The Hero World Challenge, an exclusive PGA Tour event hosted by Tiger Woods, is held at the stunning and challenging **Albany golf course in The Bahamas**. This article won't just tell you the name of the course, we'll break down exactly what makes it such a special test for the world's best players, explore its design, and share some coaching insights you can apply to your own game.
Since 2015, the world's elite golfers have descended upon Albany, a luxury resort community on the island of New Providence, for the Hero World Challenge. Unlike the tropical, palm-tree-lined courses many associate with island golf, Albany presents a very different picture. It’s a 7,414-yard, par-72 layout that seamlessly blends a windswept, links-style feel with modern, desert-style features.
The course was designed by a man who knows a thing or two about competing at the highest level: four-time major champion Ernie Els. His vision was to create a course that was both beautiful and strategic, demanding creative shot-making and rewarding intelligent play. What he and his team built at Albany is a layout characterized by sculpted dunes, vast sandy waste areas, and strategically placed water hazards that can turn a simple birdie opportunity into a potential disaster.
As a player, Ernie Els was known for his powerful yet seemingly effortless rhythm and his brilliant course management. That philosophy is woven into the fabric of Albany. The course isn't designed to be brutally unfair, instead, it's designed to make you think. Els provides generous landing areas off the tee, but the best angles for approaching the heavily-guarded greens are almost always from a riskier side of the fairway.
This design creates a constant series of risk-reward decisions. Do you take on the bunker guarding the corner of the dogleg to leave a simple wedge in, or do you play it safe to the wider-part of the fairway and accept a trickier approach shot over a deep pot bunker? This is the kind of challenge that excites top pros, and it’s a mindset all amateurs can learn from. The best golf isn't always about hitting the longest or straightest shot, but about hitting the smartest shot for your game in that moment.
Watching on TV, you might see low scores and think Albany is a pushover. But several key elements make it a stern test that demands a complete game. As a coach, these are the features I see that separate the players who contend from those who struggle.
Being an island course, the single biggest defense Albany has is the wind. It can switch direction and intensity in an instant, turning a straightforward approach shot with a 9-iron into a head-scratching calculation with a 7-iron. Tour players are masters at flighting the ball - controlling its trajectory to keep it below the wind - and judging how a crosswind will affect not only the direction but also the distance of the shot.
Coach's Tip for Your Game: When you play in the wind, don't just aim left or right to compensate. You have to commit to it. A great feel to practice on the range is "swinging easy when it's breezy." Taking one or even two extra clubs and making a smooth, balanced swing (around 75-80% power) will produce a lower, more penetrating ball flight that is less affected by the wind. Keeping the body turning through the shot, as you would on a normal swing, ensures you don't stall and just use your arms, which so often leads to a mis-hit in windy conditions.
Albany’s greens are large, undulating, and protected by deep, strategically placed bunkers and closely mown runoff areas. Missing a green doesn't mean you'll be in deep rough, instead, you might find your ball has rolled 20-30 yards away down a slope, leaving a delicate chip or putt back up a hill. The greens themselves are TifEagle Bermuda grass, which can be grainy and tricky to read for players unfamiliar with it. Putts will often break more aggressively when putting "downgrain" (away from the setting sun) and be slower putting "into the grain."
A signature feature of the Els design at Albany is the scoring opportunities. The course boasts five par-5s and several drivable par-4s, most notably the 7th and the 14th. This is where tournaments are often won or lost. Players are constantly tempted to hit driver and chase an eagle or easy birdie. However, each of these holes is flanked by serious trouble - water, sand, and awkward lies await any tee shot that isn't almost perfect.
This risk-reward setup tests a player’s discipline and self-awareness. A player who is driving it well might feel comfortable taking on the risk, while another might choose to lay back with an iron or hybrid, trusting their wedge game to secure a birdie the old-fashioned way. For the pros, a par on these holes can feel like a bogey, which adds a layer of mental pressure throughout the round.
To truly understand the course, let’s look at how a professional (and a smart amateur) would strategize on a few key holes.
The 9th hole is a mammoth 603-yard par-5 that doglegs sharply around a lake. For the pros, the tee shot is scary. The ideal line is down the right side, flirting with the sandy waste area, to shorten the hole. But any shot pushed a little too far right can find the water. From there, the second shot asks another question: lay up to a safe yardage or try to challenge the green in two? A massive bunker guards the entire left side of the green, so a long-iron or fairway wood must be hit with precision.
The Strategy Lesson: This hole teaches the importance of playing a hole backward. Decide what your ideal third shot yardage is (for most amateurs, that’s your full sand wedge or pitching wedge yardage) and select clubs for your first two shots that will leave you at that distance, in a safe position. Chasing a far-off green in two often brings double bogey into play, whereas two smart shots leave an easy third and a great chance at par or birdie.
At just 305 yards, the 14th is a classic risk-reward hole. It screams "Go for it!" The green is protected on the right by a large lake and on the left by a series of deep bunkers and sloping hollows. The smart play is often a simple 200-yard iron off the tee, leaving a full wedge into the putting surface. But with the tournament on the line, seeing a player like Tiger Woods or Justin Thomas pull driver here creates incredible drama.
The Strategy Lesson: Before you pull driver on a short par-4, ask yourself one question: "What is my most likely-miss?" If you tend to miss left, and the left side is safe, it might be worth the risk. If your miss matches where the major hazard is (like a slice towards the lake on #14), then laying up is almost always the right call. Making an easy par is much better than trying for an eagle and walking away with a double.
The 18th hole is a tough 470-yard par-4 that requires two excellent shots. Bunkers guard the left side of the fairway, and a huge sandy waste area lurks down the right. The approach shot is to a green protected on the right by a lake and short-left by another deep bunker. There is no easy bailout. To win the Hero World Challenge, you have to stand up on 18 and execute under pressure.
The Strategy Lesson: Faced with a tough finishing hole, your goal is to eliminate the "big number." On this hole, that means ensuring your tee shot finds the fairway, even if it means sacrificing some distance. Then, for the approach, identify the widest part of the green complex and aim there. It might leave you with a long putt, but a two-putt par is a fantastic score on a hole this difficult. Don't get hyper-focused on the pin and accidentally bring water or deep bunkers into play.
The Hero World Challenge is played at Albany in The Bahamas, an Ernie Els masterpiece that tests every facet of a player's game. It's a course that looks spectacular on television and provides a perfect stage for the drama of a high-stakes, small-field event by demanding thoughtful strategy and brilliant shot-making.
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