favorite hole at Bandon Trails?

[ed_getka]

Tom,
   How does #3 green play when the pin is on the left side?  I only played it with the pin right.
    I wasn't that impressed with #3, but I haven't played it in both winds or with enough pin positions to know the hole well yet. #16 is certainly a tough hole from my experience there, but I wouldn't put it on my list of favorites. On the other hand I think #13-#17 is a fantastic stretch of holes, right up there with #4-#8 on PD.

[Tom Jefferson]

Ed;  The left cup location creates the risk of the pitch that runs through and into the chipping area behind that postion.   The easy spot, IMHO, is front center.  The location I most enjoy but seldom see is the one tucked into the rear of the green, inviting the ball that runs off the back and into a bumpy little chipping area there, with a steep bank to overcome playing back into the green.  That behind the green feature comes into play with the summer wind pushing shots through the green.
I really got jazzed about that green complex when it was being shaped.....a classic reachable par 5 green, demanding in two and interesting in three.  Kudos to Jim Craig for that work.

[Tom Jefferson]

John K.;

Now John.......I think you ought to put quotes around that statement, and attribute it to it's rightful author!  
Man...........you are always trying to get away with stuff here!  Come on.....tell the truth about it....!
Tom Doak would never attempt that with something YOU said!!

Tom

[John Kavanaugh]

Tom,

Look at the start of my post..it remains unedited...I naturally thought everyone on this site knew who the author was without saying.  It was the first thing I remembered when I saw this thread.

[Tom Jefferson]

John;
I acknowledge that you qualified it properly....just poking fun at you!!
It IS a distinctive statement of his...as so many of his are.  But, how many, do you think, on this site know that statement as his?
Does that statement reflect your point of view about favorite Trails holes?  
If so, what about the sixth gets you?  There have been comments by some that the green is flat, too open in front.
Do you share that view?  How do you see it?

I can tell you that the more I play those greens, the more I respect them, and am confounded by them.....and one overriding memory I have of the Trails construction is Jim Craig laboring with a flat nosed shovel on many of those emerging surfaces, bumping them up here and there...workin and workin.  The front of #16 took him a couple of days of sweat.....bringing in sand, getting the front up so that it blended with the approach, working the slopes with the shovel and the cat.  That was a great education for me, watching that process.

Tom

[Tom Jefferson]

Ed Getka, and all;

When I responded to your question about #3 green, I incorrectly said that Jim Craig did that work.  No, that green complex was put together by Dave Zincand, who did a number of greens at Trails, as well as a bunch of other work in the construction process there.  My mistake.

Tom

[Michael Hayes]

Favorite hole overall........#4
Favorite green................#8, with a nod to #5
Most natural hole...........#15.......just lays there, unadorned and uncontrived.
Sleeper........................#10
Prettiest........................#3 in the late-in-the-day light.
Toughest drive................#4 in the summer wind
Best lunch item at the Trails End.....Fish Tacos, all the way.
Best sunset view.......Trails End.
Best tee complex............#13, with a nod to #5.





Tom

Tom J: I think your insights are spot on!  I would add #13 to the sleeper catagory and give some kudos to #17 from the top tee off the back of #16 green.  Hank's Huge Burger was the best I have ever had.  

#5 green is really cool, but the dastardly 8th green is the best on the golf course, especially with a middle right pin, tight up to the right bunker. I wish the pin was there every day!

[Tom Jefferson]

Michael;  So true about the 17th from the upper tees.  We used to look at that hole from there during construction, with a big north wind blowing, and just shake our heads..over the demand of that shot.  Since opening, the native meadow complex on the left of that green has been tamed somewhat, allowing a little more room than was there originally.  
Never had Hank's bomber burger....but the burger trio is popular among the supers here.

Snow last night in Bandon!  A clear and cold delay right now.

Tom  

[Jim Adkisson]

Jim A; What's so wrong with the water on #11?
I don't get it. Is it one pond, or both?  Is it the shape of the hazard?  The line along the green?  Why do so many on this site thumb their noses at water on a golf course?  Doesn't Pine Valley have some?  If an irrigation reservoir is an essential, is it ok to have it integral to the course?  What are the rules of good design re: water?

Tom, IMHO the problem with this lake is how fake it looks...in a course and resort that has such natural lines, the cookie-cutter edges and plastic liner of this pond are completely out of place...It could almost have one of those silly sprinklers in the middle of it!...I would have thought that C&C would have made this necessary feature look like it was existing before they built the course...Hopefully some native plantings and age will cure this aesthetic fault.