Courses that end 5, 5

[ANTHONYPIOPPI]

I stumbed across a course in Massachusetts that ends with two fives: 493, 467. Anybody know of any other examples?

Thanks for the help.

Anthony

[Tom Huckaby]

Baltusrol

[ANTHONYPIOPPI]

Tom,

Thanks. No need to tell you I did not get a thinkingcap for Christmas.

Tony

[dsilk]

usually my scorecard at boston golf club- which unfortunately, ends with a par 3...

[Tiger_Bernhardt]

lol 5 5 finish on par 4's does put a sting in the round. 2 par 5's. None are coming to mind after Huck hit a home run.

[Josh Smith]

Waverley CC  --  Portland, OR

H. Chandler Egan design.
 
17 has a huge huge green (guessing 14,000 sf.) with huge tier at this par 5, 18 is a par five as well.  Willamette River borders on the right edge of both of these holes, 50 or so feet below.

Witnessed Tiger win his third junior in a row by coming from two down with two to play on these two holes.  He tees off with 3 wood on both.  Gets up and down from 40-60 yards from bunkers on each hole carding two birdies in a row from tough spots and then wins with a tap in three footer for par on the first hole of the play off, Hole 1.  He beat Ryan Armour in that final match.  Ryan birdied 15 to go two up with 3 to play, they halved 16.  

I used to caddy there.

[Tom_Doak]

The Rawls Course in Lubbock ends with two par fives.

We didn't start out trying to do it that way -- in the original routing the present 15th hole was going to be the 18th, but then we realized it would play west into the setting sun (which is particularly hard to escape in Lubbock).  So we changed the sequence and moved a couple of greens and tees around (still in the planning stage) to make the present configuration work.  I doubt Tillinghast's choice at Baltusrol was the result of a mistake, but who knows?  It's not something you would often set out to do.

Desert Highlands is another course that ends 5, 5.

[Paul Payne]

Now that I begin to think about it I kind of like the idea. I have never played a course that ends this way but I can imagine with everything on the line it would provide two holes where anything could happen. More exciting than a par three finisher, and more uncertain than a par four.

Why would this seem unconventional or even a bad idea?

[Michael Robin]

Isn't Cherry Hills 5 5 for the members?

[ANTHONYPIOPPI]

Tom,

When you made the change did the owner balk? The course I'm talking about is 9 holes and those are the only two 5s.

Anthony

[Brad Tufts]

Hanover CC in NH....

Hole 17, strange yet entertaining new par 5 by Ron Pritchard, plays about 480.  It is a dogleg right that requires some sort of layup off the tee with a fairway wood or long iron.  The second plays over the ravine to a fairway that hides the sunken green with several humps and a bunker or two.

Hole 18, one of the oldest holes on the course, probably attributable to Ralph Barton, about 475 but doglegging close to 90 degrees left.  Pritchard updated the bunkering, including a fun central bunker benched into the left to right slope about 120 yards from the green.

Both holes traverse the Vale of Tempe, a ravine that is about 80 feet deep when you tee off over it on #18.

Two very fun finishing holes.

[Adrian_Stiff]

UK
Wentworth ends 5,5 and Birkdale used to end 5,5 (it used to have 4 par5s in the last 6) does make good TV viewing I suppose.

[Tom_Doak]

Tony:

There was no balk from the client on that because we were fixing something that was perceived to be a problem.  (Hmm ... perhaps that's the roundabout way of convincing clients to let you do things different!)

The original routing only had three par-5 holes and they begged us to change the second hole from a long par-4 into a 5, so it would be a par 72.  We were told the NCAA looked more favorably on par-72 courses as tournament venues but I didn't really believe that, I figured they were just using an outside authority I couldn't argue with as a negotiation tactic.  If true, then the NCAA likes their college golfers to post big under-par numbers.

[wsmorrison]

Rolling Green GC, though the last should definitely play as a par 4 from the original tee.  It is a horrible par 5, especially so from the new back tee.  I don't play there much anymore, but whenever I did and will do so, I always play it as a par 4 from the middle tee.

Yes, Cherry Hills CC finishes as back-to-back par 5s for the members.  The 18th is played as a par 4 for some championships.

[Phil_the_Author]

Tom, you wrote, "I doubt Tillinghast's choice at Baltusrol was the result of a mistake, but who knows?  It's not something you would often set out to do."

I have wondered for some time now whether it was the result of the construction process that he was mandated to adhere to in designing both courses; that is, he was required to keep 18 holes open for play at all times.

2 new courses while keeping an existing open while tearing it up for new holes...

That was some challenge.

[Chris Kane]

Victoria.  The front nine also finishes 5-5.

[Brad Klein]

Brookside CC, Canton Ohio., Ross course, pure, great restoration by Silva, ends on a very long 3-shot 17th and a shorter, reachable uphill 18th. Great variety there in those back-to-back finishing par-5s.

Also, Ross' Holston Hills in Knoxville, Tn. ends on back-to-back par-5s.

Modern variation: Pleasant Valley CC in Sutton, Mass. also ends on two par-5s.s

[Jonathan Cummings]

Cherry Hills (at least for members).  I once played Cherry with the club champion - he was a plus 1 or 2 and once finished CH with eagle/eagle for a tidy 65.

JC

[Mike Worth]

The West Point (U.S. Military Academy) course ends with 2 fives.  Both are reachable in 2,with 17 about 470, up hill and 18 about 500, but down hill

[Bill Satterfield]

I played Rio Secco Friday (outside of Las Vegas) and it finished with a pair a par 5s.  It is funny that this post came up because after playing it I wondered how many courses did that.

Along those same lines, Coral Canyon in St. George, UT starts out with back to back par 5s.

[Tim Gavrich]

My home course, Hop Meadow Country Club, ends 5-5, which makes matches really exciting.  Number 17 is the reachable one at around 505 from the tips (~480 from the regular tees), but there's OB all down the right.  Some, including myself, believe it ought to be hazard, because about 15 yards right of the green is a pond.  

Number 18 is about 525, with a stream crossing the fairway about 285 off the back tee (about 240 from the regular tees), and a pond short and right of the green.  It can be reached in two only if you can hit a ~245 yard three wood and carry it around 225.  I'll do more justice to it (and my other favorite holes at HMCC) when I finally get around to putting together a "My Home Course" about it.

[Jeff_Mingay]

I'm sensing this thread may lead to another Pioppi book!

To the Nines followed by End with Fives  

[Kevin Pallier]

Yarra Yarra's F9 finishes 5 / 5 (both over 480m) and it's B9 finishes 5 / 4 / 5 though the P5's are quite short at 450m and 440m respectively.

[Jeff Doerr]

The Composite Course they used to use for The Tradition at The Reserve in Aloha, Oregon used to end 5, 5, 4, 5!

They took out the short par 4 16th on the Fought Course and switched in the finisher on the Cupp course. The Cupp hole is a reachable par 5 over water, in front of the grandstands, and next the the 18th on the Fought course.

Very contrived ending...

[mike_malone]

Wayne,

  You should stop saying #18 at Rolling Green is a "horrible" par five. It may not suit your game , but for many golfers it is a great finishing hole. If you want to keep calling it that then at least tell us what you mean by "horrible".

   Many par 4 1/2 holes  get  people to scratch their heads. I think it is better to study that hole and discern what gives it its "threeshotedness" and preserve those principles as you change it to adapt to the modern game. Simply moving the fairway to the left may solve your whole problem.

  Within the overall routing of that particular course the 5-5 finish works extremely well. It follows a challenging stretch and often lulls the player into thinking "No problem now; I'm finishing with a few birdies", only to be punished for a wayward tee shot when one tries to be too aggressive.

  I think you would enjoy the hole more if you changed your attitude