Hole-by-Hole Guide
Hole 1
Hole by hole guide by 2010 WGC-HSBC Champion Francesco Molinari: Quite a long and tough opening hole. The tee shot is a little bit downhill and with bunkers to the right. It's quite important to hit the fairway because the second shot is going uphill and it's very difficult to stop the ball on the green if you're not on the fairway.
Hole 2
Hole by hole guide by 2010 WGC-HSBC Champion Francesco Molinari: The second hole is probably a better birdie chance than the first. There's water all the way up the left and additional trees have been planted down the right side of the fairway. If you can carry the water you can be quite aggressive with your tee shot. But it's a risk/reward shot and if you bail out a little more to the right it's a much more difficult second shot and you might have to lay up - but it's still a good birdie chance.
Hole 3
Hole by hole guide by 2010 WGC-HSBC Champion Francesco Molinari: A short par 4 but again you have to be quite accurate off the tee because the fairway isn’t too wide. If you miss to the right there are some trees blocking your second shot. The second shot is also going uphill so you’d rather be on the fairway to be able to get good spin on the ball because the green is small and well defended by bunkers.
Hole 4
Hole by hole guide by 2010 WGC-HSBC Champion Francesco Molinari: A tough hole. There is water left and bunkers all around a sloping green split into two levels left and right. You need to be very precise with your approach shot because if you miss the green it’s a really tough up and down from anywhere.
Hole 5
Hole by hole guide by 2010 WGC-HSBC Champion Francesco Molinari: This is quite a long hole. You need to avoid the bunkers to the right off the tee, especially since the right hand fairway bunker has been lengthened. The approach shot is uphill to a narrow green, so you need to be precise. If you miss it left, the green slopes away from you. It’s a tough par 4.
Hole 6
Hole by hole guide by 2010 WGC-HSBC Champion Francesco Molinari: Another strong par 3. There’s water left of the green and a lot depends on the pin placement here. When the pin is long and left it’s an even harder hole and the green usually firms up quite a lot and slopes away from you to the right, so you can’t bail out too much from the water.
Hole 7
Hole by hole guide by 2010 WGC-HSBC Champion Francesco Molinari: This is a nice hole. It gives you the option to take driver off the tee and finish short left of the green. You’ll then be sitting a good 10-15 feet below the green and you need to hit it from there. Otherwise, you can lay up with a hybrid or a long iron to about 120-130 yards short of the green. It’s a green that slopes away from you at the back which means you need to find the fairway off the tee so that you can be accurate with the second shot.
Hole 8
Hole by hole guide by 2010 WGC-HSBC Champion Francesco Molinari: A very long par 5 that’s unreachable in two for most of the guys. If you want to reach it in two you have to carry the water on the left off the tee and it’s quite a demanding tee shot. Otherwise it’s probably a three wood to the right side of the fairway but not too far as an additonal bunker has been added to the right. It is then a lay-up to about 120 yards short of the green. There’s water in front of the sloping green so it’s probably an easier hole to play in three shots. The green is shallow so it’s not easy to go for it with a three wood or a long iron.
Hole 9
Hole by hole guide by 2010 WGC-HSBC Champion Francesco Molinari: Another very strong par 4. First of all, there’s a big bunker left off the tee which you need to avoid to make the second shot a little bit easier. Then there’s water right of the green on the second shot and the green slopes towards the water, so if you miss it left it’s a really tricky up and down as everything is sloping towards the water.
Hole 10
Hole by hole guide by 2010 WGC-HSBC Champion Francesco Molinari: There’s a bunker to the left off the tee here. It’s probably a three wood for most of the guys and then a short iron but again it’s a small target and the green is well defended by some big bunkers on the right. There are a few different slopes on the green so you need to be close to the hole to have a chance of a birdie, otherwise it’s a struggle.
Hole 11
Hole by hole guide by 2010 WGC-HSBC Champion Francesco Molinari: Quite a long hole with a dog-leg to the right and bunkers to the right off the tee which you need to avoid to have a good chance of reaching the green in two. The green is defended by a bunker at the front and the putting surface is usually quite firm, so a long iron into the green is quite a tough shot.
Hole 12
Hole by hole guide by 2010 WGC-HSBC Champion Francesco Molinari: A very long par 3 with a green well guarded by bunkers again. The green is really divided into sections – one on the right and one on the left – so you need to be precise, especially when the flag is on the left. You need to make sure you carry the bunkers and if you over-hit it and finish in the back fringe it’s not the best place to be.
Hole 13
Hole by hole guide by 2010 WGC-HSBC Champion Francesco Molinari: Another tricky par 4 that can play longer than last year, since the additional tee box was introduced. There’s a dog-leg to the right and you need to carry the bunkers to the right off the tee to leave yourself a short iron into the green. The green is quite big but it’s sloping and when the flag is short right everything slopes towards the water so you can’t be too aggressive with the second shot.
Hole 14
Hole by hole guide by 2010 WGC-HSBC Champion Francesco Molinari: A long par 5 which is reachable in two if it’s a bit downwind. You need to avoid the bunkers to the left and right side of the fairway with the tee shot. If you want to go for it, you need to go over water with the second shot but a new bunker has been put in to catch any shots short and slightly left of the green. It’s a birdie chance but there’s plenty of trouble as well.
Hole 15
Hole by hole guide by 2010 WGC-HSBC Champion Francesco Molinari: This is a long hole with a dog-leg to the left. There’s a slight advantage here for long hitters as they can carry the downslope with the driver and get a good kick to put them a long way down the fairway. It’s another very well defended green with bunkers short and long as well as a really steep slope at the front of the green, so you need to be accurate with the yardage. Another strong par 4.
Hole 16
Hole by hole guide by 2010 WGC-HSBC Champion Francesco Molinari: You have two options here. One is to lay up on the left with a three or a four iron. The other is to go for the green with driver or a three wood. It’s another very narrow green which slopes from left to right and if you miss it to the left it leaves a really tough shot. There’s a bunker short of the green so there’s probably a better chance of a birdie if you lay up and then pitch on.
Hole 17
Hole by hole guide by 2010 WGC-HSBC Champion Francesco Molinari: Quite a long par 3 again with water to the right. If you miss the green right, everything slopes towards the water. There are quite deep bunkers to the left and a big slope in the middle of the green, so, again, you don’t want to be too far away from the hole because it leaves you a really tricky putt, usually down the hill.
Hole 18
Hole by hole guide by 2010 WGC-HSBC Champion Francesco Molinari: A great finishing hole. Being a par 5 there’s a birdie chance but, again, you can find trouble very easily. There’s water all the way up to the green off the tee and a new bunker has been added to the left edge of the fairway. If you hit a good drive you can reach the green in two but you have to hit the second shot over water. There’s water to the right of the green as well, so if you bail out left it leaves you a very tricky chip shot or bunker shot onto a green that slopes towards the water. This is a very strong finishing hole.