The Three Other Threes: The par 3's on Lawsonia’s Back Nine

[Dan Moore]

The Three Other Threes: The par 3's on Lawsonia’s Back Nine

In the Redan and Short threads we looked at the par 3's on Lawsonia’s front nine.  Here we will take a look at Lawsonia’s three back nine par 3's.  Lawsonia’s back nine has the unusual
configuration of 3 par 3's, 3 par 4's and 3 par 5's.  The routing goes 3,5,3,5,3,4,4,4,5.  If you take the par 5 9th hole into account, you play six holes in the middle of the round without confronting a par 4.  Quite unusual.  

The back nine starts with the enormous 239 yd 10th hole.  In its day this would likely have been a full driver or more for most players.  The tee is set in front of a beautiful old stone bridge for the road which bisects the front and back nines.  The hole is relatively flat with the main feature from the tee being a large built up cross bunker that is built to almost the same height as the green.  The bunker is well short of the green (at least 40 yds) but hides the wide, open area between the bunker and green and plays games with your depth perception.  The huge green, probably the largest on the course, is full of internal undulation and a variety of slopes.   The green is wide open in the front but is surrounded by 5-6 foot deep bunkers on both sides.  A second fairway bunker which once graced the slight depression to the left of the main cross bunker defined an alternate line of play for the shorter hitter who wishes to avoid the large cross bunker.  Ron Forse said Lawsonia’s 10th is one of the three toughest par 3's in the country.  As Shivas will attest its even tougher following a brat at the turn.

Sunrise on the 10th


On Paper


From the Bridge


From  Tee Level


The Left Hand Bunker


Green Recapture in Progress (2006)

[Dan Moore]

The 177 yd 12th hole, along with the 17th hole, is located on the least engaging portion of the property.  The hole which plays ever so slightly uphill runs to the Northeast aided by the prevailing wind.  Into this flat featureless area L/M built a two tiered green with the tier running the middle of the angled green on a slight diagonal from front left to back right.  A large fault line similar to that found on the third at West Bend defines the tier to the rear which falls away from the higher tier on the front half of the green.  With a green that slightly open in the front and flanked by a large bunker to the right and another running along the left hand side one might be tempted to liken this hole to an Eden, but I won’t.  

                                      1937
                                     

The approach


The Fault Line


Looking Back at the Tee

[Dan Moore]

The last of Lawsonia’s five par threes was originally the shortest par 3 at 130 yds at the time of opening while today it has been extended to 154 yds.  Located in a grove of trees some may want to call this a Short, others a Volcano or Knoll hole.  The hole is set in grove of old trees that has unfortunately been surrounded by numerous evergreens added over the years.  If I remember correctly this green may have been rebuilt at one time as it was often in very bad condition due to a lack of consistent sunlight.  The dramatically raised green is divided into a front and rear tier
and also features a significant back to front slope.  The green drops off 15 feet to the rear so back pin placements can be hard to get at.  A deep bunker protects the right front.  A simply wonderful test of precision short iron play and putting ability.

From Geoff Shackelford's Golden Age of Golf Design


From Tee today


From the Left Treeline


View up the 15th from 14 green.    

[Mike McGuire]

Dan -

I prefer the look of the 14th in the old photo, without  the white pines behind the green. It makes long look like a worse fate than the current hole.

[Dan Moore]

Mike,  I couldn't agree more.  Not only would it look better (imagine the view up 15 without the trees in the way) and get more sun, the wind would also be more of a factor on that high end of the property.  

[Eric_Terhorst]

Nice pics as usual Dan.  Especially of the "Fault Line" on 12.

The view looking up 15 makes me think there must be a need for some more log cabins on the Lawsonia campgrounds  

[Adam Clayman]

Dan, Since it has been too long since I was there, I can tell you that the final two par 3's must be the least memorable. I can remember the first three very well but those last two are but a lost brain cell or two away from registering.

In thinking about it, and looking at your wonderful pictures, I can't help but fault the trees.

[Evan Fleisher]

14...two words...

Chain

Saw

...'nuff said.

[Phil McDade]

In defense of the trees at 14, aesthetically, it provides the golfer something of a break from the wide-open spaces of the back nine. One of the interesting things about the back nine at Lawsonia is that it sits on essentially one long, rectangular, largely tree-less piece of land, and much of it is visible from the back-and-forth fairways that comprise the nine holes. 14 is a cozy little hole, the shortest of the quintet, and certainly less demanding than the other four, although still with plenty of challenge.

Having said that, I'd agree with the consensus here that some judicious tree-cutting would be in order, particularly in back, as it would provide the golfer a sense of fear in going long. The backside drop-off is steep and deep.

12 is entirely a product of a terrific green, that I've seen some label (mistakenly, I think) as a Redan, but is really a par 3 over level land with the potential for interesting pin positions depending on the hole location relative to the fault line. It's an impressive fault line/ridge, but I'm pretty sure the one at the 3rd at West Bend is bigger/steeper.

I don't see the Eden qualities in the 12th; one might argue the 14th displays echoes of an Eden, if only because of the fairly significant back-to-front tilt of the green. Old photos at ground level of Lawsonia are hard to come by; the contrast between the Shackelford picture of the 14th and the current one is notable. Shackelford mentions an "extraordinarily deep greenside bunker" at 14, and while it is deep, I think the fronting bunker at the Redan-esque 4th is deeper.