Mike Goodes hits his second shot from the bunker guarding the 17th green at Crosswater Club in Sunriver during The Tradition golf tournament in 2008.

Todd Sickles jokes that the most challenging holes are 1 through 18, as any hole on a golf course can determine how good a day on the links is.

But Sickles, the general manager at Quail Run Golf Course in La Pine, believes that the course’s most challenging hole comes at the end, where golfers can either have a great or frustrating conclusion to their round.

“Most courses want to have a good 18th hole,” Sickles said. “You gotta earn it.”

The 18th hole at Quail Run is a par 4 and 402 yards to the pin from the white tees. There is a pond that stretches along the right side of the hole, where balls often get lost.

The two-tiered green has another water hazard in front of it.

“It is beautiful,” Sickles said. “But it is challenging.”

But the 18th hole at Quail Run is hardly the only challenging hole in Central Oregon.

Elvin Aponte, a pro shop attendant at

The Greens at Redmond, rattled off several challenging holes that have given golfers a difficult time.

It could be the second hole, with its sloped green, or the 13th hole, where the wind always seems to be blowing the ball toward the water hazard, or the eighth hole, where the green is surrounded by water hazards.

But none are quite as challenging as the 15th hole, a par 4 that is roughly 288 yards from the pin, Aponte said.

First, the fairway is narrow.

Then, there is a water hazard along the left side of the hole.

If you hook your shot, you are in the water. And if you slice it, Aponte said, you are in the trees.

And just for fun, there is a tree in the middle of the fairway just as the hole takes a 90-degree dogleg left.

“That hole can make or break your day,” Aponte said.

Andy Heinly, the Summit boys golf coach and owner of Parscription Golf in Bend, mentioned three holes that have been known to give golfers trouble, including No. 17 and No. 6 at Crosswater Club in Sunriver.

The 17th hole is a challenging par 3 that ranges from 173 to 232 yards.

The sixth hole has a split fairway and a three-tiered green.

A golfer could have a great drive on the hole and still find trouble if the approach shot onto the green isn’t well placed.

There might be a lot of strokes wasted with a putter.

“If you aren’t on the proper side of the green,” Heinly said. “You are toast.”

The most challenging par 5 in Central

Oregon, in Heinly’s eyes, is the third hole

at Widgi Creek Golf Club, a 653-yard

behemoth that is one of the longest holes in the country.

“That is always a tough one,” Heinly said. “It demands a great drive and second shot.”