[NAF]

I played Plainfield yesterday and after finally securing a par on the 11th hole got to wondering if that is the best Donald Ross short hole I've played.  My resume of Ross courses is not vast enough though and he does have some quirky little par 3s (the 3rd at White Bear Yacht Club for example).  Plainfield's 11th though is most likely my favorite.  For such a short hole (only 137 yards--an easy 8 or 9 iron) it inspires a little butt puckering because of the green complex.  It is so steeply pitched back to front yet looks like a wavy potato chip from side to side.  If you hit the middle of the green with the wrong spin, you'll roll back down to the front or worse yet into fronting bunkers--leaving you with relatively straight forward shots.  Miss left or right, or long of the green leaves a near impossible pitch to get close.  Above the pin is no easy 2 putt as well.  Ross built an ingenious and devilish hole, no doubt about it.  It is a do or die affair!  Also a terrific time in the round with Plainfield's best hole (#12) following..



The 3rd at Wanamoissett of course is the logo for the DR Society and like the 11th at Plainfield is very short-- requiring only a wedge or knockdown 9 iron.  What strikes the eye here is the terrific bunker scheme fronting and flanking left.  The green is a terrific plateaued creation.  Miss right and your ball will feed down towards a stream.  Miss in the bunkers and moreoften than not you will be shortsided.  Another ingenious par 3 requiring the deftist of touch if you miss the green.

It is debateable which one is better.  I have Plainfield's by a nose but has anyone else played both and can offer opinions..?

[Don Herdrich]

How about a 3rd candidate......12th at Bald Peak Colony Club........129 yards to a plateau push up green.......don't hit the green looking at 4 minimum.

[Brad Klein]

Both are great. Wannamoisett's is hard to hit without going right or long. Plainfield's is simply brutal to hold and harder to putt, owing to what must be steady 6 percent slope from back to front, with only the occasional flatter spot for a hole location.

[Mike Nuzzo]

To a front middle pin, I hit it to the back right collar...  oops.
And made a hell of a 3 by lagging one to a few feet, I'm not sure how, but I certainly didn't go straight at the hole.  I used a very indirect path.
My partner, didn't fare so well making at least a quad.
It is a Ross favorite, unfortunately my sample size is also small.

[Matt_Ward]

Noel:

The lone issue I have with Plainfield is when they play the 14th hole from the "extended" championship tee and you then facing the elephant hump within the green -- the hole becomes quite demanding -- even severe -- when a front pin placement is used. If the green is kept "as is" then playing the hole in excess of 220 yards makes for more of a brutal hole than a great one IMHO.

The 11th is a gem of a short hole -- agree with Brad's statement on the geen -- a hole where you cannot spin the ball too much. One other thing -- many people forget the 6th hole but the green complex is quite unique.

[wsmorrison]

Noel, Brad, or others,

Is there lost green space to the left (in the photo) of the green on the 12th at Plainfield?  It looks like the green pad extends to the left although never having been there I can only guess the angle of play.   Ross had a lot of lobes and extensions on his green drawings and this view makes the green look too rounded and truncated on the left.  What do you guys think?

[TEPaul]

I remember that 11th at Plainfield well. It was in a Compher Cup maybe 10-12 years ago and as I recall the pin was sort of front right and it was only about the 2nd time I'd ever seen a ball putted up to the hole stop and roll right back down again. Thankfully it was match play.

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