Sand Hills: 50 words or less

[wsmorrison]

"Can anyone summarize why Sand Hills is so great in 50 words or less?"

The ground is God/Mother Nature's gift to golf and golfers.  The course is the perfect harmony of land, vision and teamwork.

[Patrick_Mucci]

Jim Franklin,

What goes unsaid, is that Sand Hills is one of the most difficult, of the geat golf courses, to walk.

And, if your game is wild, the walk becomes more difficult.

Compare walking Sand Hills to walking Wild Horse.

One of Sand Hills's greatest assets, the terrain, is also a liability.

Let the howling begin.

[THuckaby2]

Patrick:

I found the walks at Wild Horse and Sand Hills to be pretty comparable.  WH has some long hikes from green to tee (1 to 2, 9 to 10, a few others).  It is flatter than SH, yes.  But it's not like you're going up mountains at Sand Hills....

All three walks at Bandon Dunes are worse than that at Sand Hills... Quite a few great UK links are comparable....

I'm not getting you this time, my friend.

What struck me as odd, and actually kinda sad, was how prevalent cart usage has become at SH.  Oh, I can understand it, and was glad to have it for 2nd/3rd rounds of the day... I was just surprised so many use carts for FIRST rounds there.

Because I find it takes a lot out of the experience... that course is really made to be walked, as difficult as you might find it.

 

[Jerry Kluger]

Pat: Let's up the ante.  Four rounds at Friar's Head followed by one round each at a couple of old courses to the east of Friar's Head.

[THuckaby2]

Huh.  Must just be me.  I found no signifcant difference in the walks at SH and WH.

But then again I didn't spend too much time tromping through the sand dunes at SH.  That could get tiresome.

 

[Brian_Gracely]

But then again I didn't spend too much time tromping through the sand dunes at SH.  That could get tiresome.

[THuckaby2]

Love it!

I didn't say I NEVER visited such dunes.
I just didn't spend THAT much time in them.

 

Seriously, I am puzzled by my seeming error
in remembering these walks.  I recall WH being
a pretty darn tough walk also... So the point
is neither of these are all that easy.  Though
neither of them are also all that tough... not compared
to truly mountainous courses anyway.

[Jason Topp]

Patrick:

I would consider Pasatiempo and Spyglass tougher to walk and many of the Irish courses to be of similar walking difficulty.  I have not played enough of the very top echelon courses to know how they compare.

After taking a cart the first day, I was surprised at how easy the walk was at Sand Hills given the terrain.  The back tees are almost always next to the previous green.  Getting from the tee to the fairway is sometimes tough if you choose the wrong path but it isn't bad.

Two of us walked 18 in 3:15, although we pretty much kept it in play.

[THuckaby2]

Jason:

Good call on both of those.  Pasa is a FAR tougher
walk than SH, and you're also right on re Spyglass.  And
good point also re green to tee distance... the only
significant long hike at SH is 9 to 10.

[Rick Shefchik]

I believe the prevelance of carts at Sand Hills has more to do with maximizing the number of holes one can play in a day than it does the difficulty of walking the course.

I know when Dan Kelly and I drove from the Twin Cities and back for two days at Sand Hills, we wanted to play as many holes as possible in the time alloted to us, knowing it was possible we might not get back there again. Because there aren't a lot of groups on the course at any given time, you can get around pretty fast in a cart. The math was simple, to us: take a cart and play as many as 54 holes, or walk and hope to finish your second 18.

Most of the time when you play at a great course, your round will be 18 holes, and that's fine. At Sand Hills, the opportunity is usually there to play many more -- you're not going to be doing anything else while you're there, and you're not likely to be arriving and leaving on the same day -- so you take it.

[THuckaby2]

Rick:

Agreed.  That's what I meant when I said
I was certainly glad I had a cart for the 2nd/3rd
rounds.

I just still don't see why so many want to take
them on their FIRST rounds each morning, that's all.

Walking that course with a caddie is not exactly hard
work.

 

[Tiger_Bernhardt]

lololol I do love the straight ball hitter talking about how easy it is to walk links courses. I actually at the risk of giving Dick a stroke, I thought Wildhorse was nice but the new housing takes away a bit.  It is a great low cost course but not one of the really great courses in the US much less the world. And compared to Sand Hills, it does not belong in really the same discussion. Unless it is great courses in Nebraska.

[THuckaby2]

Tiger:

Good point.  Not that I'm a straight hitter any more,
but I was once... and hope to be again.  In any case,
that's also part of the point here - NO great links course,
at least not one featuring dramatic dunes, will be an
easy walk when one strays off-line.  Thus Sand Hills can be
difficult, but then again so can many others.

Tough one last night.  I assume you were in attendance?
Never has Tiger Stadium been so silent, has it?

Hell of a game for us TV viewers, though.

[Patrick_Mucci]

Tom Huckaby,

You and others have lost your minds, or at least your ability to accutately recall the terrain and the experience of walking the golf course.  (remember, according to some, photos are irrefutable evidence)

The walks at SH are infinitely more difficult than those at WH.

Let me review them for you.

The walk to the 1st tee.
# 1  green to # 2 tee
# 2  tee to # 2 fairway
# 3  tee to # 3 green.
# 3  green to # 4 tee
# 4  tee to # 4 fairway
# 4  green to # 5 tee
# 7  green to # 8 tee
# 8  green to # 9 tee
# 9  Tee to # 9 fairway
# 9  Green to # 10 tee

# 10 Green to # 11 tee
# 11 tee to # 11 fairway
# 11 green to # 12 tee
# 15 green to # 16 tee
# 16 tee to # 16 fairway
# 18 tee to green
# 18 green to Ben's porch.

I've left off walks such as up to # 1 and # 11 green, down to
# 10 green, down the 16th fairway.

Add in the off fairway nature of the soil you're walking on, sand, and the walks are even more difficult.

You should have tried the walk up to and down from the old 17th tee.

Those who don't think it's a difficult walking golf course are in denial or just blind.   Even TEPaul's dog, Coorshaw needed oxygen and water after each round.

The reason cart use is pronounced is that you can't walk 36 to 54 a day.

The walks at Wild Horses are inconsequential by comparison.

Tiger, et. al.,

How has the housing at Merion, which is much closer and far more intrusive to the golf course than at Wild Horse, caused Merion to be considered less than great ?

Winged Foot,  Quaker Ridge, Riviera, Pebble Beach ?

Wild Horse is a great golf course, despite the appearance of homes at its borders.

If, 20 years from now, homes sparsely border Sand Hills as they do Wild Horse, will the merits of the golf course be diminished ?

[THuckaby2]

Patrick:

Many thanks.

But I am reviewing each of those, and I still don't find
any of those walks to be all that bad.

None of them are worse than 9 green to 10 tee at Wild Horse.
10 green to 11 tee is a hike, as is it a decent jaunt up the rise from 11 green to 12 tee.  It's also a hike from the clubhouse down to 1 tee, and 18 green back up... similar to Sand Hills in that respect.

So I guess what I'm having a hard time understanding is holding up Wild Horse as an EASY walk.  Oh, it's a bit easier than Sand Hills, sure, but not night and day or anything.

But the most important point is this:  it must all be in the mind of the beholder... man I come from mountainous courses, compared to which Sand Hills is a cupcake.

Or do you so soon forget Pasatiempo?  You have played
there I assume?
Pacific Dunes?
Bandon Trails?

All are tougher walks than Sand Hills.

And you ought to see some of the NON-great courses we have out here...

They makes complaints about the difficulty of the walk at Sand Hills pretty silly.

[THuckaby2]

BTW, one late afternoon, weren't you among
those lounging on the porch whilst I did my
"church nine" - playing the front nine solo, carrying?

That was after playing 36 holes already.

It took me all of 75 minutes.  Back tees.  As you saw,
I am far far from being in good shape.

This is a tough walk?

 

[A_Clay_Man]

I actually at the risk of giving
Dick a stroke thought Wildhorse
was nice but the new housing takes
 away a bit.  It is a great low cost course
but not one of the really great courses in
the US much less the world. And compared to Sand Hills,
 it does not belong in really the same discussion.
Unless it is great courses in Nebraska.

John- I was just there, and thought
the houses negative influence was minimal,
 compared to what I had feared,
 and especially when comparing them
 to other house lined courses or even
 just the 18th hole at Pebble.

I also strongly disagree with your
premise that the two courses do not
belong in the country's discussion of
what constitutes great golf. Especially
since Dan and Dave, were both at SH,
(weren' they?) Why wouldn't they be comparable?  
Honestly , I don't see a great divide between
the two courses, golfwise. Experiencewise,
WH can't compete. I'll give you that.
 Is that why you seem so heavily influenced?
La' experience

 What other modern courses do you place above WH? And why?

[Dan Kelly]

You should have tried the walk up to and down from the old 17th tee.

That's where Rick and I played from. When (and why)
did they eliminate that tee?

[THuckaby2]

Dan:

It made the walk way too hard for pansies like Mucci.

 

Seriously - what I heard was that the shot from up there was too long for the green - that is, the small green was
meant to be played from 150, not 185 or so
as it is from way up there, especially given the swirling
wind.  That tee was just made as a lark and was never
intended to actually be used.

And Patrick, I did make a trek up to that tee.  Doesn't everyone at least once?  It's not part of the course so for this discussion doesn't count.

   

[Mike Benham]

Hey Tommy, how far did your range finder tell you were from the green?

[THuckaby2]

 

The chances of me actually using one
of those things while playing the game
 is as remote as me getting skinny
any time soon.

Which reminds me... I'm not 100% sure the handsome
chap in this photo is actually me... I sure would adopt
that pose... but that guy does look not quite round
enough.

If it is me, than I am damn impressed with myself.

 

[Mike Benham]

As this topic passes the 50 mark, perhaps it should have been titled "Sand Hills:  50 posts or less"

[THuckaby2]

That would be impossible.

 

[Patrick_Mucci]

Tom Huckaby,

Try a hole by hole comparison and you'll see that it's a night and day comparison.

I haven't played Pasatiempo or Bandon Trails, so I can't comment.  But, Pacific Dunes is duck soup compared to Sand Hills.   But, not when compared to other courses.

Does good to great architecture get a pass in that department ?

Isn't "ease of walking" one of Golfweek's rating criteria ?

As to your playing the "church nine" after you played 36, you forgot to inform the viewer that you took a cart for the second 18.

It's amazing how GCA.com'ers bashed Atlantic for two longish walks in its early routing, yet give other courses a free pass in that department.

Certain golf courses seem disconnected, via the routing and the walks between holes.

This site criticises courses, especially resort and residential courses for that quality, yet, it is quite willing to turn a blind eye when it comes to courses and architects that carry MFN status.

Compare the walks at Hidden Creek to the walks at Sand Hills.

Supporting the notion that Sand Hills doesn't present a challenge to walking is indicative of heavy drug use, prior to, during and after the round.

[THuckaby2]

Patrick:

Now how did you know about my heavy drug
use?  And here I thought I hid it well.

 

This is all relative.  You want to talk duck
soup?  Sand Hills is that compared to either of
Pasatiempo or Bandon Trails.  As for Pacific
Dunes, well I played it and Sand Hills about
three weeks apart earlier this year, so I'm gonna
go with my memory over yours.  They are about
equal difficulty walking, and that's being very charitable
to Pacific Dunes, which has some serious green to tee
hikes.  As for the comparison to Wild Horse, I did go
hole by hole and the only way Sand Hills is significantly
tougher is if one sprays the ball every single hole. Taking
the course as normally played, I'll grant WH is a LITTLE
easier but man it's not that different.

I haven't been to Hidden Creek.

In any case I am making no generalizations nor
giving any free passes.

I just think you're being a bit too tough on Sand Hills
in the walking department.

Because if it were that tough, then I wouldn't be able
to walk the front nine in 75 minutes no matter WHAT.