The Lakes course at the Olympic club has a reputation for producing upsets & being a graveyard for great golfers . Its a course that has already raised a few eyebrows & everyone has a point of view about it . But a few bits of trivia before we get into a debate about what this course has in store for the best players in the world of golf as they start their 4 day quest to win this MAJOR .

@ The Lakes course does not have a single water hazard - so much for a appropriate name :)
@ The Olympic club which is where the Lakes course is , happens to be the oldest athletic club in the USA .

Now back to the course - it has 4 key features

1) Has extremely narrow fairways
2) They are all tree lined & the tree cover comes into play ever time you are not in the fairway
3) The green are very small & very well bunkered
4) The area around the green is slick .This is something the USGA has done ,which could mean a ball that rolls off a green can travel another 20 yards before it comes to rest - Fair ? . Very debatable

It also has a visually confusing design as many of the dogleg holes may be for e.g. a dogleg right but the fairway slopes the other way from right to left - called the reverse camber !! What it also means that you are on the fairway that slopes one way while the green you are attacking slopes the other way !!

How brutal is the course ?

That can be gauged by the fact that the first 6 holes have already scared the living daylights out of most of the golfers as they try & figure out how they would negotiate them . Just look at the numbers .

The first 6 holes on this course are reputed& could be the toughest starting holes ever for a Masters .

Hole 1 - 520 yard ,Par 4 - used to be a par 5 earlier
Hole 2- 428 yard ,Par 4
Hole 3- 247 yard ,Par 3
Hole 4- 430 yard ,Par 4
Hole 5- 498 yard , Par 4
Hole 6 - 490 yard , Par 4

That works out to a 6 hole , 2613 yard , Par 23 . Extrapolate that & imagine playing a 18 hole , 7839 yard , Par 69 course - WOW , that would be tough .

So while everyone talks about the 16th hole - a tough 670 yard ,Par 5 - the first 6 holes are what will make or break your scorecard .

So what would be a great score - a PAR round
What would be a spectacular score - under PAR
What would be a winning score - the simple answer would be to wait 4 days & find out , but let me stick my neck out & guess .

Anything around 5 under & they should be the US Open champions for 2012 !