"Hillside" No. 12 on Championship Course TCC Brookline

[wsmorrison]

While normally playing as a par 5 for members, the 12th hole of the Championship composite course, Hillside, plays as a par 4.  In the 1988 US Open it was played at 450 yards and compared to par was the hardest hole in the tournament (4.42 strokes).  For the 1999 Ryder Cup it was played at 486 yards.  Ben Crenshaw wanted the added length as he felt his team had an advantage in power.  The drive today as it did when it was designed needs to be played up the right side.  A tree line on the left obstruct approaches from the left side.  The second shot plays up a steep 40 yard embankment with the hole rising 45 feet from tee to green.  The putting surface is not visible from the fairway landing area causing Crenshaw to request a 12-foot flagstick for this hole.

[SPDB]

It's a very difficult hole at Par 5. It's impossible at 4. Played either way, it is a remarkable hole. Probably my favorite on the property.

This sketch without 1) any elevation detail and 2) any marking to show that the fairway splits with the elevation rise, does the presentation of the hole and Flynn's splendid design a disservice, IMO.  Do you have any pics?

The bunkers benched into the hillside are a trademark of Flynn. The hole also illustrates his superlative ability to master changes in elevation.

[Tommy_Naccarato]

WAYNE..........

[TEPaul]

The bunkering on that hole's perpendicular incline at the halfway point is basically a text-book study of bunnkering used to visually transition interesting topography. Obviously that incline does it's own strategic job strategically for shorter players and handicappers (not for tour pros), so the question becomes why did Flynn bunker that incline? Again, the bunkering up in there transitions the two levels of that hole to the eye beautifully.

I think if Flynn could see all the bunkering of all his courses today as to what he considered ideal he'd very likely say;

"Brookline's Bill Spence, you win!"

[wsmorrison]

Sorry, Tommy N.    I'll listen from now on.

[SPDB]

Tom - I've often viewed that design strategy of benching bunkers into a hillside as a sort of leitmotif of Flynn's style. You see it everywhere - numerous instances at Shinnecock (10,14, etc.), HVGC (18) and numerous other examples.

It's almost as if Flynn was trying a little trompe l'oeil making the transition section appear as part of the playable property to fool the golfer into thinking the elevation change isn't as severe. But then again, perhaps it just aesthetic.

[wsmorrison]

SPDB,

Here's one passage from the Sept 1927 Green Section Report that reveals much about Flynn's thoughts on bunkers:

"It is important in locating fairway bunkers to place them in positions where they also are visible.

A concealed bunker has no place on a golf course because when it is concealed it does not register on the player's mind as he is about to play the shot and thus loses its value.  The best looking bunkers are those that are gouged out of faces or slopes, particularly when the slope faces the player.  They are very much more effective in tha they stand out like sentinels beckoning the player to come on or keep to the right or left."

From the Oct 1927 essay:

"While bunkers are thought by many to be put in as penalizers they are primarily installed to present a problem or mode of play."

[wsmorrison]

I wish I could find my photos of TCC, Brookline.  In any case, here is a photo of the 4th green at Lancaster CC



The 4th at Huntingdon Valley CC



The 18th at Huntingdon Valley CC

[SPDB]

Wayne - Do you agree that the plan posted gives very little indication of the actual hole and its playability? More so than any I can think of.

[wsmorrison]

Yes, I do agree that the plan posted does not indicate the severity of the upslope where bunkers E and F are indicated nor overall the elevation change. This drawing wasn't intended for that purpose.  Flynn made a large routing map that has 2' topo lines on it which shows the movement of the ground very well.  The grid drawings had several uses.  One set of drawings would include detailed construction instructions with bunker depth and mounding heights to the 1/2 foot.  One set of drawings, such as the one posted, were used in developing design iterations.  Finally a set of presentation drawings were made in India ink on linen for the clients.  It is true that land that had a lot of movement would not be well represented on these types of drawings, but Flynn had other drawings for that purpose--routing maps and surveyor's maps.

[Doug_Feeney]

I remember this as being perhaps the most difficult par 4 I have ever played.  What the drawing fails to show more than the elevation change is the way the trees or tree (may have been one large one) blocking the green from the left side of the fairway and especially from the left rough.

Hitting over that tree to the green makes hitting over the tree from the right rough on #6 at Pebble look like pitch and putt.

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