The Ranch

[Aidan Bradley]

Sorry Tom, just came across this thread. Don't mean to get your blood pressure up but I was hired to photograph this course several years. It was only half completed and I did use real film, no pixels and bits. Promise I will not post any more images of this course.

Aidan.

[George Pazin]

Frankly, I don't see what all the fuss is about, those are some beautiful photos. Looks like my kinda course.










 

[Tom Huckaby]

Aidan - it's a testament to your skill that you can make even this course look good - and you did so.

But these are the holes in the Google earth aerial...

In order:

green on 13 - notice the shelf - common theme at TR - notice also death to the left - there is also some short right that's not in the photo

par 3 15 with bunker in middle - neat hole, but one has to cross a street, riding right in front of 16 tee, going from 14 green, to get to this hole... world's weirdest routing...

downhill par 4 #12 - the most "normal" hole on the course - still death both sides though...

14 green and fairway below, 16 green above - notice the awful rough

17 green - yet another forced carry

16 green terraced above 14 tee blocks - that gives a good feel for what the course is like.

TH

[Aidan Bradley]

Tom,

Let me know which image you want a 16x20 off for your den. Least I can do for bringing back all those terrible memories!!!!!!

Aidan.

[Tom Huckaby]

Aidan - the funny thing is I've been making off-line tentative plans to go play this course again.  I do love to play this silly game, the course is close to home, and I am curious to see if anything's changed in the year since I first played it.

I actually do kinda like the photo of 12... hell I like all of the photos - it's playing the golf holes I hate.

 

[Matt_Cohn]

Aidan,

Nice to know that your photos enticed me to play the course!

Seriously though, they are excellent photos. They do make the place look good.

To add to what Huck said:

#13 is 99 yards (!) from the tips. Really.
#15 is 121.

#12 is the best and best looking hole there, but...and you can see this better in the aerial...why is the fairway so narrow next to the bunker? The fairway stops on the right about where the photo cuts off. There's a giant slope on the right that begs to be cut as fairway, making for a really fun tee shot - and, a wide fairway seems appropriate on a +/- 500 yard par 4!

#17 is why I kept asking if the architects ever worked for Nicklaus.

Huck,
I had a Stonetree/In-N-Out day today. I thought of you!

[Tom Huckaby]

Matt - well then you had a hell of a lot better day than me - hell that sounds like a LOT of fun.

 

Re 13, what's even funnier is that at least when I was there, the entire part of the tee that got it to 99 yards was BEHIND A TREE!  I am not kidding.  If you hit from there it was a dogleg.  It was playable only at 90 or less.

And great questions re 12.  I thought of the same thing... ball after ball goes to the right of the bunker, ball after ball snags in the rough... it would be fun to bounce shots off of that hillside.  But then again you can say that about most of the holes on the course.

[Aidan Bradley]

Tom,

Please send me your shipping address and I will send the print along with a complimentary set of darts........

Aidan.

[Tom Huckaby]

Aidan, you are a good egg.  And I'm not kidding - forget the pix of famous courses, if you really ever have a need to showcase your talent, make a portfolio of these - you really made a silk purse out of a sow's ear with these my friend.

TH
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[Chris Perry]

Tom:

I have played Pasa, and it was great, particulary throwing a dart on the 18th to finish.  

That said, it sounds like the things you hate are the things I like.

I like rugged terrain and severe dowhill/uphill carries. Forced carries don't bother me. Laterals do because I'm an army golfer.



Those pics of the property look awesome.

I'd agree with your sentiment on using the side areas to funnel mis-hit shots back into play instead of gobbling every ball hit into them from a playability standpoint, though it would probably end up detracting from the asthetics of the property which is why they won't do it.

I also saw you mention reloading. Is all that stuff considered OB? I'd think for the sake of decent pace it would be marked as lateral and you can drop at point of entry. This always makes more sense to me than hitting 3 drives out of play and taking double par before you even get off the tee. That WOULD make for a crappy round and there's no sense to that whatsover.

[Matt_Cohn]

Chris,

It's just considered a lost ball. And if you hit it in there, it will be lost, that's for sure.

[Chris Perry]

Sounds a lot like Predator Ridge then.

I'm used to hitting balls and never finding them again. Like I said it happened 15 times at Wente. A few times on one hole right after one another.  

[Mike_Cirba]

Aidan certainly has an eye for photography, but the first course that came to mind in viewing the pics is Ron Fream and David Dale's Shoregate GC in NJ, which is similarly overdone, penal, and throws everything but the kitchen sink into the design.  

Tom...if I come out there, I'm sure I have a shag bag of old Top Flites I can bring.   Then I won't feel so bad watching them fall off the cliffs.  

[Tom Huckaby]

Chris:

There are some areas that are marked as hazard; the ones that actually have a waterway through them, as per the rules of golf.  But most of it is as Matt says - just waste-high grasses or worse, where the ball is just plain lost.  And yes, either this or a marked hazard is on BOTH SIDES of EVERY SHOT on the golf course.

You say you like rugged terrain, forced carries and severe downhill and uphill shots.  Well, The Ranch will indeed provide all of that for you.  But here's the more important point:  see above.  Let me say it again.  You can lose a ball on BOTH SIDES of every shot.  If you don't like "laterals" as an amry golfer, you are going to be in for a very long day.  If you lost 15 balls at Wente, I dare say the over/under for you at The Ranch is 30.  40 wouldn't surprise me.

If you consider this fun, then more power to you - The Ranch will be heaven.

BTW, regarding:


I'd agree with your sentiment on using the side areas to funnel mis-hit shots back into play instead of gobbling every ball hit into them from a playability standpoint, though it would probably end up detracting from the asthetics of the property which is why they won't do it.

My friend, don't be fooled by Aidan's incredible pics.  The rest of the course - and even the sides of the holes you don't see in these pics - are just artificially-created terraces featuring dirt covered with waste-high straw-colored grass.  I'd say bare dirt would be just as aesthetically pleasing.... and given it would increase pace of play and enjoyment about 500 times, well... ok, let's not make it bare dirt - let's just cut it a little, ok?  Let golf balls have a chance to be found.

Go play this course.  Check out the front nine, which you don't see in Aidan's pics.  Then report back as to how many golf balls you lost, and how much fun you had.  Oh, there are people who like this course... and as I've said before, the views from up on the hill are pretty neat and there sure are several ego-building drop shots that are fun.... But in terms of actually playing the game, well... let's just say it remains heaven for the masochist.

TH

[Chris Perry]

Every round is a long day for me no matter what course I play, lol.

Unfortunately, that would be some drive and it's not often I get past the 49th anymore much less the Oregon state line.  

This course sounds much like Furry Creek. Quite short comparitively, but a beast to play nevertheless.

[Kyle Henderson]

Personally, I liked The Ranch on a hole-by-hole basis. But when you put them together, that's when the absurd level of difficulty and tee-to-green distances put a damper on the experience. There are actually a lot of risk reward options on the course. Unfortunately, the safe plays are only slightly less impossible than the risky plays in most cases. The back is more forgiving than the front 9. I think I shot 48-37, if that lends some perspective.

It's an interesting study, if not a place that one would enjoy playing on a frequent basis.

[Andy Doyle]

You have to love cart paths that require guard rails!

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[Kyle Henderson]

Don't forget those insipid speed bumps. Lord knows that if you are going too fast, it's nice to have lumps in the road to flip your vehicle as you approach the next turn.

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