In the attempt to parse the use of the land by the contestants I’m going to examine each entry in light of how it uses an individual landform. Since no major landform was used by all of the entries, this first one will obviously exclude at least one entry. But the landform is so interesting to me that I can’t pass it up. I’m speaking of the “Esker” circled in white on each of the aerials below. Everyone handled the Esker slightly differently as you will see in a little segment I like to call, “The Many Uses of the Esker”.
(Note that this is to get the discussion started, my commentary is by no means exhaustive.)
Erin Hills
The drive depicted is about 290 yards and each of the second shots is about 215 yards
This is the view from the left side of the fairway. The Esker obscures the view of the green, though this appears to be the shortest route from tee to green.
Here the view opens up considerably.
001 Jim Colton
This view shows a drivable or nearly drivable par 4. The esker in this case is more of an ornamentation to the hole (short of the central bunker complex), but it fits in quite well with the hole design. (Jim can weigh in on the strategic choices present on this hole.)
002 Steve Lang. This one doesn’t have a sketchup file, so perhaps Steve can weigh in on the use of the esker. It does appear more ornamental like the previous and next entries.
003 Tom Doak/Charlie Goerges
This hole was one that I and not Tom designed. The esker is on the right and the hole doglegs around it. Again the use is somewhat limited, but playing left will leave a better view but much longer shot. Additionally, blasting it really long will get the player past the corner. (like all of the drives depicted, this one is about 290)
004 Garland Bayley
Here the esker is used to full effect. To maximize the effect the green was placed in a punchbowl with means that to have a good view of the green one must hit a very precise and long tee shot right over the most distant part of the esker (depicted by the tee shot.).
The least risky shot seems to be the bite of as much as you can chew right side option. The longer the shot you are able to get over the esker, the better your view will be (though none of them is particularly good on this side). Notice the flight path on the left side of the image, that’s the location of the “bombed” drive. It is significantly above the right side of the fairway.
Here is the view from the right. The risk here seems to be if you don’t hit it far enough, the esker itself will block your view. This is the next best view to the “bombed” option. Even so, you can really only see the top of the flagstick.
005 Dave Stringer
The next two images depict the same thing from slightly different angles. The esker lies just beyond the two far fairway bunkers. What’s interesting is the options aren’t just left to avoid the esker and right to have the easier tee shot, you can also play short of the downslope and have not only an unobstructed view, but an aerial view as well.
This angle leaves you with a great view, but about 220 in.
Here the view is obstructed, but you’ve only got about 150 in.
007 Ian Linford
This aerial view shows a par 5 that places the green in about the same location as the Erin Hills routing. EH however has the tee somewhere on the extreme lower-right of this image. This hole is reachable, but what is interesting is how tough the layup shot is.
This image depicts the 2-shot route, but you can also tell where you can lay up because the hill to the right and beyond the layup area seems to guide your eye to the right location.
The next two images show how important it is to get the layup in the right location.
You can see the player in the lower right and the flight path of the 2-shot option up near the green. Looking back at the previous image shows you that you need to get at least to where the player is shown in order to see even a smidgen of green. Every couple of feet to the left of the player’s location (as shown below) means you’re a few inches lower, with that much worse a view.
008 Andy Gray
Here the esker seems to be the main obstacle on the tee shot of a short par 5. Miss a little right, left, or even too long and the esker will route your ball into oblivion.
Below you can see the extreme difference between the safer play (left), and the risker one (upper right).
And the view from behind the green.
Okay, that’s meant to get you started. Feel free to comment, start a new tangent, or whatever you wish. I must say that I found this small, abrupt, but natural feature to be an interesting tool in our designers’ “kits”.