[Jon Spaulding]

Robert Ball and I had the chance to play here recently. As expected, the course was excellent..... decisions need to be made throughout the round, consistently demanding tee & approach shots, sublime conditioning, bold/well placed bunkering, open space, great contours. My only complaint after a night's sleep was that I live in a Raynor-less part of the world!

Ran's write up of the course is more than informative. Attached are a few photos that might help fill in the blanks for the peanut gallery. The highlight of the day was Robert forging a close, life-long bond with our caddie "Shakes", and his break dancing version of Robert's swing.

Tee shot on #1


Author's tee shot on #1 adjacent to the Principal's nose


Looking back at #1


Tee shot on #2


Tee shot on the famous 3rd


Closer view of #3


view from front of #3


Approach to #4


Rear bunkering on #4


Approach shot on #6


interesting green on #6


The "Baller" approaching #7 after a solid tee shot


Tee shot on #8 Road Hole (as modified by Dye/Doak)


#8 greensite with Road bunker on the LH side


Looking across the "road" back to the fairway


#9 - no description required!


Close up of #9 approach


#11 Eden back into the sun


#12 Alps tee shot


Alps approach shot


#12 green looking back


#13 Knoll approach


#14 tee shot


#14 approach


#15 approach


#16 looking back


#17 Short


#18 tee shot


#18 approach

[ed_getka]

Nice place to spend a day!!! Which did you play first, Yale or PR? Thanks for sharing the pix. See you in a couple of weeks.

[David Stamm]

Excellent photo's pard. I had a feeling that when you played a CBM/Raynor that you would love it, and after seeing these, I can see why. In our conversation after your round, you stated that the shot values is what really made the course stand out to you. These photo's can define what you mean easily. Great presentation!

[Tiger_Bernhardt]

One of the better redans around. I love 14. It is a great par 4 with some of the most artisitc bunkering anywhere.

[Tommy Williamsen]

Great stuff!! I spent a wonderful morning there before I played the Creek in the afternoon.  They were a wonderful one-two punch.  Long Island is a marvel for good golf.

[Patrick_Mucci]

Jon,

Thanks for the pictures, Piping Rock is a terrific golf course.

The picture of # 6 green doesn't do it justice.
It's quite unique and challenging.

I'd be curious to see an aerial overlay of the course pre and post Dye/Doak's work.

Perhaps Craig Disher could be of assistance

[mark chalfant]

Richard Spear,     The cgcs  at Piping Rock, does  such  a great job.   Every time I  visit the course ,or  see new photos  the Maint. Meld seems more   beautiful/ charming.  #6  and #12 are  fabulous !!

[Mike_Cirba]

Jon/Robert,

I'm sure you guys will know what I mean when I tell you how painful it is for me to view those pictures.  

Boy, that looks absolutely terrific!  Glad that you had such a good time.

[John Kirk]

Jon,

These are great.  Thanks so much.

[Jon Spaulding]

EG; we played PR first. I'm glad we did as Yale would have been a tough round to start the week with. PR was a touch easier on the legs and the game.

TB; this was the first redan I'd seen in person. It far exceeded my expectations; no photo/description does that green justice!

PM; #6 and 13 greens were inspiring. Standing on the green is about the only way to get a sense of the challenge, especially the drop-offs on the front portion. I cannot imagine playing the rear pin position on either. The only mention of D&D work in the Bahto book is in regards to #8 tee location. Perhaps TD can chime in with what else they did on the site.

MC; I feel your pain when I look at other threads & photos on this site.....so you're not alone!

[Patrick_Mucci]

Jon,

I believe the fairway bunkering scheme was altered on # 6 as well.

An overlay would be an interesting study.

[SPDB]

Jon:
I believe the 8th tee (the one closer to the backside of the range)
was done in house by Spear and crew (perhaps on Doak's/Dye's
recommendation). There was also a substantial recapture of
greenspace on the left side of 6 green. There was also a lot of work on 11 green. I also believe the Principal's Nose bunker was a relatively recent (re)addition. I seem to recall Doak/Dye recommending a PN bunker be put on the other side of the road
on 10.

[Robert_Ball]

A good challenge and a true pleasure to play.  Below are a few more pics.  Great Alps and Redan holes.

Patrick, re. the bunkering on #6 a quick check of the Bahto book shows the diagonal bunkers originally running across the entire fairway, forcing a carry on the 2nd shot.

Approach to short Par 4 5th


Looking back down 14


Distinctive 15th green


16th tee w/carry bunkers on the left


View of clubhouse and range from 8th tee



Robert

[TEPaul]

Jon:

Thank you for those nice photos. That's like looking at old home week for me.

Last week I spent the latter half of the week officiating at the Macdonald Cup that was held this year at The Creek Club (Piping Rock's longtime friendly rival).

Even though I grew up at Piping Rock, one of the players on the Piping Rock team happened to mention to me that once upon a time way back the 2nd and the 7th greens at Piping were virtually attached.

I must say I've never heard that before and I even have a hard time visualizing such a thing.

What I do know is that 4th green (in that photo) doesn't look like I seem to remember it. Frankly, it looks perhaps better.  

On the other hand, I think I recall the captain of the Piping team mentioning that perhaps that hole needs some restoration.

[SPDB]

TEPaul:
That wouldn't surprise me at all. As it stands now, holes 2
& 7 share a (not very large) greenside bunker. That bunker -
rear and right of #2 and front and left of #7 has been changed
very recently and shrunk as a result (such that it no longer
directly abuts 2 green). I suspect that PRC has lost a lot
of greenspace over the years (witness the recapture of
considerable greenspace on 6 recently), and 2 & 7 may
have been victims of this shrinkening.

[wsmorrison]

While not quite attached, here is a photo of the two greens from a 1940 aerial (sorry if it comes out too small--try right clicking and zooming):

[JMorgan]

Some pictures of the course in 1912:


Redan #3


#5


Biarritz #9


Knoll #13


Valley #16


Short #17

[Robert Mercer Deruntz]

The 1940 and 1912 photos show some changes.  The question to be asked--are the changes better?
   I think the current version of 17 is far superior.  Holes 2 and 7 are pretty good now, but a 1940 look would not be too bad.  
The new tee on 8 was very much inhouse.  For the past 15 years I have been teeing up in that location with friends.  Jim Albus might have been the first to tee up from that spot. It was logical that Richard would build a tee.  Mike Gilmore might have helped in the location being moved back another 15 yards--that was his carry distance to reach the fairway with an aggressive line over the trees.

[TEPaul]

SBerry:

It seems to me Piping Rock is looking to fill in some blanks of their course's architectural evolution.

They had a restoration of sorts by Dye/(Doak) some years ago but I think they're realizing at this point that there may be some still available and valuable material of their architectural history to be more carefully analyzed and considered.

Their friendly rival, The Creek Club, at this point, may actually be ahead of them in this kind of effort and as we know these clubs are both close and somewhat competitive in the things they do and think.

I consider this to be a very good thing in this particular context because it's all basically restoration based.

[Tiger_Bernhardt]

TE I agree PR is still very much a work in process. They have a strong and knowledgable Super. I expect the course to continue its positive architectural evolution.

[Paul_Turner]

Jon

Great pics! Looks like you had a super day...sad I missed it

That 15th green sticks out in my memory as being pretty special.

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