I think a combination of as many of the MacRayBanks templates in one hole and whatever is left over combined in the following hole would be the best new design idea of all time. Perhaps a real architect can combine them all into one hole. I would need two holes, amateur that I am. Everything will be laser straight with perfectly level bunker floors and grass faces beyond 90 degrees. Even Brian Silva wouldn't dare try that. Cantilevers will be necessary, but it is an homage to the engineered look so it should be acceptable to all fans of the style.
Pat Mucci will instantly join the club that offers such holes no matter the cost. He will assuredly be bewitched, bothered and bewildered at the wonderment of it all. He'll just stand there transfixed for hours on end staring with unbounded joy and around his neck an extra absorbent bib to catch the drool.
Here are my design proposals:
I'd start the Raynor Prized Dogleg off with a Redan fairway landing area (the green is already so familiar, I thought I'd alter the concept to the tee shot landing area) with a bit of a Hog's Back. I'd then utilize a brilliant composite of a Leven convex bunker and Alps mounding fronting the perched Knoll green with Bottle like fall-offs, leaving a bit of room to land the ball and run it past a Road Hole bunker. The green, situated exactly like the original Cape Hole green at NGLA, would be a combination of a prototypical Banks Double Plateau with a tilt reminiscent of the Eden Hole green.
On the next hole, I would try to somehow combine the remaining templates. Perhaps I'll design a Punchbowl green with a Biarritz swale precisely perpendicular to the line of play and exactly 3 feet deep the entire length of the swale. The greenside bunkering will be similar to the Short complex. The tee shot will need to carry a Sahara bunker complex to a Valley landing area offering two routes similar to the Channel where the player selecting the easier route will be faced with a Hell Bunker from the Long Hole.
Because the public will be demanding to play the same holes on their own courses, you can expect to see copies of these holes on all courses I will be designing in the future. You gotta give the public what it wants.
Wayne, interestingly enough, Pensacola Country Club's new course has a 245 yard par 3 with a reverse Redan green that features a Biarritz swale! This is a creative design by Jerry Pate and lead designer Steve Dana.
It really works at that length. If the pin is back, it's a hard cut fairway metal or driver (for me these days
) that catches the left front slope and runs onto the green through the swale and up to the high back tier. Seeing this happen from the tee is most entertaining!
You can make out both the front "kicker" slope and get a glimpse of the swale in this photo:
Also, #17 is a 455 yard hole that combines a Cape tee shot with a punchbowl green.
The punchbowl is down inside the mounding in front of the since removed tent used for cart storage until our new clubhouse was finished last month.
Jerry Pate and Steve Dana were way ahead of you!