What happened to the transistion routing?

[George Pazin]

I couldn't think of a good way to say it, what I am referring to is the preponderance of routings where each 9 is distinct - e.g. the links 9 and the woods 9, the quarry 9 and the parkland 9, the ocean 9 and the trails 9, etc.

There are some notable exceptions among the current crop of greats, but it seems like many course now choose to have distinct 9s. To me, this is a negative - it's like playing 2 different 9 hole courses, rather than an orchestrated symphony of highs and lows.

Is this an example of the marketing of a course taking precedence , or are there that many new courses out there where the "best" routing is 2 distinct 9s?

[A_Clay_Man]

George, I'm not sure if it's that bad. Ross' Muni in Asheville, is as you say, has disctintive nines. Likely more a function of  the land available, like Spygllass Hill. But there are other positives I have witnessed. 1) allows for nine holes that some might consideer pedestrian, so newer or older golfers have half a course that is playable for them. While cranking up the volume for the better player, on the home nine. San Jaun Oaks comes first to mind or maybe its the first place I noticed how the shot demands increased on the backnine.

[Tom_Doak]

George:

Friars Head is certainly not like that ... they deliberately roamed in and out of the dunes.  So did we, both at Pacific Dunes and at Sebonack.

We are all stealing the concept from Cypress Point, which goes over the links, into the trees, out in the dunes, back in the trees, back in the dunes, back across the links, and out to the point.

[Wayne Freeman]

Doesn't the lay of the land determine the routing in most cases.  I'm sure Tom can answer this better but-  Crystal Downs ( near and dear to him) has 2 pretty distinct nines and I believe one of his first courses near there is built along the same lines- links then woodlands.  Valhalla was Nicklaus' 100th course and is a terrific track with a front nine like Shinnecock and a back nine like Pinehurst. I enjoy these types of courses.

[Tom_Doak]

Wayne:

I was about to respond to the first half of your post when I got distracted by the second half.  The front nine of Valhalla is in a river flood plain with power lines, which reminded me very little of Shinnecock Hills.  And there were no greens on the back which reminded me of Pinehurst, either.

Sometimes the overall elevation changes of a site (or the property lines) dictate that you have to use two distinctive parts of the property separately.  But if not, I'd rather go for the blended approach.

[George Pazin]

Tom -

I knew that about Friars Head and Pac Dunes, but I also knew that if I included them in my original post, the thread would get diverted into how I am biased.

I picked up a copy of T&L Golf yesterday to see the Bandon Trails photos (golf porn) and was scanning the section about new course openings. I'm reasonably certain it mentioned a new course with the 2 distinct 9s opening, and it just struck me as something I read about in the magazines all the time. (I don't actually play any golf, I just read about others doing so. )

It could certainly be a misperception on my part, but it does seem to me that more courses built in the last 10 years or so try to have distinct 9s than follow Cypress' lead.

[Joel_Stewart]

A good question might be what makes good transition routing?  My idea is that it is seemless and melds well.  Friars Head is great in that you never really care if you are in the trees, sand dunes or old potato fields.  Same as Cypress Point.

The new Bandon Trails is almost seemless until the transition from the 14th to the 15th.  The last 4 is a real mix and doesn't have any continuity.

[Cliff Hamm]

Not quite 9 and 9 but Acushnet River Valley, an underated muni in Massachusetts (located in the home town of Titleist), almost meets the criteria.  The back has 6 holes continuously that play over open land versus the front which is more park like.  They have used this in their marketing.  From their web site - www.golfacushnet.com:

Acushnet River Valley Golf Course, designed by nationally renowned golf course architect Brian Silva, opened for play in 1998. This golfer-friendly layout offers two distinct golfing experiences. The front nine is cut out of tall white pines, reminding you of Carolina courses. Holes 12 through 17 are open, treeless, links-style holes with rolling fairways and undulating greens.

[Kirk Gill]

A fairly nice local muni in Lakewood, Co. called Fox Hollow has three fairly distinct nines, although really only one, called the Canyon nine, has topography that is truly different. One is the inevitable "Links style" with the other called the Meadow nine (all designed by Dennis Griffith). As they are billed separately, I'm not really bothered by the differences and take it as an opportunity to get a couple of different types of vistas during the course of one round. (Rounds being all too rare right now, as I have kids aged 8, 7, 5, and four !)

What's more bothersome to me are cases like another local muni called Hyland Hills, where an existing 18 was supplemented by an added nine. A new "gold" course was established which included nine new and nine old holes. The style of play, the bunkering, greens........the differences made a round there a lot less pleasant. As long as the entire course is built at one time, though, a little digression seems acceptable..........