Ron Jackimowicz

Two flags on each green. And at least two tee boxes on each hole.

What a concept.

Cedar Bend is a nine-hole course that really plays like it’s a full 18.

OK, I admit it takes a little getting used to. It can be confusing walking up the first fairway and seeing a yellow and a red flag waving at you from the green.

“Hey, John, are we playing red or yellow?” I asked for the first of several times during the round.

“Yellow on the front.”

It started to make sense about halfway through the front nine — yellow tee markers equals yellow flags. Red tee markers, red flags.

Easy enough. But I still asked several more times.

The course plays to par 36 on both sides with 2,872 yards on the front nine and 3,020 on the back for a total of 5,892.  But with six holes playing at least 400 yards, it seemed longer.

Two of the holes — numbers 5 and 9 — switch par from the front to the back nine. On the front nine, No. 5 plays as a 442-yard par 5. With the tee box closer on the back nine, it measures just 403 yards and is considered a par 4.

Hole 9 plays as a 413-yard par 4 on the front side, but the second tee area adds 55 yards to the hole and it plays as a par-5 as No. 18.

I really like that touch.

The different tee boxes give each hole a different look. No. 1 is a fairly straight, 313-yard par 4. But when you come back to play it as No. 10, the tee box is on the other side of the creek that meanders through the course. Since the second tee is lower than No. 1, your drive is uphill to a fairway you can’t really see.

They’ve even found a way to trick up the par-3s. No. 4 is only 143 yards and is pretty straight, but measures 151 yards and the tee area is 20 yards to the left, giving it a more severe approach angle.

On No. 6, the par-3 measures just 134 yards and, with the pin on the right, gives you a nice wide landing area, but as No. 13, the tee box moves 20 yards left again and adds 10 yards. They also move the flag way over on the left edge, leaving you little room for error if you decide to go for the flag.

Outside of my par-birdie-par stretch at Sandpines last week, my stretch from 15-17 was about as well as I’ve played so far this summer.

No. 15 is the par-3 with the flag way on the left. My tee shot one-hopped the green and landed just on the hillside behind the green. A nice chip left me about four feet away for a par.

No. 16 has a tee box on the side of a hill, so those of us who slice a little bit end up playing a much longer second shot, sometimes from behind a tree. I managed to have a par putt that burned the rim but didn’t fall in and had to settle for a 5.

The 17th is 306 yards with a tee shot from an island that has to carry a pond. I was safely in the middle of the fairway and hit a stunning 9-iron to about eight feet. Once again, the ball rimmed the cup without going in on my birdie putt, leaving me a tap-in for par.

Again a solid closing hole would have given me a good round, but I built a snowman for a 50 on the back side and a 103 for the day.

It was a long drive to get there, but well worth it. And as always, it was a lovely walk.