Subtleties

[Jordan Wall]

As I was watching the World Matchplay at Wentworth, an announcer said something along the lines of..'the subtlety of the course {Wentworth} is how Colt made it so good'..

With huge, big, contoured greens, and big sloping fairways (which are both fun AND awesome), are newer courses today missing subtleties?

Or, are newer courses like Kapalua and Tumble Creek proving that little subtleties are needed, as huge contours work plenty well on these courses (I cannot comment on other courses..)?

Some of the funnest and coolest greens are greens where I can play the ball right edge and have it break a foot..  Subtleties are good ways of challenging the player, IMO.

[Paul Payne]

Jordan, Jordan.......

Aren't you supposed to be in class?

[Bob Jenkins]

Paul,

I suspect Jordan was in class when he made that post. It has never stopped him before.

To me, subtlety means not readily apparent, I need to look carefully to see what is there. First impressions can be misleading. That is one of the beauties of good architecture to me and reminds me of the camouflage practiced by MacKenzie. He could place a bunker which from the fairway seemed to abut the front of the green but in reality it was 30 yards closer to you.

I know I have stood on greens and not picked up optical illusions, thinking the put was downhill for example when it was flat. Personally I have more of a problem with that on hilly or mountain courses.

To me, that is what subtleties in golf course architecture is all about. Not sure but maybe some architects today are looking to produce something more photogenic on a website, etc and subtleties dont show up in advertising.

 

[Tim Gavrich]

Pinehurst No. 2 is among my favorite golf courses.  Forget the fall-offs around the greens; once you get on the greens, you see endless subtleties.

Yale is also among my favorites.  Nothing subtle there!

I believe that golf courses must fit their surroundings.  Pinehurst No.2 is laid out over a relatively flat piece of land.  Therefore, it is much milder in terms of humps and bumps.  Yale, however, tumbles over heaving terrain.  Subtlety would not allow the land to be used to its full potential.  Therefore, we have one of the boldest golf courses ever built.

I think that RTJ Senior can be blamed in part for the lack of subtlety in new golf courses.  Because of the success of the Jones family in GCA, other architects have felt it necessary to build flashy golf courses regardless of terrain.  Some are great, but some don't work.  It's good that the Doaks, Coores/Crenshaws, and others are making subtlety and understatement "cool" again.

[Jordan Wall]

One of the coolest examples of subtleties, for me, was #5 at Tumble Creek.

From the fairway there looked to be a huge ridge that could help spin balls back to a front pin.  It turned out it did not, and what looked to be a huge contour was really a {somewhat] mild slope.  
Once on the green, I was once again fooled.
Thanks to Mr. Doak's advice, I hit the putt a bit harder then I might have otherwise, yet I was still short.  I was like, wow.
I felt that was a good way to chllenge the player, as it made me think and it forced good shots or otherwise there would be three putts.

Though most of Tumble's greens had huge, sweeping contours, this change in pace was really cool and kind of messed with my head.
It was a good way to challenge the player, and adding diversity at the same time.

will add more later..

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