worse.
• Hole 17: This dogleg left hole is the shortest par-4 on the course and reachable off the tee for long hitters. An aggressive tee shot also brings a lot of trouble into play with out-of-bounds to the right and water on the left, so virtually all players elect to lay up and have a wedge left to the green for a low risk birdie chance instead. The average score on the 17th was 3.775 or 0.255 under par in 2017/2018, with 2 eagles and 301 birdies made, but also 17 doubles and 2 triple bogeys and worse.
• Hole 18: The final hole on the course has played as the third easiest hole in the last two Maybank Championships, and offers up a chance of a grandstand finish for a player needing some last-minute heroics. At 569 yards dogleg right and slightly uphill, players will need to drive the ball in the left side of the fairway to have a clear shot at going for this green in two. Anything right of center of the fairway will require a cut around the palm trees to get to the green, or a layup to a good yardage for the third shot. It has played to an average score of 4.685 or 0.315 under par with 8 eagles and 336 birdies made, but also 5 doubles.

View from the 18th fairway

ANALYSIS

Saujana GCC’s Palm course offers players some good birdie opportunities on the back nine coming down the stretch on Sunday, and in both the last two years we have seen low-scoring come from behind victories. India’s Shubhankar Sharma won the 2018 edition with a closing 10-under-par 62 from four shots back, and Fabrizio Zanotti from Paraguay won with a 9-under-par 63 coming from six behind in 2017.

Sharma won the Maybank Championship in 2018 by playing these key holes in 8-under-par for the week, a 50% birdie average, while his closest pursuer Jorge Campillo navigated them in 5-under par.

Although both players birdied number 17 and 18 to finish their rounds on Sunday, Campillo only managed a par on the very reachable par-5 13th hole where he missed the fairway off the tee.

Zanotti’s key hole route to victory was similar in that he played them in 8-under-par vs. 5-under-par for his closest challenger David Lipsky, but also very different.

The Paraguayan played the difficult second hole (then ninth hole) in 2-under-par for the week, a gain of just over three shots vs. the field average, and three shots less than Lipsky.

It should also be noted that Zanotti indeed had the grandstand finish that can be had at Saujana, making an eagle three on 18 after also making a birdie on the penultimate 71st hole.