Opening Holes (Picture identification)

[Bill Satterfield]

The opening hole of a golf course is often one of the easiest holes to remember because it is your first shot of the day and it delivers your first impression of the design, terrain, etc.  Rarely is first hole the "best" hole at a course and rarely does it deliver tons of memorable features, but I find it easier to remember my first shot of the day in comparison to my 57th shot.  In light of that, I thought I would post 3 different sets of pictures.  The first will be what I would consider the "easy" opening holes to identify because of the instant recognition of the surrounding terrain or because of the dramatic features that opening hole offers.  The 2nd set will be "medium" difficulty (which will probably still be easy based on the knowledge and experience of everyone on this forum), and the last set will be the most difficult opening holes to identify either due to the terrain or because they aren't courses that are as well known.

Here are some pictures for the "easy" category.  I imagine these will be identified almost as quickly as they are posted:

#1



#2



#3



#4



#5



#6



#7



#8

[Wyatt Halliday]

#1 Castle Pines Golf Club
#4 Wolf Creek??
#5 Sanctuary

[Scott_Burroughs]

#2: Pronghorn (Nicklaus)
#4: Wolf Creek
#6: MPCC (Shore)

[Bill Satterfield]

Wyatt and Scott, you are both correct on your guesses.

[Garland Bayley]

#7 Old Works

[Bill Satterfield]

Correct Garland, #7 is Old Works.  I put it in the easy category for one reason only; the black bunker on the left.  Once you identify the black sand in that photo it should be a dead giveaway, but that sand can almost look like a shadow as well, so good eye!

[Garland Bayley]

I couldn't tell if it was black sand or a shadow, but the peaks in the back ground look dead on.

[Garland Bayley]

I've never been there, but would #8 be Thanksgiving Point?

[Bill Satterfield]

I've never been there, but would #8 be Thanksgiving Point?

Not Thanksgiving Point.  I think the mountains appear closer at Thanksgiving Point when you play it.  The mountain range in the back though is the clue to identifying that hole.

[Jay Flemma]

8 is that johnny miller course in Utah...Entrada at Snow canyon.

Which I hear good things about.

[Andy Troeger]

#8 is 3 Creek Ranch in Jackson, WY.

[Garland Bayley]

#8 is 3 Creek Ranch in Jackson, WY.

Good job Andy. I thought Tetons, but the seminal view is Ansel Adams view from the opposite end of the range, and I didn't recognize the different perspective.

[Andy Troeger]

#8 is 3 Creek Ranch in Jackson, WY.

Good job Andy. I thought Tetons, but the seminal view is Ansel Adams view from the opposite end of the range, and I didn't recognize the different perspective.

Thanks, I was just there about six months ago so that made it easier 

Plus I tried to hit that house going in on the right...

[Bill Satterfield]

Nice job guys.  Here is the summary of the answers:

1.  Castle Pines (Castle Rock, CO - Jack Nicklaus)
2.  Pronghorn (Bend, OR - Jack Nicklaus)
3.  Entrada at Snow Canyon (St. George, UT - Johnny Miller), if any of you have young daughters like I do and have been subjected to watching High School Musical 2 then you may recognize Entrada as the course and club that movie was filmed at.
4.  Wolf Creek (Mesquite, NV - Dennis Ryder)
5.  Sanctuary (Sedalia, CO - Jim Engh)
6.  Monterey Peninsula CC (Pebble Beach, CA - Mike Strantz) - This course blew me away.  I loved it!
7.  Old Works (Anaconda, MT - Jack Nicklaus)
8.  3 Creek Ranch (Rees Jones - Jackson, WY)