Dramatic elevation changes greet you at the No. 1 tee box at Innisbrook Resort's Copperhead course. (Courtesy of Innisbrook Resort)

Hole-by-hole breakdown: Innisbrook's Copperhead keeps challenging your game

By Tom Spousta,
Contributor

Playing Innisbrook's Copperhead golf course? Need some local knowledge? Host Professional Jay Overton has been at Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club for three decades.

TampaBayGolf.com recently sat down with Overton and asked him to take us through the Copperhead, Island, Highlands South and Highlands North golf courses.

Copperhead: Overview

Copperhead isn't one of the PGA Tour's most popular stops because it's a pushover. As host of the new Transitions Championship for Healthy Sight tournament in March, the pros know they aren't going to go low. But they also appreciate the nuances and challenges Copperhead presents amid the rolling terrain that's unique for a Florida course. From the dips and rises to the elevated greens and double-dogleg par 5s - a specialty of architect Larry Packard - it's a layout that demands they pay attention to every shot.

"It's like shooting pool," Overton said. "Copperhead mandates hitting the ball to certain spots. You have to find the landing areas in order to hit good approach shots. You can't just overpower this golf course."

Copperhead's front 9 vs. back 9

The front is a traditional layout with two par 3s and two par 5s. Like all of Innisbrook Resort's golf courses, you're going to find one double-dogleg par 5 per every nine holes. Overall, there's not much difference between Copperhead's two nines. You finish with a long, uphill par 3 and par 4 on both sides. But on the back, three par 3s give the illusion of being able to score more easily.

Here, Overton offers his analysis on Copperhead's design and a few of its more challenging holes:

Copperhead's fifth hole: 570 yards, par 5

This is an unreachable par 5 straight up the hill and then down the fairway, before slightly turning left. Strategically, you have to be very, very good off the tee, what with a big tree in the middle of the fairway. If you hit driver, the fairway bunkers come into play, and all that gets you is a shorter layup. You can't reach the green in two, anyway, so a 3-wood off the tee and laying back is the best play. It's setting up your third shot to a green that runs off the back that's the most important aspect of the hole, Overton said.

Copperhead's sixth hole: 440 yards, par 4

This hole is not an incredibly long par 4 but a very strategic dogleg right with the fairway running away to the left. The fairway was designed to make you fade the ball to neutralize the hill and stop the ball from going through the fairway. The pros opt to hit a fairway wood and take a longer shot into the green rather than risk trying to curve a driver. Chad Campbell was an example of this during this year's tournament, Overton noted. He laid back and hit a 4-iron into the green. You just don't set out to birdie this hole.

Copperhead's ninth hole: 400 yards, par 4

This is just a real good finishing hole. The club moved the tees back a little bit here, which brings the big bunker on the right into play. Rather than hit a driver and carry the bunker and get in the rough and make a mistake, the pros will hit a 3-wood and try to give themselves the best angle into a narrow, elongated green. It's a steep, uphill second shot, and when you're playing in Florida, you almost always forget this, but you simply have to add at least one club. This plays much more severely uphill than even No. 18.

Copperhead's 16th hole: 430 yards, par 4

Year in and year out, this hole ranks as one of the hardest par 4s on the PGA Tour. A dogleg right with water all the way down the right side, the club added about 40 yards here and moved the tee back to the right. You can challenge the water hazard and hit driver and have your 7-iron to the green, but most guys play it safe, hit a 3-wood to the left and take a 180- to 200-yard approach shot, Overton said. Again, you just don't set out to make birdie here.

Copperhead's 17th hole: 215 yards, par 3

The club added almost 40 feet of green, making it extremely deep and giving it more of a false front where shots roll back down. In doing so, it ended up with pin placements back right and back left that are very small targets. If you make a mistake and short side yourself, you're probably going to make bogey. Overton has to hit a 5-wood to those back pins now.

Copperhead's 18th hole: 420 yards, par 4

This is a great finishing hole. You go up the hill into a backdrop of pine trees. It's not that long, guys can hit driver, 7-iron or driver, 8-iron. But in the landing area, there's bunkers on the left and right sides. You simply have to hit that fairway, according to Overton. It's narrow, and if you hit it in the rough, it's an incredibly hard shot into a green set into the side of the hill. It's got different tiers and is extremely undulating. There are really no easy pin placements here. It's a great series of finishing holes.

December 10, 2008

Veteran golf writer Tom Spousta keeps one eye on the PGA Tour and another watching golf vacation hotspots and letting travelers in on the best place to vacation. He has covered golf and other sports for USA Today and The New York Times. Tom lives on a Donald Ross-designed golf course in Sarasota, Fla.