....a 76 today, and the 77 year old rater shot his age(and you said he'd kick my butt!). I won $6 w/ the big guy as my partner.
The greens were playing the best I've seen them, and the outer roughs are blooming with the bluestem now.... it was very fun to play today. I had some putts today that, pin position coupled with speed, were very adventurous.
Matt,
You have about one more apology before I come hunt ya down in Philly. The price you will pay will be to guide me around Rolling Green, plus strokes.
One of the things about the property, and subsequently, the greensites.....there is a lot of movement to the land, therefore a lot of areas that move water. This helps explain why Mike sited the greens in the locations that he did. A recent play with Adam C. and Jim T. brought up the observation that most greens are "up". Here's the breakdown, to see if this bears out:
#1- The green is on a natural ridge(a turfed valley in front), but with a downhill approach shot
#2- Is benched into a sidehill, with a slight rise in the approach, downhill approach
#3- Uphill to a green sited on a ridge, fall-offs in all directions except the approach
#4- Uphill to a green on a ridge, falls off in front, right and right rear
#5- Downhill to a green on flatish grade
#6- Slightly uphill to a green on a ridge, falls off to the rear
#7- Benched in to a hill behind the green, small valley in front, green is a drop shot par 3
#8- Benched in to a hillside on the right, green nearly level with tee, another par 3
#9- Benched into a hill behind, uphill approach without much green visible (it is entirely visible from tee though)
#10- Slight grade up to green, but a small ridge in front hides the putting surface
#11- Downhill, bi-direction tees, par 3, green benched into sidehill/ hill behind
#12- Greens is close to natural grade on a slight incline above a swale
#13- Totally manufactured green sitting high above grade on left, right and rear
#14- AGPC (at grade potato chip), 'nough said.....
#15- Small, extreme, elevated green, par 3, 145 yards max
#16- Level w/ optimum LZ, at grade, back half slightly falling away
#17- Slightly uphill, green benched into sidehill left
#18- Downhill approach to green sited on abrupt ridge running front to back. Very abrupt fall off to the left
So, I guess it depends on where you approach from, and what your idea of "up" is. The greens are logical when you consider how the water moves across and beyond the property. I will say there is enough blindness to confound the first or second time player, as far as what to expect on the greens.
Joe
Hi All and thanks for the comments.
"So, I guess it depends on where you approach from, and what your idea of "up" is."
Joe, I look at these slightly differently . . . not all that different, but subtly.
#3 - level approach, although falls off in all directions except for the "approach" which happens to be very narrow.
#6 - sharp rise to the green, combined with the fall-off the back and wide but not deep green, makes this one of the more difficult approaches on the course, despite the wedge in your hand.
#10 - short landing area = uphill and blind green, regular to long landing area = view of the green, bunkerless hole makes the approach less defined and more difficult, depending on where you are.
#17 - second shot approach is only slightly uphill, with very good visibility, but 3rd shot approach is sharply uphill, depending on where you are on the rolls.
Cheers,
Mike