Is naming holes a good idea?

[Mark_Rowlinson]

For outright pretentiousness Turnberry and Gleneagles are hard to beat. As an example to us all never to rush into this sort of thing lightly, however, I should cite Birchwood, a fun Tom Macauley course in and out of a factory estate in Warrington. Literary scholars will have no problem with identification:
1. Slough of Despond
2. Sorrow Pathway
3. Little Ascent
4. By Path Meadow
5. Forgetful Green
6. Plain of Ease
7. The Hill called Error
8. Hazardous Path
9. Prospect
10. Pitfall
11. Valley of Humiliation
12. Arbour
13. Riverside Meadow
14, River St
15. Doubting Castle
16. Border Country
17. Enchanted Ground
18. Deliverance

Each to his own....

[Rich Goodale]

For outright pretentiousness Turnberry and Gleneagles are hard to beat. As an example to us all never to rush into this sort of thing lightly, however, I should cite Birchwood, a fun Tom Macauley course in and out of a factory estate in Warrington. Literary scholars will have no problem with identification:
1. Slough of Despond
2. Sorrow Pathway
3. Little Ascent
4. By Path Meadow
5. Forgetful Green
6. Plain of Ease
7. The Hill called Error
8. Hazardous Path
9. Prospect
10. Pitfall
11. Valley of Humiliation
12. Arbour
13. Riverside Meadow
14, River St
15. Doubting Castle
16. Border Country
17. Enchanted Ground
18. Deliverance

Each to his own....

Whoa!  Take 'er easy there, Pilgrim!  How about Painswick?

1-Attack
2-Battlefield
3-Outlook
4-Breach
5-Castle
6-WEll
7-Chapel
8-Portway
9-Ramparts
10-Postern
11-Pleasaunce
12-Barbican
13-Traitor's Gate
14-Gallows
15-Paradise
16-Southgate
17-Graveyard
18-Homeward Bound

[Britt Rife]

For outright pretentiousness Turnberry and Gleneagles are hard to beat. As an example to us all never to rush into this sort of thing lightly, however, I should cite Birchwood, a fun Tom Macauley course in and out of a factory estate in Warrington. Literary scholars will have no problem with identification:
1. Slough of Despond
2. Sorrow Pathway
3. Little Ascent
4. By Path Meadow
5. Forgetful Green
6. Plain of Ease
7. The Hill called Error
8. Hazardous Path
9. Prospect
10. Pitfall
11. Valley of Humiliation
12. Arbour
13. Riverside Meadow
14, River St
15. Doubting Castle
16. Border Country
17. Enchanted Ground
18. Deliverance

Each to his own....

I like the Pilgrim's Progress references, but I admit the whole thing seems a little odd.

Here in Maryland, we have a nice golf course called Hunter's Oak, which taken on its own is wonderful, but I question its use of hole names.  Among them:
"Wee Boggle"
"Hope"
"The Druid" (Is that the name of a Black Sabbath song?)
"Heaven"
"Horse Whisper"
"Compass Rose"
"Old Tom"
and my least favorite: "Magic"

[Joe Hancock]

I like this:

One
Two
Three
Four

...and so on.

Joe

[Forrest Richardson]

I think naming is a great idea. Most important, it forces thought on what makes a hole unique...and even when there may not be something so unique, the fact that people are thinking about that is good in itself.

There is decent writing on the subject. Tillinghaust wrote a long essay on naming. Mark Fine and I followed with some thoughts in our book.

In disagreement with Bart, "silly" is really a matter of whether you can get beyond the surface. If a club comes up with names and someone from inside or outside views them as silly, I suppose it could have a negative effect — but my position is that far more good can come from taking time to even consider names than without.

[Peter Pallotta]

Dan -

How about going through the whole naming process (i.e. knocking ideas around, taking informal polls) but stopping just short of actually putting the names up on placards. That way, it's something cool for the oldtimers to share with newcomers, kind of like the club's 'secrets' that you can only learn over time. So, for example, an oldtimer can get to a tee with a newbie and casually say:

"Ah, the Joey Bishop....We could never figure out what it actually did to make a living."

Peter   

[TEPaul]

 I think hole names are cool but basically only on the other side. Over there they just seem to have a knack for cool names no matter what it is they're naming. Over here they're generally just trite, corny or unimginative, although I would like to see a fancy conservative top-notch club over here try to name a couple of their holes things like "Shit Ass" or "F...Face". I think that would have a nice touch---eg kind of gets your attention, if you know what  I mean.

[JohnH]

"Springdale Spasm"

My dad, member and resident of Springdale near Waynesville, NC, enjoys the 4th hole aptly named this there.  One of the most aggravating, difficult holes I've ever played.  Around 420 yards that plays 450, uphill, to an elevated green needing a perfectly placed tee shot with the second shot through a narrow tree-lined corridor to the green.

I think having one signature hole with an original name is great.  Eighteen names?..... blah.

[Tim Nugent]

At a private club, I think they can be done - if you can ever get a majority to agree on them.   It could be fun to have a naming party where members put up names and then have to "sell and defend" theirs to the assembled memebers. (should be done after an extensive cockail hour).  In any event, to work, I think they have to be unique.

On a public course, I think it's a bit pretencious.  I have been asked to do it on several occaisions and believe me, it can take quite a while to come up 18 names.  At Harborside, several holes had names alluding to structures in the distance that are no loner there (#1 Port - Clock Tower - from the Pullman clock tower - it burned down and #10 Port - Stacks - from the trio of red &  white striped smoke stacks that could be used as aiming points for the tee shot - torn down.)  Actually those stacks with tere red/white stripes reminded me of the lighthouse at Harbour Town, hence the name Harborside. But those who play after-the-demo don't have any idea what the name means.

I actually tried to get them to name each hole for ports from around the world and have those ports supply an anchor (with their name on it) for the tee sign but they didn't want to provide "free advertising" for other ports.

Two that I did like at one course were Fair Lane and Valiant.  Named not because the downhill par 5 had a wide fairway or because the adjacient short uphill par 4 had a tight driving area, but rather because in clearing the holes I found the remains of an old Ford Fairlane and Plymouth Valient and the anes of those discarded wrecks were the basis for the hole designs.  As Paul Harvey says, "and now you know the rest of the story".

Check out Sandy Lyle's "Champoinship Course of Scotland".  For ach hole has there is a 'What's in the Name' that gives the origins of the hole's name.  Especially helpful for the Gaelic ones.

[Jason Connor]

Dan -

How about going through the whole naming process (i.e. knocking ideas around, taking informal polls) but stopping just short of actually putting the names up on placards. That way, it's something cool for the oldtimers to share with newcomers, kind of like the club's 'secrets' that you can only learn over time. So, for example, an oldtimer can get to a tee with a newbie and casually say:

"Ah, the Joey Bishop....We could never figure out what it actually did to make a living."

Peter   

I agree that most naming just doesn't work.  I can't imagine a committee or some such formulating something that comes off as anything but pretentious.  At best the names will be ignored, at worst mocked.

I like this word of mouth idea.  To me a hole should earns its name -- or at least should be given its name by a funny incident perpetrated by a member. 

Ideally I think the 18 names should be bullet points for 18 great legends of the course.  Which means a new course can't have names.  And names should be updateable if a better legend comes along.

Even more so than architecture, golf is about friendship to me. So even within my common golf groups I've had in the past, we'd often refer to holes by a funny story from that hole.  So then a hole's name (that only we knew) would bring back a memory of a great time, a funny story, or a shameful event.  All good fun.  Plus it provides stories to tell to new members of the group.

[Bill_McBride]

Wouldn't North Berwick's West Links be less entertaining if the incoming holes weren't "PIt," "Perfection," "Redan," "Gate," "Point O'Garry In,"?  Although "Home" is pretty trite.

Mountain Lake has some pretty obvious but cool names - "Draw," "Fade" etc.

What doesn't work at all is the hole has nothing to do with the name.  The best example I can think of is Keith Foster's Bandit course in New Braunfels, Texas.  One of the par 3s is called "Redan."   I have no idea why, there is absolutely no semblance of a slope in one direction or another, in fact there is nothing slightly "Redan-ish" about the hole.  I suspect Keith Foster had nothing to do with naming the hole.

I also don't like hole names at local courses that are open to the public but privately owned, where some holes are named for the founders and nobody else has any idea what it means.  "Joe's Revenge," etc.   

Unless the hole names come out of antiquity, cryet doon is probably right.

[Kalen Braley]

Here is the issue I see with most courses that name holes instead of letting them name themselves thru the years.

More often that not, these hole names end up being tried old cliches or trite marketing labels that really have nothing to do with the hole and is not even close to an accurate description of the hole.

Names like South America for the hole at Carnoustie are perfect in my book, a funny story with a great quirky name.

[Wade Whitehead]

I think naming holes can have one of two effects: It can communicate a sense of history or significance, or it can communicate a sense of trying to have history or significance.

To name holes just to name them might confer the latter.

See the Cascades for a great example of holes with appropriate and meaningful names (which have been in place for a long time, and for good reasons).

WW

[Don Hyslop]

I love the names Stanley Thompson gave to the holes at Highland Links in Cape Breton. The names not only honor the Scottish and Gaelic heritage of the area they also describe the holes as well.

Front Nine
Hole #1 - Ben Franey
Hole #2 - Tam O'Shanter
Hole #3 - Lochan
Hole #4 - Heich O' Fash
Hole #5 - Canny Slap
Hole #6 - Mucklemouth Meg
Hole #7 - Killiecrankie
Hole #8 - Caber's Toss
Hole #9 - Corbie's Nest
Back Nine
Hole #10 - Cuddy's Lugs
Hole #11 - Bonnie Burn
Hole #12 - Cleugh
Hole #13 - Laird
Hole #14 - Haugh
Hole #15 - Tattie Bogle
Hole #16 - Sair Fecht
Hole #17 - Dowie Den
Hole #18 - Hame Noo

[Forrest Richardson]

In thinking back on the last five courses I provided names for, they were all concocted while sitting on airplanes, very likely with a gin and tonic in hand.

I think there is more to be gained by naming than not. While some here are "bashful" or "worried" about what others might think — too pretentious, too hokey, etc. — I think the nature of assigning a name to a golf hole (or feature in some cases) brings the experience to life. A majority of people will find names amusing, interesting and it will also help them remember their experience.

One of the more interesting comments on televised golf is the background of a golf hole — the name of a tree, hole or story that goes along with the design and strategy. I think it a lost opportunity if we take the presumption that names will be taken as hokey or contrived. In actuality, people enjoy something other than numerals to define their way or space.

My work with Disney confirms perception in this area: Just the simply act of naming the cars in Mr. Toad's Wild Ride is, in itself, a simply, yet thoughtful act that has amused generations of customers of the Disney Parks.

Anyone here who thinks golf is not entertainment must be having a bad hair day.   

[Tim Nugent]

And I thought Golf was "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride".

[Melvyn Morrow]

Naming holes is part of golf; it should reflect the original designers name and those that modify the course. Yes, care should be taken with names, but it is so much easier to name a hole than call it Number X at Course Y.

Bart
If you have kids what do you call them No 9 or 8. After 11 years you should remember some names – trust you are not married because if you can’t remember her name, boy, you are not going to remain married for long – do you remember the names of your favourite golf clubs or are they called by numbers, what about your car – is it a number 1 with 425inc block form the city of 5!! Sometime names can make life a little easier – just a thought!!   

Sorry must go, 66 is calling me.

[Dan Herrmann]

Thanks for all the opinions!  I'll let you know what we come up with - even if it's nothing

[Forrest Richardson]

One of my favorites (of my choosing) was No. 17 at Phantom Horse:

Just Seventeen

[Bill_McBride]

One of my favorites (of my choosing) was No. 17 at Phantom Horse:

Just Seventeen

As in "She Was....?"

You know what I mean?

[Forrest Richardson]

I suppose, in answering the bluff from Juan Hernandez, the construction foreman at The Arizona Biltmore Adobe to name a hole after him, we came up with: Juan as the name for Hole No. 1...is that politically correct?

[Kyle Harris]

One of my favorites (of my choosing) was No. 17 at Phantom Horse:

Just Seventeen

As in "She Was....?"

You know what I mean?

The way it looked, was way beyond compare...

[JMorgan]

Vernacular hole names.  Not imported.  Not cutsie.  Not marketing department.  Give them meaning.