Like the previous hole, Hole 17 offers a tourist-friendly view of the Washington Monument. However, the tee shot is anything but friendly. The fairway is angled such that any miss to the right is likely to end up in the rough, if not in the tall stuff and out of play. The trees on the left also threaten to thwart anyone who tries to take an overly aggressive line and cut off some of the hole’s considerable length. Often playing over 550 (and sometimes as long as 575) from the tips, this is not a great opportunity to get home in two, and the priority should be an accurate drive that finds the fairway, not distance. The optimal play is right along the cartpath, just to the right of the trees, which should track right toward the 250 stake, which is the ideal landing spot. From there, you can decide how aggressive you want to be, although a layup is the only real option for all but the longest hitters. The reward isn’t great enough to justify the risk, especially considering that the tree line on the right side of the fairway is pretty tight for the entire length of the hole. The green is elevated and has two tiers, and getting stuck on the wrong tier can make two-putting difficult, so you need to be precise with your approach distance. Don’t try to go after the back pins, because there is a downslope at the back of the top tier that will dump any balls that land there off the back of the green. A hole this long this late into the round is an endurance test, not a scoring opportunity.