Since no one else has mentioned it, I thought it was particularly interesting to play 3 Ross courses..... 1 with minimal restoration work (Mimosa Hills), 2 with major renovations but with different architects (Carolina by Spence and Charlotte by Pritchard), and an early Maples (which might as well be a Ross with sand faced bunkers). I'm still sifting the differences around in my mind.
This was a great treat, especially since I had little prior experience with Ross' work. One thing that I really appreciated was in general how much latitude you had off the tee on most holes over the 3 Ross courses. I was very intrigued at how many different looks there were to the choice between play safe / tough approach or play aggressive /set up a better approach. One hole that did seem a bit out of character to me was...oddly enough the absolute final hole at CGC. The safe play of the tee appears to be along the right side of the fairway, which also sets you up for a safe angle into the green. Playing from the Blue tees, I ran the ball down the hill and had a pretty easy wedge in. Carl Johnson warned me that a slightly pulled ball easily find th water, so maybe the safe play is top of the hill?
All were great courses, I also loved the conditions at CGC and the ability to easily putt off the green, and also disagree with Roger in that CGC is a great walk.
Thanks again!
Mike and Brent,
Regarding the 18th hole at Carolina. First, keep in mind that under what we at the club believe to be the original Ross hole sequencing, this hole was number 13 (see my post about the sequencing above). Second, the earliest layout drawing we have with Ross's name on it shows no pond to the right of the green. Third, on this same drawing, the tee for the hole is shown further to the right, next to the 17th (today) green, and the centerline of the hole was a dogleg right rather than left. When I joined the club 15 years ago the tee was close to the 17th green, as on the Ross drawing, but I recall the hole as being rather straight, not a dogleg right. The Ross drawing also shows a very narrow fairway (with the right side being rough rather than water) before the green, suggesting that a layup on the second would have been tricky. In other words, a layup today looks easier than it would have been in the early days. Fourth, during my 15 years at the club, what is now 18 (and always 18 for me) has been revised at least three times. Others may have better memories or records than I do, but in my opinion No. 18 has been monkeyed with more in the past 15 years than any other hole on the course (save possibly the par 3 16th). Apart from changes to the green, the fairway at the bottom of the hill in front of the green has been both wide, narrowed (with a "stream" running across it from the right to left pond) and widened again. Fifth, the degree of the slope has been changed, maybe more than once. Sixth . . . I won't even go into the "tree" changes on the hole.
The point of all this is to say that the resemblence between the hole as it exists today (including its sequence), and original Ross version, is . . . not known for sure . . . but they are clearly not the same hole in sequence and only partially the same holes otherwise. So, we cannot attribute 18 solely to Ross.
As to how to play the hole, something I have come to appreciate is that there are many different ways to play it, depending on how far you can hit the ball, how straight you can hit the ball, how much you like the "strategy game," your
fear of water, and the type of approach shot you like to make. In my opinion the two best options: (1) skilled player lays up at the top of the hill with an iron; (2) less skilled player plays down the right with a driver or three wood, ending up closer to the green, but with more risk involved, than the more skilled player. If you (less skilled) "hit a good one," the slope of the hill (speed slot or whatever) will carry you closer to the green, with no water to carry on your second, than hitting to the left and hoping you come up short of the pond. But that's just my opinion.