The aggressive, links-style Club at Bond Head was created by architects Jason Straka, Michael Hurdzan and Dana Fry and calls on every club in your bag and every shot you have—plus a couple you probably don’t.

At 7,500 yards from the tips, with a devilish rating of 146, Bond Head starts out innocently enough, with a downhill 350-yard par 4, but quickly picks up speed. Beware the firing-range bunkering on the short par-4 6^th and the difficult straightaway 7^th, a par-5 that demands a blind tee shot into a fairway pockmarked with a nasty array of pot bunkers.

On the back nine, the 313-yard par-4 11^th is reachable for big hitters who can fly the gnarly fescue grasses and rolling hillside. The towering, 642-yard par-5 12^th, an uphill monster with a wide, banking fairway, rewards a well-placed tee shot, a strategic second and an approach aimed precisely enough to carom along the steep apron to the green.

That’s just the South Course—take a peak at the North Course at Bond Head that will provide a rolling parkland golf experience that stands in stark contrast to the rough-hewn links-style of the South, says Golf Director Nigel Hollidge. Clocking in at some 7,200 yards, the steep elevation changes and expansive fairways of the North will see their first golf balls this month. 

TOTAL YARDS: South 7,477; North 7,083

NUMBER OF HOLES: 36

LONGEST HOLES: South 12^th, par-5, 669 yards; North 8^th, par-5, 602 yards

APRÉS-GOLF: Relax at the Bed & Breakfast at Bond Head, a luxurious six-room “country manor” overlooking the new 18 that just underwent a $1.1-million renovation (877-GRAND-4-U).

Green fees are $80 to $140 depending on the day of the week.