The greatest opening hole in the world!

[nils]

Is supposed to be at Machrihanish. At least that is what their web site says. Does anybody know who gave them this distinction?

[Gene Greco]

Tom Morris

[ChipOat]

It has that reputation and it is an excellent hole although the longer hitter has a "design advantage" (the fairway gets wider the longer you hit it) so it's not my ideal.

Tom Morris may have first articulated it and the legend grew from there as the setting certainly makes it the most DRAMATIC opening hole I've ever seen.

The greatest??  First we need a thread on what an opening hole is "supposed" to be.

I think it's a better finishing hole, frankly.  I kind of like the opener at Prestwick or something like that - makes you think and demands more precision than muscle.

There's plenty of time for greatness in the remaining 17 holes.

Having said that, Tom Morris HAD to build the hole he did at Machrihanish - the setting simply demands it.

[George Pazin]

I think Tom Paul & Patrick Mucci favor NGLA #1, but Pat is so helplessly tangled up in the "can't comment on pictures" issue that he refuses to let the rest of us see this apparent gem.  

[THuckaby2]

George - add my sorry voice to those luminaries favoring #1 at NGLA.  That is just such a perfect introduction to what you're about to face there... well, I could go on and on and have before!

I haven't seen Machrihanish in person though....

TH

[Mike_Cirba]

The first at Sand Hills.  

[Ran Morrissett]

A panel of 10-12 "experts" (and in this case they were) produced a very well done video a decade ago on the world's greatest holes. Ala Pat Ward Thomas, they remained faithful to each hole number and Machrihanish's 1st came out on top.

Who can argue? Some may prefer Pine Valley's or Garden City's or County Down's or Mid Ocean's or NGLA's or TOC's or Sand Hill's but Machrihanish's deserves to be on that same short list.

Cheers,

[JakaB]

I hate to be so obvious but #1 on Pinehurst #2 is easily the best opening hole in golf.

#1 at Pastiempo may be the worst opening I have ever seen on a great course.   It would be better with the original tee and played as a par 5...but still not too good.

[THuckaby2]

Concur with Mike re Sand Hills... oh man, that just may top #1 at NGLA.  So totally different though, but damn SH #1 is the perfect introuction also.  Is there greater bunkering anywhere than right there on that hole?

And JakaB, I have no great love for #1 Pasa, but I don't think it's that bad either... if they would put the tee back on top of the cart barn and call it a par5, then yeah, that would be neat.  But it's so downhill even from there, the way it is now with the tree removed that used to be in front of the green, it would be hard to call it a 3shot hole... I kinda like it how it is today.  It doesn't belong in this list here, but hey, that's no knock.

TH

[archie]

Dare I suggest the first at Pine Valley!  It has risk reward on the tee ball, rewards accuracy like no other first hole I know and is a precurser to all that is to follow!!!!!!

[redanman]

Blondes, brunettes and redheads.

Tom Doak picked #1 at Long Cove   I asked him about it and all his reasons were quite good, but not my choice.

Greatest!  To whom!?  For what reason!? There is no single answer. Personally I prefer a mid length 1st hole where a Driver is not mandatory, infact where you really have to consider your choice for the tee shot very very carefully.  But, that's just me.

PVGC, GCGC, NGLA, Merion, TOC?  Surely Pebble or Spyglass, Olympic, Riviera, Winged Foot or Pinehurst #2?

Royal Aberdeen, perhaps.  

Maybe make a few other's short list, I sure found myself checking for the window on my practice swing.  I thought that and the hole were both pretty cool.  Sure puckers the butt, even more than Merion and The Old course for me where I hit a perfect drive both first times (Not at Aberdeen!).

(p.s.  I like redheads and blondes)

[GeoffreyC]

Sand Hills
Pine Valley
NGLA
Plainfield (this must be on a short list!)
GCGC
Winged Foot West (if you like being told what to expect right off the bat)

[ChipOat]

Tom Huckaby:

No 2 holes could be LESS alike than the openers at National and Machrihanish.

A real blonde/brunette thing on those 2.

[THuckaby2]

Oh I absolutely understand that and can see it from the pictures of Machrihanish, Chip!  

It's just kinda cool to me how they both fit into this conversation, that's all.  Blonds/brunettes indeed.

TH

[archie]

Redanman,  I share your passion that variety is the spice of life, particularly with golf. I don't think any course or hole is the best, just think that #1 at PV still is sets the table awfully well!!!

[TEPaul]

I love the little #1 at NGLA but I would certainly never consider it the best or the greatest opening hole--but it is a ton of fun and so incredibly unusual.

But for the greatest, in my mind, I would wholeheartedly second what Archie said---PVGC's #1! Matter of fact, I think for any level of golfer, for every level of golfer it very well may be the best hole on the course! There are so many ways to play that hole but not too many can seem to make themselves play it as conservatively as they probably should--particularly starting out a tournament!

#1 PVGC without question has one of the widest spectrums in the risk/reward category of any hole anywhere--the spread in scoring between good and disaster is enormous! But the way the hole's margins for error work are masterful--even on the tee shot but particularly that gradually narrowing down triangle of a green with the progressively disasterous fall-off!

It's almost like a rack with very fine threads that ratchets things up very gradually depending on the more you try for or the more foolish you are. The key is the rather wide front and the wide run-up combined with the length of the green--the length of the green is the real strategic pay-off particularly if the pin is past center. I like to feel I have a fairly reasonable chance of two putting on most any green but for some reason I don't feel that way on PVGC's #1. I even saw two Crump Cup quarterfinalists within 15-20ft of that mid-right pin putt the ball right into the woods. The real strange thing was one of them just chuckled and said: "Wouldn't you think I might learn something--I did the same thing this morning!?"

But I have seen some great things happen on #1 PV too. One time many years ago I drew a guy named Gary Cowan--one of the great Canadian amateur players--who I happened to know from a tournament in Canada. Cowan was without question the most aggressive player I've ever seen and was known to state if he ever was forced to play conservatively he would rather quit the game.

I decided I would just sneak up on #1 conservatively but Cowan hit a great drive and pulled out a 6 iron and hit it right at a pin that was just about hanging off the very back of the green. He damn near hit the pin and had a tap-in! At that point I got the feeling I might not see that much of the back nine in this match. I was right--I was a dead duck on #14!!

[Ben Cowan-Dewar]

How is Spyglass not even mentioned.  A solid long par five that is not particularly easy to reach.  Some do not favour a par five opener (especially pro's), but this had to be one of the best long holes that RTJ did.

What is wrong with Pasa's first hole?  Not mind-blowing, but a solid opener.

I know we have done these lists before, but courses that ease you into the round, are wonderful (as Redanman states), some great openers of that flavour are Cataraqui, Rosedale and Sagamore.

[Dave_Miller]

JakaB:
Why do you say #1 on Pinehurst #2 is the greatest opening hole anywhere.  What, in your opinion, makes this so?

Best
Dave

[Patrick_Mucci]

George Pazin,

I didn't forget you.

I'm trying to arrange for the great Bruceski to come out to
NGLA and take a set of his exceptional photos for the site.

You'll be amongst the first to know, promise.

# 1 at NGLA is pretty good, the view from the tee, the wind up on that tee, the sight of the first green and the golfers dealing with the contours of the putting surface,  the sound and sight of the huge American Flag snapping in the breeze and that TALL flagpole, the sight of the clubhouse and clubhouse lawn below.  The smell of the sea.

There is something special about that place.  

[THuckaby2]

Ben - Spyglass was mentioned - see redanman's post - and I had it in my "other holes considered" section when I did my "best holes played by the numbers" list.  It belongs most definitely.  And I'm with you re Pasa.

TEP:  my preference for NGLA's stems not so much for what a great hole it is out of context, but how PERFECT it is an introduction to THAT golf course.  The tee shot slaps you into the "I gotta be thinking today" mode, and then the green REALLY bitch-slaps you into "this is gonna be really different"... It's just perfect for NGLA, and a darn fun hole to boot.  It flows so perfectly to the damn near attached 2nd tee also... and don't get me started on the greatness of that hole....

Great stories re Cowan and PV, anyway - thanks!  I really believe I saw him play... Would he have been old enough to play in the 1976 US Amateur at BelAir?  I forecaddied there and his name sounds really familiar.

TH

[TEPaul]

TomH;

I'm sure Cowan played in the 1976 US Amateur--he sure played in a ton of them and he won it twice, interestingly both right here in the Delaware Valley--one Merion, the other Wilimington C.C. Even more interesting to me that he won both of them when the US am was at stroke play--always seemed strange to me for a golfer who was that aggressive to win two of the stroke play ams!

In one of them--at Wilmington--he also hit one of the most famous shots in the history of the US Amateur. He came to the last hole--72nd and needed I think a par to win the amateur and he had a nine iron in. It was apparently pretty pressure packed and maybe some danger to that hole. He sunk the nine iron!!

I drove him back to where he was staying in Wilmington after that time he wiped me out and I asked him about that famous shot and what was going through his mind. He said it sure was pressure packed but he told himself this shot was no different than the million nine irons he'd hit on the range in Canada and that's what he was thinking when he hit it and in it went!

Not long before that time I'd been to the USGA museum and I'd seen that nine iron of his on display! I asked him about that too and he said, yes the USGA asked him if he would consider giving them that nine iron so they could put it in the museum. He said to them, sure, no problem, so he went out to the garage and got some old nine iron and sent it to them! He said; "Do you really think I would give the USGA THAT NINE IRON?!?"

[Fred Ruttenberg]

If I remember correctly, several years ago Arnold Palmer in an article in Sports Illustrated,picked the first hold at Merion as the best starting hole. Standing in front of the patio and hitting your opening drive certainly sets that hole apart. The hole is such a perfect start for the course.

[TEPaul]

Fred:

Quit spending your life on Golfclubatlas and call me--I left a message for you!!

[THuckaby2]

Thanks, TEP!  Oh yes, it's the right Gary Cowan.  I did remember him from the early-70's wins in stroke play, and I am pretty darn sure he was there in 1976 at BelAir.  Maybe my memory's playing tricks on me but he was one of the "names" we wanted to follow, along with Dick Siderowf, Fred Ridley, a few others.

Damn that's 26 years ago... seems like yesterday.  Time flies.

Great story re the 9iron!

TH

[TEPaul]

Isn't it interesting that at least two of the best opening holes picked on this thread--NGLA's and Merion's either weren't the original opening hole or weren't in their present configuration originally! On the other hand, Crump's #1 was were he started everything--that was his original first vision before anything else was done or thought of!