Matt,
That is a good call about playing it as both... would you be surprised to elarn that this request/idea was put in writing and given serious consideration?
First though, the hole itself.
When the course opened for play in 1936, the trees guarding the fairway corner were there and just as tall. The trees throughout the Black are mostly mature and long-lived. From the back tee it measured 600 yards. Now carefully look at the aerial and consider that the new Open tee is lsted at 525 yards... yet the old championship tee can't be more than 25 yards longer. Why then was it measured at 550?
That is because it is 600 yards if the drive is hit straight as it will carry the left prominence of the great hazard. The USGA tee, when measured straight, cuts off some of this distance and is measured further right. As a par-4 this is as long as it gets...
The great hazard that is in front of the teeing area is NOT a Tilly Hell's Half-Acre. There are certain characteristics missing and every other example of that is one that impedes the second shot played. Still, as a Tillinghast Great Hazard goes, this too is as big as it gets.
The left side bunker is an aiming point for the Open players, and should not come into play; in fact, rarely, if ever, does a ball find its way into it in normal play. The right side fairway bunker can come into play, but usually only when the back championship tee is used. The key here, as in most of the holes on the Black, is for an accurately placed drive. It is quite important that the left side of the fairway be found as the putting surface is completely open to play from this side, and when firm and fast, the ground in front of the green can be used to the advantage of a thinking player, especially when the hole is in the front.
This green has a lot of undulation in it, and more than was there in 2002. This is one of the holes where the exterior portions of the putting surface have been expanded as they leasrned that the green was never recovered to its original size. Further expansion after the Open is planned. As it is, the undulations at the edges of the green where the mounding defines its dimensions are now very much in play. This will really come into play when Mike Davis tucks some hole locations in behind the one on the right and/or next to the left side.
As long as this hole is and plays, in August of 1935, during a practice round to see how the course played and before it would officially open in 1936, MGA Open champion Jimmy Hines became the first person to reach it in two blows from the back championship tee. he hit driver and three-iron and his ball ended up over the green.
Last November, amidst the discussion of having a possible drivable par-4 on the Black, something I am very much against in principle because it goes against the original design by Tilly, Nevertheless I spoke tio the issue. I mentioned that there are only two greens on the Black which could conceivably serve as a fair drivable par-4 if one must be. The 7th was one of them. After strongly recommending that they not make one, I did recommend the following, and as Matt will see, did him one better!
"If you were to consider doing so, which hole would it be? In my opinion, there are only two holes where the green complexes would allow for this, the 7th and the 12th. If one must occur, then I strongly urge you to do it on the 7th. My reason for this is imagine how exciting it would be if the hole played one day as a drivable 4, a long 4 and a long 5! Sundays play could then be dictated by which of the other three days were the most dramatic..."