This course is truly a testament to Rod’s routing ability. Spending two years on this site during its construction has made me a firm believer that no better routing could have been conceived.
I am enjoying these photographs immensely, but am I correct in calculating that 10 of the first 13 holes play downhill? I take no issue with your argument that no better routing could have been conceived, but at the same time is an architect "cheating" a little big by using green to tee transitions to climb back up the site?
Mike
I maybe should defer to Jeff, Philippe or Keith but I'll give it a shot:
#1 - Uphill significantly the whole way (VERY SHORT TRANSITION TO NEXT TEE)
#2 - Downhill (SHORT TRANSITION TO NEXT TEE)
#3 - Elevated back tee but the other tees are pretty close to the fairway grade - this hole is cut into the hillside so there is a natural right to left kicker slope but I wouldn't call this hole downhill (VERY SHORT TRANSITION TO NEXT TEE BUT A BIT MORE OF A CLIMB IF PLAYING THE TIPS)
#4 - Downhill - significant drop (VERY SHORT TRANSITION TO NEXT TEE)
#5 - Downhill (SHORT TRANSITION TO NEXT TEE)
#6 - Pretty flat - again, there is an elevated back tee but the other tees are either on grade with the fairway or slightly above (SHORT TRANSITION TO NEXT TEE)
#7 - Uphill tee shot but a downhill approach...plays downhill overall (MID-LENGTH TRANSITION TO NEXT TEE)
#8 - Again, uphill blind shot on the drive but back down the hill on the approach - overall, downhill (SHORT TRANSITION TO NEXT TEE)
#9 - Uphill (SHORT TRANSITION TO NEXT TEE)
#10 - Downhill (LONG UPHILL CLIMB TO NEXT TEE)
#11 - Approach shot is significantly downhill (LONG, WINDING CLIMB TO NEXT TEE)
#12 - Uphill (SHORT TRANSITION TO NEXT TEE)
#13 - Downhill (LONG CLIMB TO BACK TEE, NOT AS LONG TO OTHER DECKS)
#14 - Elevated back tee to a lower landing area but the rest of the hole plays uphill...overall, it's uphill slightly (VERY SHORT TRANSITION TO NEXT TEE)
#15 - Downhill off the tee but right back up the hill on the approach (SHORT TRANSITION TO NEXT TEE)
#16 - Downhill (VERY SHORT TRANSITION TO NEXT TEE)
#17 - Plays slightly downhill overall (VERY SHORT TRANSITION TO NEXT TEE)
#18 - Uphill
So I'd say 10 of the 18 holes play downhill, 5 are uphill and the rest are relatively level. I indicated the transitions above as well just to reiterate that there are very few significant climbs from green to tee but the few that are there are definitely challenging and make it a difficult but not impossible walk.