(NOTE: This is the sixth installment in a weekly series featuring some of the toughest golf holes across Hampshire County. The series will run each Saturday in print throughout the summer.)

SOUTHAMPTON — From a tobacco barn to a charming clubhouse, from an average 9-hole course to a lovely 18-hole track with fairways as crisp as they come, Southampton Country Club has progressed immensely since its grand opening in 1951.

John Strycharz and Bud Czelusniak opened it then, and about four decades ago John’s sons, Jim and Tom, took over. Since they purchased more land to expand the course to a full 18 holes and renovated the clubhouse in 2010, Southampton’s reputation is up there as one of the best in the region.

Tom is the course’s head superintendent, and Jim runs the show in the clubhouse. The fairways rival any private club, according to Jim, and he complimented his brother’s tremendous grounds work over the past several years. Almost every day Jim hears golfers rave about the fairways at Southampton. The other aspects of the course are quite nice as well, but those stand out among the others.

“The greens are very good, but the fairways are what we get the most compliments about, for sure,” Jim Strycharz said. “They’re like rugs. They are really great fairways. You can play the ball down here.”

From the tips, Southampton plays 6,587 yards. From the front tees it’s a par 71, from all other tees it plays as a par 72.

The course isn’t abnormally challenging, but there are plenty of spots to run into trouble – as nearly all 18 holes are lined with trees on either side. There are only 10 bunkers throughout the entire place, but the ones that are out there are strategically placed to make it likely you’ll end up in one with a slight mis-hit.

And everyone has a golfing friend whose hole comes to an end once they’re in a bunker.

“It makes it easier for the average golfer,” Jim Strycharz said of the lack of sand traps. “The average golfer is pretty much terrified when they hit it in the sand. They don’t know if they’re gonna hit it a foot or 100 yards. The average golfer would rather be in the rough around the green than the bunker, but good players, like the pros on TV, would much rather be in a bunker because they can control it better. But there aren’t that many bunkers here, so that’s a good thing for most people.”

Between the great shape of the course from tee to green and the fact that you can be aggressive with your approach shots on several of the holes, Southampton is an entertaining 18 holes.

The 16th offers a difficult look

While the length of No. 16 can make things tricky on its own, the layout of the hole is an entirely different beast.

Playing 420 yards from the tips, the 16th requires elite shot-making. The course’s second-longest par 4 features severely undulating fairways that slope hard from left to right, and go up and down throughout the entire hole. Although it isn’t super narrow, the hole is still extremely challenging because of the uncertainty of what lie you’ll have even after hitting a perfect tee shot.

The ball could be below your feet, above your feet, buried in thick rough if you miss the fairway or behind one of the many big pine trees that line the left side. There is also a lateral hazard down the right side. And on top of that, your second shot has to carry a brook on its way to an elevated putting surface. The combined aspects make No. 16 Southampton’s toughest golf hole.

“No. 16 is the hardest hole,” Jim Strycharz said. “It’s one of the longer par 4s, has some side hills and up-and-down slopes where you can get some uneven lies. It’s pretty long, there’s a brook you have to hit it over, so that’s the hardest hole.”

The most important thing to remember is where to set yourself up on 16. With the left to right slope, a long slice off the tee will run down into – at best – the thick rough, and may even trickle into the hazard.

There is a section of fairway that is relatively flat, and it’s a common aim point for most players. But it’s not very far, so landing your ball there would require a different club than driver.

If you were to play the hole that way, then a long second shot into that tough green is the result. That said, Strycharz advises golfers to take less club and ensure a solid lie rather than blast away and hope the ball doesn’t end up on an up, down or side slope.

“A good golfer would probably play more for position than length,” Strycharz said. “That would probably mean hitting a 3-wood or something to get it to that flat lie. If you use a driver, and you’re a longer hitter, there’s a severe side hill just to the right of the fairway. The ball will bounce down the hill and into the thick rough or even into the woods if it rolls far enough. If it’s in the rough, you’ll have a downhill lie in the thick stuff and it makes it a very difficult second shot.”

The unique, secluded fourth

Strycharz tabbed No. 4 as the premier hole on the course, and the 175-yard par 3 is certainly a fun one.

The green is tucked into the woods and surrounded by a host of trees on all sides. If you don’t hit the elevated green or at least come very close, well, you’re in trouble. There is almost no room to miss left, right or long, and you absolutely can’t miss short – a big hill slopes down toward a hazard.

You need to fly the ball onto the green, and that can be a somewhat tough ask from the tips – especially when they move them back to a spot that plays nearly 200 yards.

“The fourth hole, a par 3, is probably one of the nicest looking holes,” Strycharz said. “It’s cut out of the woods, it’s an elevated green with trees all around it. There’s a brook in front of it, two of the tee boxes are elevated so you’re up a little higher. It’s just a nice-looking hole.”

It may be picturesque, but there’s nothing easy about No. 4 at Southampton Country Club.

“The farther the tees go back, the more challenging it is,” Strycharz said. “It can be set back as far as 190 yards at times, and you gotta carry the hazard, you gotta hit it straight because there are trees left and trees right. And the green is elevated. The front of the green is rough, but it’s a severe hill where you’re not gonna be able to bounce it onto the green. So if the hole is playing 190, you need to carry it 190.”

Garrett Cote is a Gazette sports reporter. He can be reached at gcote@gazettenet.com