Erin Hills (pics) 7-16-06

[Mike McGuire]

Played Erin Hills 2 weeks ago. Sorry for the delay in posting the pictures. I have no good excuse.


clubhouse from first tee



#1 from tee



#1 from LZ



#2 from tee



#3 from tee



#4 from tee



# 5 from tee



#5 bunker



# 8 green



#9 from tee



#9 from LZ



#10 from tee



#10 from LZ



#10 green 80 yards long



#11 from tee



#12 from tee



#12 from LZ



#14



#15 from tee



#16



#17 from tee


#18



19th hole

[Jonathan McCord]

When is the tentative opening date??  It still looks a little rough, and with all this heat and humidity, its about as far as you can get from ideal growing conditions.

Looks like some very interesting holes though.  I love the look of the 12th!!

Thanks for the Pics

[Mike McGuire]

Jonathon -

It opened today.

 I'm told conditions improved a lot in the last two weeks.

[Mike McGuire]

12, 14, and 15 look like a blast to play.

Thanks for posting -- do you have additional pictures of 12? Looks like a real throwback hole.

Mark

#12 from front tee




#12 looking back from green

[Joe Hancock]

Mike,

Thanks for the pics. Are the paths that we see the cart paths? Are they finalized in their location? What will be the surface of those paths?

Joe

[Mike McGuire]

Joe -

Yes there are cart paths in some areas. I rember crushed red granite on some and gravel fines on others. There may have been some asphalt...?  I walked so i missed some/can't recall

The dilemma  is....since the course was originally designed for walking only they planted fescue in the fairways. Now that carts are not discouraged can the fairways take the traffic?

You are one of the people that can speculate on that.

[Brad Swanson]

Mike,
   Thanks for posting the pics.  It looks like a handful at 7800 yds (or 8000+ from the way backs).  Hope they stick with the advertised maintenance meld, although the typical Wisconsinite/F.I.B. probably won't agree with me.

Cheers,
Brad

[JR Potts]

Thanks for the pics.  I can't wait to play it.

However, I have a question for you supers.  I played Whistling Straits pretty soon after it they replanted the fairway and I noticed that the fescue was thin.  Does it take a couple of years for fescue to take firm root.  It seems like newer courses with fescue always have a lot thinner fairways than newer courses with the new bent varietials.

[Joe Hancock]

Dan Lucas would be the true authority on fescue establishment.

But, from what I know and have seen, fine fescue is very susceptible to traffic wear for the first year, maybe two if the soils suck or the super isn't familiar with fescue.

If EH is 100% fine fescue in the fairways and they aren't trying to limit cart traffic they will not be putting there best foot forward for quite some time. The chances of poa invasion increase dramatically under that kind of situation as well.

Joe

[Evan Fleisher]

Lots of blindness off tees and some of the approach shots (as we spoke of at Lawsonia)...yikes!

What were your thoughts about that type of layout here Mike?

[Mike Nuzzo]

The 12th fairway is beautiful... as is the approach
I wish it didn't have that much rough.
I'm surprised by the bunkering - The edges don't fit their surrounds IMO.

[Mike McGuire]

Lots of blindness off tees and some of the approach shots (as we spoke of at Lawsonia)...yikes!

What were your thoughts about that type of layout here Mike?

Evan -

A lot of the LZ's as well as the greeens, depending on the angle,  are blind at EH. While each course will take a number of rounds to get comfortable, perhaps the gull wing bunkers at Lawsonia give you an idea of where to hit it a little sooner

[Matthew Rose]

Looks beautiful. Makes me very homesick.

These courses always open after I've moved somewhere else.

[Anthony_Nysse]

Looks like they opened a little early. Things don't appear very mature.....

Tony Nysse
Sr. Asst. Supt.
Long Cove Club
HHI, SC

[Tim Taylor]

A lot to like there. Several others have mentioed #12 already so I'll point at the 3rd green as looking cool. The course seems to really fit its surroundings.

Two thumbs up for the Rees Jones chocolate drops around the club house and the practice green. Can't wait to see them once they're grassed in

TimT

[Craig Sweet]

Interesting looking course...the grass appears a tad thin, but hopefully it will grow in over the next couple of years...thanks for posting the photos...

[Adam Clayman]

It looks to me as though someone has been reading gca.com.

Would this course look like this, if Ran hadn't started his folly?

[RJ_Daley]

I hope they don't regret opening a little early.  It must be a hard decision to balance putting some cash in the till against maybe having a healthier course in the mid-term (like next spring).  I also can't say that I like the current look of the path up the left of 9.  Is that just dead native from machines rolling over it, or is that intended as a cart path?  It looks much better from the LZ to green on 9 though.  I'd have to say the same about the path location as shown on 14.  From what little we can tell of photos, I might have to say 15 looks most appealing.

Tim Taylor, Shirley you jest about the tollhouse chocolate chips ala Reeses pieces.

[SPDB]

It looks to me as though someone has been reading gca.com.

Would this course look like this, if Ran hadn't started his folly?

yes.

[Evan Fleisher]

I think the course looks very interesting.  Loads of semi-blind shots and it would seem as though some of the bunkers are hidden as well.  There are a few trees dotted about which I don't care for - the biggest offender being the tree to the right of 12 green.  All in all though I really like the look of the course.

Is this going to be a public course?

Ciao

Sean

Sean,

If I remember correctly based on our conversations at Lawsonia recently, Erin Hills will indeed by a public course, but will carry a HEFTY fee at around $125 and I think it is also a walking course.

Is that right Mike, Brad?

[Dan Moore]

Evan,

EH is public.  $125 for Wisconsin residents and $150 for all others.  Walking encouraged but carts are available.  

Looks a little rough around the edges.  Some of the holes look great and I think there is more elevationj change than is apparent from the pics.  I'll be playing it soon.  

[John Kavanaugh]

My favorite thing about the course besides the $150 fee and 8,000 yd tees is the $10 charge for a pull cart..

[ed_getka]

Mike,
    What are the greens like? Internal contour and green surrounds?

[Ryan Heiman]

Played in Erin Hills 4 days ago.  It looks way better than the photos above.  They have it in very good shape.

Tees and greens are excellent.

Fairways are mostly good, but some muddy spots and dead spots here and there.  The bad spots were in some very poor locations like right in front of the green on a couple of holes or in the landing areas of another.

But overall it is great.  The practice range is just ugly right now, but the tees of practice range are perfect.

I have a couple of other comments.
The setting is beautiful. very natural.  I loved it.

From the blues tees it just doesn't quite play right.  to many 450+yard par 4 and too many 330 yard par 4s.  It was either driver utility or driver wedge.  Not enough driver mid-iron.  I average 265 off the tee.  Either leaving me a wedge in on the shorties or 200+ on the long holes.  Very few 400 yard par 4 from the blues.  Next time I will try the blacks to see if they play better.

If you get the chance go and play it, it is in good shape and will soon rank very high.

Sorry I don't have pictures, I got to the course and didn't have a memory card in my camera.  I'm so dumb.

[Mike McGuire]

Ryan -

Did they tell you to play the fescue areas as lateral hazards?

How long did it take to play?

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