[Rob Rigg]

I thought the ponds were out of place as well in the high dessert.

I was wondering if they were needed for either a) irrigation - to act as reservoirs or b) to ensure water run off from the Environmentally Sensitive Areas.

In all likeliness they were added for c) Some people who buy homes in this climate enjoy having a view of water because it is so dry

Someone get Kidd on the phone and get this sorted!

[Matt_Ward]

When people bark about ponds on high desert settings the next thing that's going to be thrown into the debate is what shape the tee markers are. Gimme a break.

One fast thought to mention -- even Royal County Down has a pond on a links type layout and no one crucifies that gem of a layout.

One further thing -- Black Mesa has a pond at the par-3 15th and it really adds a good deal to the hole.

[Rob Rigg]

Matt,

The reason I am not a huge fan of the ponds is because I do not think the course needs them, although Kidd absolutely makes strategic use of them.

The water in Kidd corner would probably have been ESA anyways which results in the same punishment but it may have looked superior aesthetically.

I think Kidd did a great job melding Tetherow with the environment, which I discussed in detail in my first Tetherow post, but the water took something away IMO - it just seemed out of place with the high desert links feel of the place.

Although, it was about 100 degrees when I walked the course so I certainly did feel like jumping in the one on the back nine.

It would be really interesting to get some insight from the architect on why he chose to use them.

Shifting a discussion from water influencing 4 holes on a high desert course to a discussion of the shape of tee markers seems like quite a stretch, but on this site you never know . . .

[Garland Bayley]

...
Black Mesa has a pond at the par-3 15th and it really adds a good deal to the hole.

Yes, lost balls and excess stroke tallies. But I suppose you were talking about adding positive things to the hole in your nearsighted way.

[Jon Wiggett]

I was just looking at this photo and the thought struck me if the fairway was opened up to the right of the two trunked tree, this would encourage the player to try to hit a raking draw. At the same time it might making the hole longer and leave the player a more testing second if he doesn't pull off the draw from the tee. Would it improve the hole from the tee?

[Matt_Ward]

Jon:

The photo you posted is misleading-- the preferred place for the tee shot is down the left side as this will provide maximum views of any pin location. There is room to the left but the photo distorts the landing zone and it seems to be more on the right.

Hope this info helps ...

[Jon Wiggett]

Matt,

thanks for the information. I have never played the course and am not aware of its stratergy on each hole. My comments were purely taken on a visual basis, from the posted photo.

I often look at holes and find myself thinking that if more width were provided that indeed greater stratergy would be offered by a hole. Many players feel that if they manage to get away a really good tee shot that it will make the hole easier.

Some my favourite holes are ones where you stand on the tee and the tee shot seems to be urging you to hit it one way but the clever shot would be in another direction. The best of these sort of holes are the ones that still tease the player enough to make resisting the heroic tee shot almost impossible despite the player knowing it to be folly. Quite a few of the  best short par 4's fall into this category.

I looked at the photo and thought it too might be such a tee shot if the fairway was widened to the right offering what would appear to be an easy corridor for the tee shot avoiding a lot of the problems off the tee and so blinding the player in respect to looking at what comes afterwards.

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