[John Kavanaugh]

Has anyone actually hit the buildings off to the right of Bandon Dunes #1.   If not, what other structures may have you hit or intimidated your play?  One of my favorites is the parking lot OB at Fendrich GC in Evansville, In where way back in 76 I hit a persimmon toe hook that hit a gold El Camino.  Even in the day of soft balls and hard cars the only noise louder than ball against metal was my playing partner's screams as he informed me it was his @%&*$#!! car.

[Tom_Doak]

John:

The two that intimidate me the most are the parking lot to the right of the 18th at North Berwick, because I know my rental car is usually parked somewhere over there, and the town to the right of #18 at St. Andrews, because it creates a commotion when someone sprays it onto the street there.

The other one that comes to mind is a hole at Lelant in Cornwall, England, where one of the tee shots comes VERY close to a church on the right ... again, not the kind of mistake you want to make (especially on Sunday).

The only building I can remember hitting with a golf shot (off the roof) is the locker room at Philadelphia Cricket Club, which is very close to the right of the second green.

[Jeff_Brauer]

Great topic!

Pre coffee I am not thinking of any "great buildings" but from my experience, the clubhouse at Shady Oaks in FtWorth sits close behind the 9th green, with Hogan often sitting by the window until his death.  I had a bunker shot once, with him watching, and all I could imagine was the morning headlines had I somehow skulled it and broken the window in front of him.....the opposite happened, of course, with a weak shot I left in the bunker.

One of my very early rounds of golf was at a little par 3 course at a hotel near O'Hare airport (NLE) where I almost had a hole in one after hitting a bank shot off the exit door at the end of the hall......and nearly missing and exiting guest.

At an ASGCA meeting once I played with an architect occaisionally discussed here who sliced two OB right on 18, causing the commotion TD mentions. He then aimed way left, but double crossed it and hit it OB over 1 fw from 18 tee.  The caddy says "I never saw that before.....but then, I have only worked here for 45 years!"

[Adam Clayman]

Sebonack's first twice.

[Joe Bausch]

One of my favorites is the parking lot OB at Fendrich GC in Evansville, In where way back in 76 I hit a persimmon toe hook that hit a gold El Camino.  Even in the day of soft balls and hard cars the only noise louder than ball against metal was my playing partner's screams as he informed me it was his @%&*$#!! car.

JK, was that your lime green AMC Pacer with gold wheels, hood scoop, fuzzy dice, and a "honk if you like Dungeons and Dragons" bumper stick that I hit in 1979 at Fendrich GC?   

[TEPaul]

Even though it's probably more intimidating for golfers who've never been there before (but I have seen it hit, and by a good player), the clubhouse at NGLA can be pretty intimidating on the 1st tee or even on the 18th hole.

But Tom Doak is right--eg the huge old historic barn the includes the lockerroom and other things at Philadelphia Cricket Club has got to be as close to a golf hole as any building on any golf course anywhere. It can't be more than 10 FEET from the right greenside bunker.

Buildings close to golf are almost always closer on the very old courses.

What fascinates me, however, are buildings that original architects may've actually thought to use to some extent as part of a strategy of a golf hole.

I grew up at Piping Rock on Long Island and I was amazed to see (in an old photograph that was recently found) an old building I never knew existed that seemed to be unquestionably in play in the first year (at least) of Piping Rock's Road hole #8. The fact that old buildings were historically in play on the right of TOC's #17 (Road Hole) was not lost on me with that building next to Piping's #8. It seemed to be the same tee shot strategy and it is Piping's Road Hole.

In the old days there sure were a ton more roads in play than there are on newer courses.

[Jeff_Brauer]

Of course, the patio at Merion on number 1 tee strikes fear.....that damn Barker and MacDonald!  Didn't they know anything about golf course design!   And to think Wilson rerouted the hole a few years later. How much in play was the CH before then, presuming that the patio wasn't a much later clubhouse addition.

On many real estate courses, it is very possible to hit some very nice McMansions.  It always crosses my mind that an attorney probably owns some of those houses, adding to the fear factor.  On the 10th at LaCosta many years ago, the condos were so close to the fw that I actually cleared the first row with a high hook and plunked the units across the street.

[John Burzynski]

Well, it is not really a building, but a major 4 lane city road borders the 16th and 18th holes of my home course (Erskine South Bend).  Worse, it borders on the RIGHT of both holes.  

One slice and it is all over.  There are some trees there to stop an errant shot, but they are not numerous enough nor high enough (the 16th tees off from an elevated tee).

I do confess to putting one in the street once or twice a year.

[Joe Bausch]

Of course, the patio at Merion on number 1 tee strikes fear.....that damn Barker and MacDonald!  Didn't they know anything about golf course design!   And to think Wilson rerouted the hole a few years later. How much in play was the CH before then, presuming that the patio wasn't a much later clubhouse addition.

Jeff, I don't think the patio was really in play at No 1 originally.  Here's a drawing from 1916:

[Scott Stambaugh]

#10 tee at San Francisco GC.

The six times I have played there, the only thing I envision standing on that tee is pull-heeling one into the clubhouse and then being escorted off the property.

[TEPaul]

JeffB:

It would be nearly impossible to hit Merion's clubhouse off the tee either originally or today. Well, I may need to reconsider that as Wayne Morrison hit a few tee shots yesterday that had some "action" on them the likes of which I've never seen before ---eg EX; on the really long 5th and from the tips he hit a tee shot that somehow launched off the end of the tee (leaving a skid mark) but still managed to get out there near the beginning of the fairway which has to be about 250 yards out there.

Wayne is the only golfer I've ever seen who can basically execute both a hook and a slice in the same golf shot.  You want to talk about some serious RPM generation?----Whoooof! You can actually HEAR the ball spinning violently!

[D_Malley]

merion west #18
the parking lot is directly to the right of the green approach.  once i was playing there with a friend who just got a brand new BMW.  i think you may be able to guess how the story goes from there.

[Jeff_Brauer]

Of course, the patio at Merion on number 1 tee strikes fear.....that damn Barker and MacDonald!  Didn't they know anything about golf course design!   And to think Wilson rerouted the hole a few years later. How much in play was the CH before then, presuming that the patio wasn't a much later clubhouse addition.

Jeff, I don't think the patio was really in play at No 1 originally.  Here's a drawing from 1916:

Joe, thanks for that. I really didn't know the tee placement of the original opener.  It looks like HW messed up the original routing, eh?  Seriously, having blocked those discussions out of my mind, I can't recall why the 13th was pulled in. I do recall the routing change to avoid the road crossings on 9 and 10 but it appears 13 could have stayed where it was.

TEP,  I recall the fear of hearing the tinkling of ice in the glasses whilst on the tee there.  I always figured it would be one of the rare times I would snap hook something.  Mickey D spends a lot of money on uncomfy chairs to get customers out of there in a hurry.  I kind of wonder if the should just locate by golf course tees to achieve the same thing......

[TEPaul]

JeffB:

Here's another example of a building really close to a golf hole----eg the clubhouse at Macdonald's old Links Club on Long Island. I can't remember the number of the hole now but it passed right by the clubhouse and across the driveway.

The Links Club back then was very famous for its small but incredibly good Sunday lunches and the club had this remarkable guy by the name of Bert who ran everything to do with the clubhouse (he cooked and had this uncanny knack of bringing the members just the drinks they wanted without even having them ask first). When I was a young teenager I snap hooked a shot and it went right through the open kitchen window and knocked the entire pot of Bert's special soup right off the table next to the window. When I got to the window Bert handed the ball back to me through the window without a word even though I could tell he didn't seem very amused.

Jeff, some of us were at Merion yesterday and I did mention that, in my opinion, it's probably more nerve-wracking on the first tee at Merion if you're a right hander rather than a left hander because when you get up to hit your tee shot from that back tee just a few feet from all those dinners you can't see them if you'e a right hander and the disturbing sensation is to be so aware of them all quieting down to silence just before you hit your tee shot. I've played in some tournaments like state amateurs and Philadelphia Opens there and that is an unnerving sensation unlike any other in my experience.

And I love the story from the 1981 US Open at Merion when Hall Sutton as the US Amateur champion was paired in the first round with Jack Nicklaus, the U.S. Open defending chamption. Sutton just busted one right down the middle but as he and Nicklaus walked to the fairway Sutton said: "Mr. Nicklaus, I have never been close to that nervous in golf in my life", to which Nicklaus replied: "Hal, I was nervous too, it's just that I've done this a thousand times."

[Patrick_Mucci]

# 1 at Plainfield.

[Ed Oden]

What fascinates me, however, are buildings that original architects may've actually thought to use to some extent as part of a strategy of a golf hole.

Tom Paul, I agree.  Isn't the barn on the par 5 6th hole at Baltimore CC Five Farms a good example of this?  No doubt Jim Franklin and Philip Young will know for sure if this building was part of the original design.  Regardless, it plays a terrific role in the risk/reward characteristics of the hole.  Pretty hard to reach the green in two without challenging the barn.

Ed

[George Freeman]

The obvious answer for me is the Road hole, #17 @ St. Andrews Old.  Even with all the netting, I watched as my partner hit a wild slice and missed shattering a large window by about 6 inches. 

In shear terror, I then proceded to pull my drive 20 yards left of my aiming point away from the hotel.  However, as the highlight of my round, I hit a career 5 iron from over 200 yards in a 40 mph wind which ran up to 15 feet and made a par...awesome experience!

[Deucie Bies]

The Muirfield clubhouse was in play on number 9 for my friend who caught a flier out of the rough.  I think I might have hit a house on #12 at Pebble Beach!  And of course, the Old Course Hotel is always in play.

[Anthony Gray]

  I saw a guy hit the club house at Crail from the 18th tee. Honest to God truth.

[CJ Carder]

Agree on the Road Hole at TOC... we're not sure, but it's at least a fun story to think a guy in our group might have taken out a window.  When we hit, he smoked his drive but also pushed it well right.  We heard a loud noise but figured it probably just bounced off the hotel or something.  That night, after having dinner in the Old Course Hotel, we were walking around and found a shattered window on one of the patios out back.  There was a Titleist 4 laying over in the corner, which is what he was playing, but he never marked his ball as it was a new ball that he was playing with after just hitting it OB right on 16.  Alas, we'll never know for sure if it was his, but it sure is a fun story.

I also bounced one off the window paneling of the member's dining room on 18 at Royal Troon.  My idiot caddie handed me the wrong club, but fortunately my ball bounced backwards and landed in bounds.  Still made par.  

[PCCraig]

Evanston Northwestern Hospital on the 1st at the Jans in Evanston, IL.

Come to think of it you can hit a lot of different buildings at the Jans.

[David Stamm]

I've never played it, but the approach to 18 at Royal Lytham and St Annes seems to fit this. The 18 at Colonial, if you slice/block it right brings the clubhouse in play (don't ask!  ).

[JMorgan]

I recently chunked a wedge shot over the hydrangeas and through one of my bathroom windows. 

[Rich Goodale]

Until they widened the medal tee at the 1st at Dornoch, the Secretary's office window was very much in play for a pull/heel.

I suspect that the R&A clubhouse is in range of a left-handed shanked wedge.

The dirty bar at Troon is so close behind the 18th green that it has bullet-proof glass, or ought to.

[Craig Disher]

The Secretary's office at Rye GC probably is hit a few times each week.  The club wisely installed unbreakable glass in the windows that face the fairway.

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