The Death of the Backstop

[John Kavanaugh]

I don't want to go so far as to say the greens at Grand National Links and Lake are better than the greens at Bandon, what's the point, but I will say that the backstops provided by RTJ in Auburn, AL made for some great fun.  I'm sure all who keep a thumb on my whereabouts know that I just returned from Bandon to spend a couple of days down in beautiful Alabama to play the Links and Lake courses of the RTJ Trail courses of Grand National.  They may not be as pretty as the greens at Bandon but the RTJ greens provided for more strategic shot placement on green approach due to a backstop option on at least 32 of the 36 greens.  To much of a good thing, perhaps, much faster greens in Alabama revealing true slopes, could be, a lost art of the backstop though minimalism, my guess.  Has modern acclaimed golf lost the art of the backstop and does it need to find its way back?

[Tom_Doak]

John:

How much of a backstop is there on those Alabama courses?  (I haven't been to Alabama since they built the Trail.)

There are backstops or sideboards on a lot of the greens at Pacific Dunes -- 2, 4, 8, 9 upper, 11, 15, and 18 all have some version of one, although you have to be on the right half of the fairway to use some of those.  I think there are some at Bandon Trails also.

[Bill_McBride]

I don't want to go so far as to say the greens at Grand National Links and Lake are better than the greens at Bandon, what's the point, but I will say that the backstops provided by RTJ in Auburn, AL made for some great fun.  I'm sure all who keep a thumb on my whereabouts know that I just returned from Bandon to spend a couple of days down in beautiful Alabama to play the Links and Lake courses of the RTJ Trail courses of Grand National.  They may not be as pretty as the greens at Bandon but the RTJ greens provided for more strategic shot placement on green approach due to a backstop option on at least 32 of the 36 greens.  To much of a good thing, perhaps, much faster greens in Alabama revealing true slopes, could be, a lost art of the backstop though minimalism, my guess.  Has modern acclaimed golf lost the art of the backstop and does it need to find its way back?

John, those two are my favorites on the Trail along with the Sherling and Canyon nines at Cambrian Ridge in Greenville AL.  There is a lot of an Augusta feel there with the very tall pines bordering some very hilly fairways.  The greens do have a lot of contour and backstops.  Some are above you so the backstops aren't really a factor if you are playing for the first time.

Walking not an option because of the long rides between holes along the lakes.

[Norbert P]

. . . the RTJ greens provided for more strategic shot placement on green approach due to a backstop option on at least 32 of the 36 greens. 

 That percentage seems tired and repetitive. I don't know how large the RTJ backstops are but they sound overly comforting. The Bandon courses often offer the backboards, but they aren't encompassing. They offer slopes if you want to use them but they don't wrap up the green. So, though the Bandon greens may not offer that strategic option as often, they test the deftness of player skills more, (I hate to lessen the importance of thinking, though), which, I believe, would make people want to replay them more.  Perhaps not as cajoling, but still there if a golfer examines his options.
 
   Last time on Bandon Dunes, on the 7th hole, I had a backboard directly behind the hole, and I decided to use a P wedge instead of the Sand Wedge. The shot ran up the back bank, not my intention but knew of the possibility, and the ball came back down onto the green, between the dancing feet of a caddy, to rest a couple of inches from the hole.    It was pure luck except that my propensity for error was factored in. If it was factored in on 32 greens though, I think the novelty would diminish the experience.

 

[John Kavanaugh]

I'm kind of proud of myself for walking the Links course but I only carried three clubs.  I heard the girl behind the counter making fun of me as I left the proshop so that was all the motivation I needed.  My son has been at Auburn for four years now and this was the first time I had played golf there.  An incredible bargain at under $50.

Tom,

The backstops are bizarro huge where anything from any distance feeds to the hole.  Most modern critics would call them over the top.  They are the actual size of a Pacific Ocean wave in Cabo just before it breaks.  I have never seen a green as large as the double green on the first of the Lake...The huge flowing movements are fun in an uncomplicated way that was highlighted by a week of thinking in Bandon.

[Matt_Cohn]

It's been a few years but I played NCAA's there in 2000. I don't remember anything to that extent. The greens are so big that any backstops are only play with 20% of the pin positions on a particular green anyway. But I sure didn't notice that kind of repetitiveness. I agree that the Lake, the one I played, is a very fun and beautiful course.