I know the course has been discussed to death, but I don't recall seeing a detailed photo essay of the course. Ran's profile of the course is quite detailed. He does include several photos, more so than on some of his other profiles, but I'm talking about several pictures per hole.
I love the course, and I've got 200 photos from three different trips burning a hole in my pocket. Going through them to decide what to post here is a nice way to re-live the course for me. I thought some that have never been and experienced the course live might enjoy this exercise as well. This is intended to be much more of a photo tour than a review of the course. Please consider when you read my limited comments that all of my trips have taken place in the summer months and I've always been faced with the prevailing summer wind from the north.
I'll be posting one hole at a time. Feel free to pile on with your own favorite photos of the current hole if you'd like.
Without further ado... the best public golf course I've ever played.
Hole #1
The 1st is a quirky and potentially uncomfortable start for the first-time visitor (I speak from experience.) I just didn't have a good feel for where I wanted to hit the ball and how much club I wanted to hit when standing on the tee. One thing is for sure, you don't want to be in the massive dune to the right. I was embarassed to find myself there my first time around after trying to start the round with a "safe" 6-iron. I felt a bit of redemption on my 2nd trip when one of my playing partners put the ball in the same spot and had equal difficulty in extracting the ball from the sand mounds back to the field of play. It's not a pretty place to play, but it really shouldn't come into play in the first place.
After repeated plays, I really enjoy the hole and I'm much less intimidated standing on the first tee. In general, the hole is a bit underwhelming compared to some of the other par 4s on the front nine, but consider the company! The green can be tricky to read and feels much smaller than most of the greens to follow. Its setting carved into the surrounding dune is a nice start to the round.
All-in-all, a good start to a great experience!
From the back tee
The view from the slightly less intimidating middle tee
Dont miss the tee shot to the right
The approach from the middle of the fairway
First look at the green
The green from behind
New addition - I found this one that shows the nice contours of the 1st fairway on the approach