Beverly County Club - 14th Hole - before/after

[Brian_Gracely]

I think there was an old thread about this (I couldn't find it), but Paul asked me to publish these photos.  I really wish I could have gotten over to BCC this weekend, but unfortunately the itinerary went a different direction

Beverly #14 - Before


Beverly #14 - After

[Andy Hodson]

Although the seasons changed in the photos, the hole didn't much at all to my eye.

A little different on the left side, but I hope they didn't spend much money on the change.

[Brian_Gracely]

If I recall the original thread correctly, a few things come to mind:

- Tree removal - notice that none of the bunkers are blocked by trees anymore

- Bunkers are restored to original shapes, depths and faces, along with a few bunkers (back right, left side) recovered

- Green returned to original size, noticeable on back left and back right of picture.

This was part of an overall restoration by Ron Prichard...notice many of the other threads and photos that Paul Richards has posted.

[tlavin]

Although the seasons changed in the photos, the hole didn't much at all to my eye.

A little different on the left side, but I hope they didn't spend much money on the change.

Actually, you're we didn't pay much for changing that hole.  And you're right, the hole doesn't look like it's that different in the two photos, but the bunkering is much more rugged and appealing to the eye now.  The fairway bunkers are now very much more in play.  And the green has been expanded significantly, which brings some demonic hole locations into play.  Overall, this may be the weakest hole on the golf course, since it is straight-away and only 325 yards, but the restoration took bland and made it appetizing, IMHO.

[tlavin]

I should add that the "after" photo is not accurate, since we removed another handful of trees from the left rough.  The look from the tee is of an imposing green site surrounded by bunkers, preceded by a fairway bunkered in a way that takes driver/fairway wood out of a good player's hands.

[A_Clay_Man]

Terry, I'm sure you don't mean "weak" from a design perspective. Do you? Would "breather" be more accurate. If so, I'll bet this breather can bite.

Anyone who golfed the sixth hole at Banff recently, the before picture of BCC's 14th, illustrates the same loss of greenspace. At Banff it seemed to jump off the canvas, even after we were told "No".

[Brian_Gracely]

Terry, I'm sure you don't mean "weak" from a design perspective. Do you? Would "breather" be more accurate. If so, I'll bet this breather can bite.

Adam,

I hear that comment all the time from people that infrequently play Ross courses, or play a bunch of other courses and try to make comparisions.  On paper this might be considered weak (short par4), but if the green is challenging (as are many of the greens on short Ross courses), I've seen almost as many 5s & 6s as I see 3s on these types of holes.  There just something in your head that tells you "I should birdie this hole" and you go for the aggressive play off the tee or on the approach.  

I saw this first hand with the two doubles I made on #6 and #16 at Holston Hills last week.....two holes that are a combined 620yds (330 & 290).

[tlavin]

No, I just mean easier.  It's a terrific short hole, especially considering the fact that there are no angles to the hole at all.  In terms of the routing, Ross did a phenomenal job of laying out this golf course, considering that it is a true rectangle hemmed in by a four-lane city street and a railroad line and bisected by another four-lane street.  From a design perspective, this hole is a bit of genius, IMHO.  When we renovated Beverly, it was Prichard's idea to do this hole first in order to show the membership what he was capable of doing.  The results were very persuasive.

I'm no expert, but most of the great architects of today are building at least one short par-4 that presents a number of risk/reward options off the tee, with a challenging putting surface.  This hole, among many others, merely shows that Ross's work is enduringly good.