[Scott_Burroughs]

Not that many, really, but can anyone ever really get sick of
pics of Mecca?

#6, with #9 and Porch in background:


partial rainbow above #5 green:


rain cloud in distance past #7 and #8:


#17 and #18 in the background:


I've never seen any pics of SH that weren't of the course or  
Porch, so here's the scene of Dismal River mini-gorge from the
balcony of cabin #24:

[Scott_Burroughs]

Do you really need the date?

I think that was the default setting that I haven't changed.

[Jfaspen]

Date or no date, I appreciate the pictures, you are correct in that you can never have too many.

I still have a picture as my desktop from a thread of a long time ago.

[JakaB]

#17 and #18 in the background:

One bunker too many on that hole....can anybody say overkill..

[Jim Franklin]

They are blowouts not manmade bunkers. JB, you still crack me up. I will miss the camraderie this weekend.

[ed_getka]

Scott,
    Keep 'em coming. Rarely does a day go by that I don't think of SH. It is my favorite course, and the people there are great. Such a refreshing absence of pretense.

[TEPaul]

My God, what a golf course. It just has to be "the bar"! It just has to be.

[JakaB]

#17 and #18 in the background:

One bunker too many on that hole....can anybody say overkill..

[size=10]HERESY!!!!!![/size]

 

I don't know how the hole plays but I do know the visuals in this picture are jumbled and strangely claustophobic....I don't think I have ever seen such a beautiful piece of property ruined by a mixture or greenspace, golfers and cart paths.   It can't be just me...It is not a knock on the course...but this picture makes me nervous...it is like when I can't find Waldo..

[ForkaB]

It's not just you, JakaB.  I find that picture jarring too.  But, until I see it for myself, I'll continue to trust my good friends that seem to agree that SH is greater than sliced bread.

[Marty Bonnar]

What is it about Sand Hills that makes the skyscapes (cloudscapes?) the PERFECT foil for the landscape. There appears to always be as much visual interest above your head as there is below!

FBD.

[THuckaby2]

Of course that picture is jarring.

But that's because you're looking at 17 from
 way up on top of a hill, from a tee that is
no longer used (or at least it was put out of play
when I was there two years ago);

and

half of the bunkers you see aren't part of
the 17th hole - they're what you hit over,
and try to avoid on the left, of the 18th.

There are different pictures of 17 that show the hole
how it plays, and I'm guessing no one would
find those pictures "jarring".  The angle would be far
to the right of this pic, (going over that tee pad
you see on the low right corner of this pic)
and you'd be looking a bit up at the green.
  Oh, the effect might be jarring if
one is afraid of a tough golf shot - but I'm sure that's
not the case with either John or Rich.

 

TH

[Jeff_Brauer]

"I don't know how the hole plays but I do know the visuals in this picture are jumbled and strangely claustophobic....I don't think I have ever seen such a beautiful piece of property ruined by a mixture or greenspace, golfers and cart paths.  It can't be just me...It is not a knock on the course...but this picture makes me nervous...it is like when I can't find Waldo.. "

John,

Which bunker is the one that is too many, IYHO?

And, how can a site where you can see about 50 miles in most directions ever give a sense of claustrophobia?

Shivas has it right, 17 is a cool rendition of the Postage Stamp or Island green, unlike other holes on the course. I don't think I've parred it more than once in a half dozen playings.

BTW, the other par 3 on the back nine - 14 - is one hard bugger, too - uphill, plateau green, always between clubs, etc. I usually play the long club and chip back if necessary.....the semi - deliberate miss someone spoke of in another thread recently.

Personal note - the blowout bunker on 18 in the background is where I almost met my demise. A playing partner asked me to scramble up the bank to get a pic of him playing out of the bunker......I thought the crickets were awfully loud.....and looked down, to see I had come within inches of sitting on a rattlesnake.  Fortunatly, he/she rattled like crazy, and stared up at me as if to say, please don't make me bite you. I jumped off the bank (probably setting an unofficial world record of some kind) as quickly as I could.

Say what you want about SH - it is definitely not the place you want to get bit by a rattler, with the hospital in North Platte.
 
 

[JakaB]

Jeff,

Seems like Huck says the pic is taken from a poor angle...but...if I had known which bunker was the one that was too much I would have said so....I am just a bit troubled by the front bunker that only penalizes Moriarty and his buds while at the same time eliminating a hard low running hook in a four club wind.....if there is a tee right of the photogs stance that is...

[THuckaby2]

John, the hole is 150 yards at most.
There is a way to run it in I suppose,
(between the bunkers) but only a fool
 would try it.  Yep, it's a forced carry all
right.  Damn, what a shitty golf hole.

 

[JakaB]

Huck,

I'm not saying it is a s...tty golf hole....I'm saying the pic doesn't fit my eye.   If you combine poor visuals with architecture that fits equally as well on a lake in Florida you get an embarrassingly average hole....sorry.

[THuckaby2]

But John, this pic SHOULDN'T fit your eye,
that is if you are trying to get a sense of what
type of golf hole #17 is.

This picture does a great job of showing one'
what Sand Hills is like, in general.  Those are the colors
you see, the types of bunkers, etc.

There are just FAR better pictures if assessment
of 17 as a golf hole, in terms of architecture, fun,
how to play it, whatever, is the goal.

And this is a great golf hole.  It really is.

TH

[JakaB]

Huck,

Would you drive 100 miles just to play that hole ten times...not me...but I would drive 100 miles to play the 17th at Sawgrass...Not gonna do it...but I just listed a bunch of holes in my mind that I would drive a hundred miles to play....and that ain't one of them.    That hole is boring filler....16 and 18 must really be something special...

[THuckaby2]

John, you truly do need to see this in person.

I would drive 100 miles to play that hole ten times, with
absolutely no hesitation.  It''s not filler in any way.
It's a truly great short par 3, in my mind right there in the
class with 17 TPC, 7 Pebble, 15 Cypress, 8 Troon, whichever
other great ones you want to name.  The green is maddeningly
tough to hit, and the visuals to me are damn near as great
as those others I just mentioned.

BTW, 16 and 18 are pretty fantastic holes as well... so are
the other fifteen not mentioned, at this the greatest
course on the planet.

TH

[Jeff_Brauer]

John,

I would have guessed you would say that front bunker, but really, the angle of the green and what not don't allow much of a run in - if it does, there is a slot through there, but its not that kind of hole.  Had it been left as native, the run up shot still would have about 15 yards of approach, more than enough, even in maintenance meld dryish conditions.  In short, that front bunker probably doesn't help or hurt the hole.

BTW, there are a few more of those, like on hole 4, for example, dug in just in front of tees simply to put a hazard in the minds eye, rather than allow an unfettered view of the fairway.  That is a C and C design theory, rather than perfect definition.  You got a problem with that?

Frankly, you have to drive more than 100 miles to play this hole even once (although most who do stay two days and play 3-4 times) and its worth it.  16 and 18 aren't bad either!  While you could build an island green anywhere, this hole could only exist in a few select regions, which in itself makes it worthy of the drive.

[JakaB]

Shivas,

Don't you agree that this missing this green is not enough of a penalty to induce greatness for a 150 yd 17th....for the good player...what is there to be nervous about....hell, for the hack...what are they going to do..make a bogey...

And for you guys who compare this to the Postage Stamp....if if don't look like the Postage Stamp, don't play like a Postage Stamp and can't kick your ass like the Postage Stamp....it ain't a Postage Stamp.    These bunkers while beautiful....look amazingly simple to hit out of...not Postage worthy..

[A_Clay_Man]

Yes John, Being in that right bunker ,and having a fifteen foot wall of sand to blast over, was the easiest shot of my career.

[THuckaby2]

John, John, John.

I have played the Postage Stamp.  I know the Postage Stamp.  Yes, #17 at Sand Hills is no Postage Stamp.  

But why?

It's not because it's a lesser golf hole, it's because it's different.  The falls offs aren't as severe, the bunkers aren't as deep.  But in each case the comparison is to the absolute world-class height of such... which occurs at Troon.

But hell yes it's a tough shot... and those bunkers are FAR FAR from "amazingly simple to hit out of" - tell that to the golfer who ends up next to any lip, against all that high grass.  ANY score becomes possible from there.  I know this, painfully so.  The shot that misses the green and DOESN'T find a bunker is gonna be brutal also...

I found it to be a quite similar shot to the Postage Stamp, actually.  Maybe the ass-puckering isn't at the absolute fever pitch level it is at Troon... but my butt was puckered as much as I cared for, that's for sure.

It remains a great hole.  Interesting that of those who have played it, no one has said differently....

 

[JakaB]

Adam,

First of all...did you make bogey....and....do you agree that those bunkers do not influence a swing in as negative way as something so ordinary as water or as special as the coffin bunker.   Do you know how rare it is to make a bogey or par out of a water hazard as compared to even the most fierce bunker.....I have seen the possibility of double or worse change many a swing....remember this is Shivas I was talking to..

[Mike_Sweeney]

But hell yes it's a tough shot... and those bunkers are FAR FAR from "amazingly simple to hit out of" - tell that to the golfer who ends up next to any lip, against all that high grass.  ANY score becomes possible from there.  I know this, painfully so.  The shot that misses the green and DOESN'T find a bunker is gonna be brutal also...

My last round there, I was playing very well on the back 9. I was even par headed to the 17th tee where I hit a 7 iron onto the front part of the green. So I am thinking 2 putts and now I just have to figure a way to make par on 18. Well we get to the green, and no ball. I look in the cup just to be sure. Somehow the ball rolled back down the hill to the left front bunker. I go double double to finish with 40 ! But I love that hole.

[Jay Carstens]

Crenshaw wrote an essay about this type of hole that appears in Shackelford's MASTERS OF THE LINKS (p.221).  He talks about extraordinary shot value, a tight target engulfed by hazards, and a length that's within everybody's range.  A kind of anti-technology hole.  

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