Southern Hills Hole 3 discussion

[Chris_Clouser]

Hole 3 – 451 yards

Like the previous hole, the third provides a glimpse of what makes Southern Hills so special as a course.  Southern Hills provides a wonderful mix of long, short and mid-length par fours while also containing a varied set of par fours and par fives.  From the regular tees, the third is one of the fine mid-length par fours on the course and one of the prettier holes on the course.  The tee shot runs back on the opposite side of the creek from the second hole.  From the original tees the creek crossed the fairway just short of the 300 yard mark.   That would give the longest players an option of going over the hazards from the tee.  As it is most players will lay back with a 3 wood.  They will also favor the left side of the fairway as it will prevent them from having to deal with trees to the right on their second.
But for all the niceties of the hole, the PGA has decided to extend it by almost fifty yards and make it into yet another bland 450 yard par four.  This allows one thing, the bombers to hit away and not think about their drives.  Unless they find the trees, they will have a short iron into the green.  I could understand the lengthening process somewhat if the hole had originally played that way, but that is not the case with the third.  The green was designed for short approaches and the one element, a creek, that adds strategy to the tee shot has been completely eliminated from the thought process.    
The third fairway stops short of the water crossing seventy-five yards short of the green.  This will create a short pitch into the well protected and heavily undulated putting surface.  If the fairway was extended and ran up to the water, especially on the right side of the fairway, and a few trees removed, a completely new option would exist for players off of the tee.  But the USGA and PGA over the years have created a one option system of attack for the championship.  
The green on the third hole is the most severe to this point.  The left side of the green is inviting to the players as they will be able to back up balls to any hole locations on that side.  The back right pins will be the most difficult to get close to as players will be wary of hitting into the bunkers behind the green and almost assuring themselves of a bogey.  Maxwell must have liked the final design of this hole because right after completing the construction at Southern Hills he went to Ardmore and changed the tenth at Dornick Hills to be an almost replica of this design.  

Here is the hole layout per the Southern Hills website.



The view from right of the tee up the fairway.  I had to change this because I had linked the wrong photo.  



The view from the fairway.



View from behind the green.



As you can see from the last picture the green is tilted greatly from left to right and back to front when viewed from the fairway.  Also, the photo fails to show how much of a rise there is to get to the green after you cross the creek.  This was a push-up green that is well above its surrounds, especially on the back side.  

Here is the routing so you can see where it falls on the site.



Here is the link to hole 2.

[wsmorrison]

Chris,

Thank you for doing this presentation.  I don't know anything about the golf course and this is a nice introduction.  It would be helpful if you could add early photos to see how the course was presented in Maxwell's time.  In what ways is the course different today than in his era?  Have some of the greens been reworked?  Are there slopes that are a bit steep for modern green speeds?  What is the overall elevation change on the golf course and on some individual holes.  There doesn't seem to be much elevation change in the holes you have presented thus far.  

[Chris_Clouser]

Wayne,

I'll try to post some older photos of the course as I have them.  I don't have any of the first few holes.  I think I have one of the 8th when we get there.

I'm trying to work in comments about the changes up to today.  Aside from the trees coming into the hole and the lengthening of the tees, there isn't much on the third that has changed.  I'll also point out the holes where the greens have been reworked, none to this point as they are all still Maxwell originals with only minor changes by the club.  And aside from the drop off from the 1st tee, there isn't much in the form of elevation changes on the first three holes.  The front nine of the course is laid out over mostly flat terrain except for the holes that run upto or away from the hill where the clubhouse sits.  The exciting terrain is mostly on the back side.  The creek is the dominating natural feature of the front side.

[wsmorrison]

Chris,

Thanks, early photographs would be helpful.  Are the round(ish) bunkers typical of Maxwell?  I think the routing of the front nine is especially interesting; sort of an inside counter-clockwise loop followed by an outside clock-wise loop.  On flat ground in windy conditions, this must have been a challenging factor.  The hillier second nine moves all over the compass as well.  Two hole sequences; 8 & 9 and 10 & 11 are the only consecutive holes that go in the same direction.

[Chris_Clouser]

I thought I had mentioned the bunkers on an earlier thread.  Sorry I didn't respond to that.  No, the bunkers are not typical Maxwell.  As you will see in the older photos, when I post some, his shapes weren't extravagant like Mackenzie, but were much simpler with rough edging.  That is something that has evolved at Southern Hills and has been taken by many as to what the typical Maxwell bunker should look like when in truth they never did.  Even by some at popular magazines and those that post on this site.  

I don't want to plug my book   but if you look at some of the old photos of places like Oklahoma City and Southern Hills you can see that older style that Maxwell used.  

Also, the routing is wonderful.  I think Forrest Richardson writes about rhythm in the routing in his book on the topic and uses Cypress Point as an example.  Southern Hills has a very rhythmic feel to it as you progress through the round as it slowly builds to the back nine where the real excitement is to be had.  I might add a post to just discuss the routing a little more since so many are commenting on it in particular.

[Jeff Doerr]

Chris, the green picture from the backside looks like an optical illusion. I know you have the camera tilted to accentuate the angle of the green, but how did you get the trees in the background to look straight?  

[RT]

Chris,

Think you nailed it on the rhythm of the course aspect.  I got that on my visits there.

RT