Stone Eagle #18--Photographic Essay

[Evan Fleisher]

Scott...RESIST THE TEMPTATION, my man!!!  

Last year, at my first ever King's Putter I was a SoCal'r...but I'll be happy to play on which ever team will have me.  Even though this is a cut-throat, win at any cost type of competition (and I've seen the carnage) I am really there to experience some AWESOME golf, meet up with some great friends (old and new)...and most importantly meet "The Emperor" in person for the first time EVER!

And Huck...you just haven't got it yet man...the whole walking versus riding thing just does not affect me...heat or not!  

Now rattlesnakes are another story all together.............

[Tom Huckaby]

Evan:

I fully believe you you THINK neither heat nor hills nor snow nor dead of night has any effect on your play.

That's what I'm counting on.

 

BTW, for any other readers, please understand this is a gathering of friends first and a competition about 8th.  Oh we will talk a lot of trash between now and the event day, as we always do, but Evan's post was very tongue in cheek, as are all of mine.

TH

[Evan Fleisher]

No it wasn't...

[Evan Fleisher]

P S Y C H E !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  

If this gathering is anything like last year's we will all have a BLAST!

[Tom Huckaby]

Evan, you are the man.

 

And oh yes, the gathering ought to be fantastic once again.

So OK, I feel bad enough turning Peter's efforts here into a KP-V thread... so back to the course.

Any pics besides these very cool ones from 18 you want to share?

TH

[Evan Fleisher]

Yes...back on track!  More, more, more!!!

I'm feeding these images to my best friend down in St. Louis who is drooling over them and jealous as hell that he will not be with us in a few weeks.

[Bill_McBride]

Peter, speaking of carts at Stone Eagle, was it cart paths only?

(Fingers crossed it wasn't.  I just played three rounds at Barton Creek in Austin, all cart paths only as one front after another rumbled through at night, and it was miserable.  )

[Tom_Doak]

Bill:

Stone Eagle does not have continuous cart paths, so it can never be "cart paths only", unless your cart can fly.

[Tom Huckaby]

TD:

Any thoughts on playing hickories at TD?  Obviously you can't design for freaks like Ran and me... but will the hickories work well there?  See the back and forth between Peter and me on the first page here.

TH

[DTaylor18]

Bill, the carts were definitely not cart path only. The paths were more from green to the next tee.  Stone Eagle is one open place and you end up driving all over.  NOt your typical desert course, which is part of why it is so much fun.

[RJ_Daley]

Peter, you really posted some fine photos and interesting comments.  It looks like playing that hole from the 448 would be where I'd feel challenged but comfortable.  490s... maybe not.

For Tom Doak or anyone that knows - and these are meant to be honest questions...

All that talk about the rattlers and seeing some of the rock scrabble areas makes me wonder if after a few seasons, those nooks and crannies don't start to fill up with pro Vs.  Do they have ball wranglers the equivalent to some of those guys that go mucking around southern course ponds, hustling found balls for resalers?  I'm assuming no one in their right mind spends much time going after a ball that is not within easy immediate sight and surroundings can be easily surveyed for the rattlers first.  How close is the nearest anti-venom treatment facility?

[Tom_Doak]

Tom H:

If you are going to play hickories at Stone Eagle you had better not play very far back, or there are a couple of carries you'll have problems with [holes 4 and 6 in particular, although there ARE very long-way-around alternatives on even those two].  On the other hand, you'll find there are a couple of holes where a short drive hits a downslope and gets a huge run-out [4 if you can make the carry, 13, 18].  I think you should try it, just be prepared for some unusual shots, and don't expect to reach #5 or #18 in regulation.

RJ:

I hiked around that property for 2 1/2 years when it was all rocks and nooks and crannies, before we started building the course, and another year of construction, and I never saw a rattler ... but I made most of my visits in the winter, and that's when I'd go out to look for balls.  A lot of the ones you find are going to be scuffed up a bit!

The hole at 490 is a bear, but it's still a drive and a short iron for Geiberger's kids.  I suggested to Brian Geiberger that he play the 18th from the back tee on #10, which makes it about 580 yards, and I guess he's been playing from there (and probably still knocking it on in two -- it is way downhill from tee to landing area).

[Matt_Ward]

Tom D:

Was there any thought in having the 17th play a bit forward and as a long par-4 and then playing the 18th as you described with the tee box on #10 and having the hole play 580 yards ?

Thanks ...

[Tom_Doak]

Matt:  Not really.  From the beginning of the project the two holes were thought of as parallel and about the same length, so naturally we made the one which plays 50 feet uphill (17) the par five and the long downhill hole the par 4, thinking that between them par was 9.  There was a good spot for #17 tee closer to 16 green (it's an alternate forward tee there), but then most people's drives were landing right at the base of a steep upslope, which I could not imagine as a good landing area.  Try it from there next time, but I don't think you'll like it.

I didn't really consider #10 tee as an option for #18 until after it was built ... it looked a little different before we put twenty feet of fill there.  And we thought 18 was a great par 4 from the present tee, which you agreed with at the start of this thread, anyway.

[Tom Huckaby]

Tom H:

If you are going to play hickories at Stone Eagle you had better not play very far back, or there are a couple of carries you'll have problems with [holes 4 and 6 in particular, although there ARE very long-way-around alternatives on even those two].  On the other hand, you'll find there are a couple of holes where a short drive hits a downslope and gets a huge run-out [4 if you can make the carry, 13, 18].  I think you should try it, just be prepared for some unusual shots, and don't expect to reach #5 or #18 in regulation.

Cool - sounds very doable - and re reaching holes in regulation, of course "regulation" changes when playing with these old sticks.

 

[Garland Bayley]

Back to the topic of Photographic Essay. The shapes of the bunkers fronting the 18th green look like ginko tree leaves to me. I wish they had reflected the shapes of the rocky mounds around.

[Matt_Ward]

Tom:

Do you see any real advantage to playing #18 from #17?

I was told by the guys I was with that such an angle opens up the hole better than from much of the fairway.

Be curious as to your thoughts.

P.S. One other unrelated #18 question -- do you find that long par-4's need to have a turning point (e.g. 45 degrees to either right or left) in order to make the longer driver have to work the ball in some sort of direction and to mitigate the advantages that come with sheer length?

[Tom Huckaby]

Tom:

Do you see any real advantage to playing #18 from #17?

I was told by the guys I was with that such an angle opens up the hole better than from much of the fairway.

Be curious as to your thoughts.

P.S. One other unrelated #18 question -- do you find that long par-4's need to have a turning point (e.g. 45 degrees to either right or left) in order to make the longer driver have to work the ball in some sort of direction and to mitigate the advantages that come with sheer length?

I think anyone playing intentionally playing into another fairway ought to be drawn and quartered.  And hell yes long par 4s need to have turning points - we don't want ball-smashers like you to get all the advantages.

Oh, you meant Tom DOAK....

Never mind.

 

[Matt_Ward]

Just bumping up to see if Tom D can answer the last question I outlined.

Thanks Huck for your retort -- enjoy the course when playing there in early June.

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