"I've played many courses of equal or better pedigree and have never had a problem imagining how the architecture might play under faster and firmer conditions."
Rich:
I'm very glad to hear you say that, as it's pretty hard to imagine how different that redan plays with F&F throughout. The shot values are completely different than when that hole his soft.
I can tell you that when that hole is really firm and fast throughout and you fly the ball right at that fairway kicker to the right of the green and watch it bounce about five feet in the air it basically makes you take a little leap yourself while standing on the tee watching it.
One of the neatest group shots I ever recall was in a group I guess during the National Singles when the course was really F&F. On the redan we all put our shots right about the same place on the kicker and watched those four balls bounce about 4-5 feet in the air and then start rolling across the kicker and almost run out of steam on the fairway cut but just reach the right side of the green and then start to build up speed as the balls disappeared left and on down towards the pin on the left.
Four times on that tee we were all screaming "Go, Go, GO!!" When we got up there all four balls were surrounding the cup.
Stuff like that is never forgotten in one's life in golf, that's for sure. That's the kind of thing that just makes you fall in love with a golf course and a golf hole!!
And on that tee before we hit our shots it wasn't as if we DIDN'T talk about what we thought we had to do on that tee shot.
