The holes ahead....

[Simon Holt]

When playing some courses my mind can tend to wander and think about upcoming holes, therefore effecting my play on the current hole.  Especially when the coming hole is visable.

Obvious examples are how one plays 15 and 16 at TOC when you know 17 is coming.  Another is playing 15 at CPC when you know 16 is waiting for you.  You even see that hole first before the 15th!  

I suppose it comes down to whether the GCA's brief is designing a tournament course where they know score is a factor or if they are given carte blanche by the client.

Does the placement of what would generally be thought of as a harder hole come into the thinking re the balance of a course or is a purely down to the lay of the land?

Thoughts?

[JNC Lyon]

The pros always say that 17 at TPC Sawgrass has this effect.  The hole weighs more and more on one's mind as one approaches it during the course of the round.

For me, as a shorter hitter, any hole with a big carry off the tee will weigh on my mind from the beginning of the round.  18 at Merion comes to mind as such hole.  Also, if I am playing a course with a few notorious holes, I will be thinking about these holes from the start.  It will not matter where these holes fall in the round.  If I were playing North Berwick (to choose a purely random example), I would be thinking about "The Pit" on the first tee.  This effect stems from my GCA fanhood more than anything else.

To answer your question, such placement should depend only on the lay of the land.  Does it always though? Probably not.

[Tim Martin]

I would think the pros start to think about 13 and 15 at ANGC before they get there knowing that their round or for that matter the tournament may hinge on them. For me personally I would say that 9 and 10 at Yale are on my mind knowing that a 5 always lurks on 9 and a 6 always lurks on 10.

[Patrick Hodgdon]

Simon when playing Seminole I got the feeling that both #1 and #10, which are both somewhat benign holes in the flatter part of the property, could actually be harder than they are because of the excitement/expectation/looming challenge with #2 and #11 in the background climbing up the large dune.

[Jim Nugent]

How about Pebble?  As you play the first several holes, you 6 to 10 await you. 

[Simon Holt]

The pros always say that 17 at TPC Sawgrass has this effect.  The hole weighs more and more on one's mind as one approaches it during the course of the round.

For me, as a shorter hitter, any hole with a big carry off the tee will weigh on my mind from the beginning of the round.  18 at Merion comes to mind as such hole.  Also, if I am playing a course with a few notorious holes, I will be thinking about these holes from the start.  It will not matter where these holes fall in the round.  If I were playing North Berwick (to choose a purely random example), I would be thinking about "The Pit" on the first tee.  This effect stems from my GCA fanhood more than anything else.

To answer your question, such placement should depend only on the lay of the land.  Does it always though? Probably not.

I am in complete agreement with you John.  I just wonder if the modern GCA has this as a consideration- again perhaps due to his/her brief.

At Gullane No1 the first hole is really short (they have actually now put in new bunkers) but the better players pull driver an expect to be very close, if not on the green. (300ish)  You want to make birdie to give yourself a chance given the difficulty of the drive on 2!!

You mention North Berwick where the reverse can happen.  The whole back nine is tough in a wind- especially 17 (made birdie a handful of times in 1000s of rounds) but 18 is always there for your birdie chance at the end.  You know if you can squeeze a par out on 17 then birdie is on the cards on 18.  Pressure is off slightly.

Those 2 courses are pretty old in Scotland, let alone US terms so the 'design' will have most def been lay of the land based rather than say when Dye did the afforementioned Sawgrass.  That was always going to hold a tourney so no doubt 17 was influenced by that.  Perhaps not....

I am absolutely not obsessed with score BTW.  It is just something that has accured to me once or twice when I was!!

[Mark Pearce]

At my home club the last 4 holes play straight into the prevailing wind.  It's impossible if you're putting a good score together not to feel that you have to score well before then so that you can hold on to that score on those last 4 holes.  I suspect the same would be true of any course with a tough finishing stretch.

[Phil McDade]

I think many golfers who play Lawsonia (Langford/Moreau) think about the well-known par 3 7th. It's the best-known (although probably not the best) hole there. I think a neat thing about the hole is that it's tucked into a corner of the course, and you don't have a chance to even see its dramatic features until you turn the corner from walking off the 6th green.

[Adam Clayman]

In my early days playing Pacific Grove the anticipation of getting to the back nine was often palpable. As I played over the years, I learned to appreciate the front nine holes more and more. Perhaps that's why I seem to like those hole more than most?

The old cliche' of playing one shot at a time seems germane here. And as the song goes,"If you can't be with the one you love..."

[jim_lewis]

I start thinking about playing #1 and #17 at TOC before getting on the airplane. Same with 13 at ANGC and #1 at Merion, except no plane required. I prefer to just boycott #17 at the Stadium course.