Hell's Half Acre - Where's a Worthy Rival?

[Norbert P]

 Here's an old photo of Hell's Half Acre on #7 at Pine Valley GC.  It seems much more agitated in its contours than later photos. Was it softened by wind? Maintenance practice? Other?  Or are these convolutions still as prevalent? (I've never been there.)



 If these internal shapes were manmade, what were the inspirations for them?  Were they practically designed for sand retention or other considerations?

Any old quotes available that anybody knows of, or where to find them?  I'd bet that Tom McWood knows.

[JESII]

I wish I could say this were more than a guess...even an educated guess would be better, but it's not really even that...but I think the whole property pretty much looked like that initially and the just cultivated grass where they wanted it and left the sandy scrub like it was...

Today, it is somewhat more groomed, but not dramatically...those little grass tufts have probably been churned out because they run a tractor through every so ofter with a bog rake on the back, but for the more part, that's it.

[Tom_Doak]

I believe a lot of that stuff at Pine Valley, including Hell's Half Acre, was shaped with shovels and rakes.

Otherwise why would it have taken them 12 years to build the place?

[Garland Bayley]

I wish I could say this were more than a guess...even an educated guess would be better, but it's not really even that...but I think the whole property pretty much looked like that initially and the just cultivated grass where they wanted it and left the sandy scrub like it was...

Today, it is somewhat more groomed, but not dramatically...those little grass tufts have probably been churned out because they run a tractor through every so ofter with a bog rake on the back, but for the more part, that's it.

It is my understanding that the property most certainly did not "initially look like that." It is my understanding that the whole property was initially tree covered. Now once the trees were removed, perhaps it looked like that.

[JESII]

Garland,

That's probably more accurate...but still just a guess that little or no shaping was done to this particular hazard...

[Norbert P]

Here is a newer photo but from too high of a perspective to compare accurately the changes made.



 I like the older look better. Looks more intimidating and looks to offer different recovery lies and situations.  I won't go so far as to say that HHA is dumbed down, but it was much more dramatic before Randal McMurphy got his lobotomy.

[Mike Hendren]

Norbert of the Northwest,

I suspect the softening and manicuring of this hazard, the brilliant green turf and the encroaching trees depicted are somehow the fault of Augusta National Golf Club.

Bogey

[Anthony Gray]

  In yards How long is it?

  Anthony

[Kalen Braley]

I found this groundshot...not sure how recent it was taken.

[Jay Kirkpatrick]

  In yards How long is it?

  Anthony

Looks somewhere around a half-acre to me.

[Kalen Braley]

  In yards How long is it?

  Anthony

Looks somewhere around a half-acre to me.

Well thats not very helpful Jay...an acre could be very long or very short depening on how you configure it, unless your using its old school definition from several hundred years ago.   

Using Google Earth, fairway to fairway at its shortest point is just over 100 yards...

[Garland Bayley]

So what's the big deal with this section of golfdom? I used to play cow pasture pool fairways that were rougher that that!


 

[Philippe Binette]

Pretty sure it was shapend and requires a lot more maintenance than most people think

[Phil_the_Author]

Where was the phrase "Hell's Half Acre" derived from that it was used as anme for a golf course hazard?

Note that it was first used at Pine Valley and almost exclusively after that as a description of a Tillinghast hazard on a number of his courses.

Between 1885 and 1905 there was a small 6-block section of downtown Philadelphia (sorry I don't have my notes with me or I'd tell you exactly which ones) that were so dangerous to live or even venture into that it was called "Hell's Half Acre." Especially after dark when it seemed there was at least one daily murder, the Philly police refused to enter it for fear for their own safety. It literally was the place where you would only be caught dead and should be avoided at all costs.

Likewise, for golfers as a hazard, one would want to avoid being caught in "Hell's Half Acre" at any and all cost...

[Tom_Doak]

Phil:

When I went to school in Boston in 1978, they called a certain part of town "The Combat Zone".  Perhaps a future golf hazard somewhere?

For the record, the hazard at Pine Valley is about 140 yards across and sixty yards wide ... more like an acre and a half.

[Garland Bayley]

... they called a certain part of town "The Combat Zone".  Perhaps a future golf hazard somewhere?
...

Will we see the combat zone debut at Wicked Pony?

[Peter Pallotta]

Slag - Interesting. It would've never occurred to me to ask that question. I can't think of any other course that fits so well into its macro surroundings, i.e. into the terrain and vegetation around it for miles around. And because the forest seems so right, I guess I'd never bother to wonder about the trees.

Peter   

[Kalen Braley]

Tom D's estimate was certainly closer than the .5 implied by its name.

Using google earth and some ballpark measurements, I came up with Hells Half Acre as 1.15 acres

[Charlie Goerges]

It's really Hell's Half Hectare!

[Kalen Braley]

It's really Hell's Half Hectare!

Charlie, very astute and great call.  Its almost perfectly a half-hectare!! 

[paul cowley]

Being a sand hill junkie, especially in areas east of the Mississippi, and having had walked similar sites in the vicinity of Pine Valley, I would tend to think that the appearance in the photo depicts more of an attempt to restore the disturbance after its initial clearing.

Pulling stumps creates quite a disturbance....that is if they chose to....and the option of leaving them in and covering them over is another....or a combination of burying stumps and covered debris piles is another possibility....or all of the above combined with burning and bury holes that creates extra sand material.

I'm not sure if we should pull the crack Merion Forensic Crew in to help answer this.....I'd just let sleeping stumps lie.

[Norbert P]

Other features I find interesting in the old photo . . .



 . . .  the bunker in the distant left with the disgruntled golfer in it.  This bunker was built within a wasteland. I know that's an obvious statement, but it should be noted.  There was thought in the bunker placement as it's at the end of the wasteland so a long shot out is more difficult, thus protecting the hole.  

A feature I don't care for on the new is the wall-like shrubbery or clumpy ornamental grasses at the terminus of the first fairway. Especially on a private course where the homies know what's where. The older photo shows a more varied blend of grass lines into the wasteland.  It seems pretty obvious that somewhere in history this was a result of maintenance practice and the members possibly not noticing the change.  Being that it's the roll-in area of the wasteland, I'd like to see the clumpy wall go away. In this economy, perhaps the Knights of Ni can be hired cheap.

I see that wasteland as a great opportunity for unique creativity and I'm sure Tillie felt the same way. Of the few things that interlopers and Never-been-or-gonna-play-theres, this feature and Devil's Arsebucket are the holes of notoriety.

What are other great examples on Earth of unique and creative waste bunkers?

 (Disclaimer . . . I am not a member so my opinion aint worth its weight in coprolite. Hmmm, I wonder what the going rate is on that stuff.)

[Garland Bayley]

...
What are other great examples on Earth of unique and creative waste bunkers?
...

Nicklaus left a lot of waste area in black mining slag on Old Works. Slag, you really need to hook up with Craig and go play it. Especially since you are GCAs first official bunker slut, and the fairways at Old Works are not so interesting.

[Norbert P]

I'd like to get out there but I thought you said it was one of the most disappointing golf courses you ever played.  Now, if Craig was there it takes it up to a Doak 8.5, (d'oh!!!) but I just might bring my fishing pole, just in case.   I did just get a report on Rock Creek as a stunner. No surprise there.

When's your grudge match with Kalen?

[Garland Bayley]

I doubt I ever said Old Works was one of the most disappointing. That honor belongs to Sand Pines.

The match is August 7th commencing at 3 pm.

My intention is to walk. Kalen's to ride. Am I nutso or what?