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Cristian

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Colt in Europe ****De Pan**** (pic's) New
« on: July 29, 2009, 10:17:53 AM »
Following the pictorials on Hilversum and Toxandria, now a review of Colt's inland masterpiece in the Netherlands; UGC De Pan, near Utrecht. Although most of the Netherlands is fairly flat, De Pan surprises with undulating terrain. A result of ice age residues leaving a ridge right through the middle of the Netherlands, which is in part still intact, in an otherwise flat country (except for the South East).

De Pan was designed in 1929. The course hosted the dutch open on several occasions until the 1980's, after which the course became too short to host professional tournaments.

The course has remained in much of its original state through the years, although tree's have grown in quite a bit over the decades. The course has kept its heathland feel however and never feels claustrophobic. Renovation work on several of the green sites and bunkering has been done by Frank Pont, who has also been involved in several other succesful renovation projects in the low countries.



Hole 1, par 5 484 yds.
Typical Colt opener; fairly long and fairly easy. There is ridge in the fairway which can be cleared with a good drive; this leaves a very reachable second into the green.


The green is longish and narrow with no bunkers; a look back to the tee:




Hole 2, par 4 401 yds

lovely par 4 with a fairway tilting right to left slightly while the hole doglegs slightly to the right. beautiful greenside bunkering with the bunker on the right considerably short of the green.
 


looking back...


Hole 3, 174 yds; the first of 4 spectacular par 3's:


looking back:


Hole 4. Par 4 432 yds
The picture below is from the medal tee, which is 50 yds shorter, a fade is required to hold the fairway if one wants to hit anything over a 5wood. From the backtee the hole suffers somewhat from the trees which are almost interfering with the line of play.


Approach:
If one overcooks the fade from the tee, the golfer is left with this second:


The greenside bunkering has been renovated to regain the look of Colt's original design (The group in the background are playing the par 3 8th):


Hole 5, par 5 530 yds
The hole doglegs to the right just 50 yards in front of the green, and is therefore hard to reach in two. A hairy bump at the dogleg point interfers with decision making on the lay-up.The green has been renewed rather than renovated several years ago, receiving mixed reactions, and is not a Colt original.
Approach:

green:


Hole 6, par 4 428 yds
Perhaps the best hole of the course, but there are so many good one's; both tee shot and approach can be blind shots;
Tee:


approach from left side of the fairway; aim at the cross! (hardly visible in the picture, there is a white board with cross indicating line of play).

closer:


He, who leaves his tee-ball on the right side of the fairway has a much better look at the target:


The green of hole 6:


Hole 7; 333 yds, par 4.
Short par 4 dogleg to the right; he who flirts with the trees on the right can get close to the green, but it's risky as the branches can easily ricochet your ball into double bogey trouble. This picture is from about 70 yds out.

the green:


Hole 8 par 3, 211 yds; beautiful long par 3 with bunkers diagonally crossing the line of play.
looking back:


Hole 9 par 4, 427 yards; wonderful undulating fairway, providing all kinds of stances for the approach.

approach:

looking back:


The back 9 is even better than the front, to follow soon!

« Last Edit: August 13, 2010, 04:45:52 AM by Cristian Willaert »

Cristian

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Re: Colt in Europe ****De Pan**** (pic's) New
« Reply #1 on: July 29, 2009, 02:29:35 PM »
Back 9:

Hole 10; short par 4 371 yards.

Hole bottlenecks some 120 yards from the green into a narrow corridor to a small green.
Tee:

Green:


Hole 11: par 5, 502 yds.

difficult tee-shot: make up your mind; fire over the mound, a 200+ yd carry, or go left,but run the risk of running out of fairway; to reach in two one has to clear the mound on the right.

Approach:

The bunker on the right is well short of the green, allowing running shots to reach the green.

Green:

Notice the chipping area'as allowing recovery shots; tightly mown, as should be.

12th hole; par 3 190 yds.
Another beautiful par 3.
tee:


closer:


green:


Hole 13, par 4 447 yds
Tee-shot: (12 green in foreground)


approach: (notice the two small center line bunkers, a feature not uncommon on Colt courses, but this is really the first we encounter in the round.)


green:



hole 14; 355 yds par 4. Carry the bunker on the right for an ideal approach.


Approach: The bunkers on the left have been part of the Frank Pont renovation process and look beautiful.


Hole 15; Another lovely par 3, 176 yds; in Colt style. The bunker front right has been worked on as well, but don't go right as you will have hard time getting up and down; heather protects the left side of the green which is deep and narrow with some spectacular swales and breaks, pretty wild, certainly for Colt's standards.



Hole 16: par 4 372 yds; one of the most beauftiful views from a tee on the course:

behind the green is the hill with the tee of the short par 4 17th of which I unfortunately have not got a picture.
approach 16:

Do you want to be here?
In this area the woods open up to stress the heathland characteristics of the course; on the right behind a band of heather the 17th fairway.
The 17th is only 318 yds but hard to drive as the green is raised 3-5 yards above the level of the fairway.
green 17:


Hole 18, par 5 514 yds
A classic finisher; birdie is possible, bogey or worse as well.
Tee:


Approach:

closer:

green:

The green is slightly raised above the level of the fairway, but will take a run-up shot.

club house:

« Last Edit: August 13, 2010, 04:51:34 AM by Cristian Willaert »

Kevin_Reilly

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Re: Colt in Europe ****De Pan**** (pic's)
« Reply #2 on: July 29, 2009, 03:07:25 PM »
Thanks for this photo essay.  I love the movement in this fairway:

"GOLF COURSES SHOULD BE ENJOYED RATHER THAN RATED" - Tom Watson

David Mulle

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Re: Colt in Europe ****De Pan**** (pic's)
« Reply #3 on: July 29, 2009, 03:56:37 PM »
Great pictures.  Oh, how I wish I saw this thread before I went to Utrecht on business a couple months ago.

Cristian

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Re: Colt in Europe ****De Pan**** (pic's)
« Reply #4 on: July 29, 2009, 03:58:53 PM »

Kalen Braley

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Re: Colt in Europe ****De Pan**** (pic's)
« Reply #5 on: July 29, 2009, 04:16:36 PM »
The more stuff I see from Colt, the more I just simply fall in love with it. 

Just love the way this course tumbles across the land and it seems he gets every little last undulation in just the right spot.  And the bunkering seems spot on too.

Nice review...wonder when the DG will get fixed so we can see all of the photos, not just the left 2/3rd of it.....  ::)  ::)

David Stamm

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Re: Colt in Europe ****De Pan**** (pic's)
« Reply #6 on: July 29, 2009, 04:40:48 PM »
All hail Harry! Just when I thought I couldn't like his work any more than I already do, I see something like this. The man was, well, the man!
"The object of golf architecture is to give an intelligent purpose to the striking of a golf ball."- Max Behr

Paul_Turner

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Re: Colt in Europe ****De Pan**** (pic's)
« Reply #7 on: July 29, 2009, 08:46:50 PM »
Pan is a great course.  Stacks up well with the London heathlands and definitely one of the best in Continental Europe.
can't get to heaven with a three chord song

Joe Hancock

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Colt in Europe ****De Pan**** (pic's)
« Reply #8 on: July 29, 2009, 08:51:26 PM »
Simply a beautiful golf course. Nothing jumps at you, and everything seems comfortable in its environment.

Very nice, thank you.

Joe
" What the hell is the point of architecture and excellence in design if a "clever" set up trumps it all?" Peter Pallotta, June 21, 2016

"People aren't picking a side of the fairway off a tee because of a randomly internally contoured green ."  jeffwarne, February 24, 2017

Tom MacWood

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Re: Colt in Europe ****De Pan**** (pic's)
« Reply #9 on: July 30, 2009, 06:58:00 AM »
Here is Guy Campbell on De Pan from The Time (7/17/1929):

"The tour ended with a flying visit to De Pan, the home of the Utrechtshe Club, not far from Doorn. And here, at any rate for those of the Society team not paying their first visit to Zandvoort [Kennemer], lay the greatest surprise of all. all the players whose interest in the game extends beyond an unending and unequal contest with 'par' have at one time or another conjured a vision of their ideal inland course. A course that shall incorporate all the fine features of a links, but with the light and shade, the aromatic scents, and vistas and backgrounds of red-boled, green-headed pines. A course where the fairways are spacious, where an erring short will not be lost, but can to some extent be retrieved by 'drawing a port' off a kindly bed of pine needles and where generous but well guarded and naturally undulating greens give the instructed putter an 11th-hour chance of making good. De Pan had every one of these rare qualities; indeed, as a dream course it fills the bill. At present there are only nine holes, but Mr. Colt has already planned and marked out the remaining nine, and another two years should see these finished. When they are completed one can say unhesitatingly that as an 18-hole course, for play, for scenery and enjoyment, De Pan will be unsurpassed among its kind. Four times round the present nine holes only left one with immediate desire to do it all over again, and when one adds that it was a roasting summer day, further testimony is unnecessary. For, an inland course, the terrain is almost as bod as at Zandvoort, with high sand dunes crowned by forest pines. Of the nine holes the first, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth, the last a magnificent one-shot hole, for a high tee across a plain on to a great bluff surrounded by natural hazards of broken ground, remain so vividly in the memory that even after one visit one cal recall their features and subtleties detail by detail. In a word Holland is rapidly becoming a golfers' paradise, and the best advice that can be given to golfers on a holiday intent is to urge them to go and see for themselves. They can count upon a welcome."

Shawn Arlia

Re: Colt in Europe ****De Pan**** (pic's)
« Reply #10 on: July 31, 2009, 10:11:38 AM »
the course looks absolutely beautiful. When i was a lurker on this website, it was courses like this that made me visit everyday. I love to see other courses. And the more i see Colts work, the more i am starting to think he may be the best designer of golf courses. So far, Donald Ross has my vote.

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