Bradley Anderson,
-While the article has been extensively discussed on here before, it is nonetheless very interesting for a number of reasons, including Hugh Wilson's connection to the Bulletin, and the publication of the article about 10 month's after his death. I haven't looked at the series in a long time, but wasn't this the last or one of the last? Given that the articles were unattributed to a specific author, and given the end shortly thereafter of a fascinating series, I've often wondered if Hugh Wilson had a hand in putting these together this interested series of articles. It was a great series and wish it would have continued.
- Another interesting tidbit is that the article describes the hole a "so called cape type of hole." While we now [incorrectly] use "cape" hole to identify a hole with a risk reward diagonal carry off the tee, the article's usage is consistent with what may have been the first usage, describing the 296 yard 14th at NGLA before the changed the location of the green. As Macdonald and Whigham wrote in Golf Illustrated in 1914; "The fourteenth hole at the National Golf Links is called the Cape Hole, because the green extends out into the sea with which it is surrounded upon three sides." Merion has no sea but used bunkers instead. Merion's 10th also differs from Macdonald's version at NGLA in that Merion's does not feature a diagonal carry off the tee. [After the green was changed at NGLA the name "cape hole" must have become associated with the hole's diagonal carry off the tee over water, and I've read that this diagonal carry is present on most of Macdonald's cape holes, along with the green jutting into trouble on three sides. I guess Mid-Ocean's is Macdonald's most famous.]
- I also find the inflexibility of the following text to be fascinating; "Between these two lengths, namely 240 to 330 yards, the only desirable plan for utilizing the space is the adoption of a so-called cape type of hole. The principle involved in such a hole is a sharp elbow to the fairway at about the 225-yard point, a rather narrow putting sward, a large bunker in the elbow, and some sort of a hazard on the far side of the green." A cape hole is the only hole that works between 240 and 330 yards?? Wow, talk about a formulaic approach to golf design. What about letting the natural features dictate the hole?
- That being said, I do agree that cape greens on holes of this length can really be great holes Someone mentioned Riviera No. 10, which is a cape with sort of an angled carry off the tee. The 12 hole at Rustic Canyon shares cape characteristics, although part of the green is protected by slope, instead of bunker, According to Flynn, he liked to incorporate the cape holes into his designs. Mike mentions Pine Valley's 12th, which I hear is great.
- The last point I find interesting is that the distance marked on this hole was not even close to the real yardage. The diagram shows 325 yards in a direct line to the middle of the green! I don't even think the hole from the current tee is listed as that long. Check it on Google Earth if you are curious how long the hole really was. I bring this up because when we read the old magazines we sometimes read about professionals hitting it extraordinary distances. One reason may be that they were not very good at measuring. As some know, Alan Wilson wrote a couple of pieces in the Bulletin on how to calculate hole distances, and he thought that holes should generally be measured on the ground, as opposed to straight line. I don't know if this counts for this entire discrepancy but given the terrain it might account for some.
Not trying to re-open any old fights about any of this stuff. I find this article fascinating and wanted to share the information with some who had the good fortune to have not read threads gone by.
Mike. I'd love to see that article about how Pine Valley 12 influenced this hole.