Uphill or downhill, part 2

[Tom_Doak]

During the US Open I believe we had a discussion about the tenth hole at Winged Foot West and the relative elevations of tee and green.  I knew I had a topo map somewhere but could not find it in a timely fashion.

Well I just found it.  The back tee (c. 1985) was elevation 153, the green elevation between 146.5 and 149.5.  So it is very slightly downhill.  There is a tiny bump at the start of the little fairway in front, which isn't as high as the tee, but which obscures a bit of the green and probably makes it look uphill when it isn't.

[Phil_the_Author]

Tom, what I find most remarkable about this is that the green only has a three-foot elevation change. (I am assuming that is what 146.5 to 149.5 means).

[Tom_Doak]

Phil:

It's a one-foot contour map, so the elevations are plus or minus half a foot.  But there aren't too many greens left in championship play with more than four feet of fall from back to front.

I believe there were contour maps of each green printed in one of the championship programs years back -- either the 84 Open or the PGA -- with three-inch contours so you could get the fall on that green a little more exact.

[Jeff_Brauer]

I noticed in the World Atlas of Golf they had a Winged Foot green contour map, and supect that is where they got it.

That book mentions how the green  contours subtly deflect balls to surrounding bunkers, but in fact, the green depicted is one front to back swale with a few bumps around the edge.

[Phil_the_Author]

Tom, not that I doubt your figures, but it just looks like so much more. I am wondering if those figures might not be a bit different when the recovered green surfaces are included? Many of these, including at #10, were in back portions that swung up to the ridge line.

Either way, it does say a lot about the perception that our eyes cause our brains to conclude.