Here is what George Bahto wrote about the Cape Hole in the 2005 issue of our Golf Architecture magazine:
To most architecture aficionados, experienced players and even course designers, the hole designated as a Cape hole conjures up an image of a diagonal carry off the tee, daring the player to bite off as much as he dares over a hazard to gain an advantage on the next shot - classic risk and reward.
Though it has worked its way into the game's vernacular, this definition is erroneous. A Cape strategy has little to do with the geometry of an echelon carry.
This major misconception has evolved in part from the evolution of the original Cape hole at the National Golf Links in Southampton, Long Island, where Charles Blair Macdonald built his “Ideal Golf Course” (1907 - 1910). This seminal course first introduced to America the concept of strategic golf on every hole. What has become known as Macdonald’s “famous hole concept,” his prototype course was based on the strategies of many of the great holes in Europe, some in their entirety, others were composites - the green complex from one hole added to the playing strategies from another.
He identified many of the holes in his writings but adding, however, his 14th - the Cape hole - was an entirely new concept of his own making.
The strict definition of the word “Cape” refers to a “point of land extending into water” - a far cry from its meaning in modern golf terminology. When the Cape hole at National was first built (296 yards on a straight line from the tee to a green complex) the green jutted out considerably into Bull Head’s Bay, a green bordered left, right and beyond by a huge sand hazard with the entire “cape” section constrained by a concrete wall. The hole played 296 yards on a straight line from the tee to the green complex but was listed on the card at 305 yards due to the dog-legged line of play.
As equipment improved and the players became more skilled, Macdonald feared his acclaimed hole might one day be driven with a helping wind. In 1924-1925, in conjunction with a number of other changes taking place at National, he decided to move the green and lengthen the hole.
The club needed to construct a new access road and as a matter of practicality, Macdonald was forced to relocate the green to its present position on interior dry ground. Macdonald attempted to simulate the original approach shot by protecting the new green with expansive greenside bunkering as well as digging out a new pond inside the right elbow of the dogleg.
In an article written in a 1914 issue of Golf Illustrated, National Golf Links architect C. B. Macdonald and editor H. J. Whigham describe the Cape Hole at the National as follows:
‘“The fourteenth hole at the National Golf Links is called the Cape Hole, because the green extends out into the sea with which it is surrounded upon by three sides.’” He continues: ‘“It is today (1914) one of the most individual holes in existence and there is probably not another like it anywhere.”’
Despite the change in the fundamental strategy of the hole, the 14th continued to be called Cape. Over the years, the diagonal drive has (mistakenly) been considered the dominant feature, with the original green and the reason for the Cape name all but forgotten.
Macdonald considered the Cape his original conception. The diagonal carry over a hazard was certainly not a novel idea, but his positioning of a green nearly surrounded by water was unique in golf at the time.
One of the more celebrated Cape holes, Mid-Ocean's 5th, partially extends into the water. That stated, there are other holes labeled “Cape” that are not.
As an example, the 2nd green at Yale, as described by Charles Banks in 1929, was considered a Cape green when constructed. Yet there is no greenside water. Putting surfaces positioned in this manner have dramatically built-up escarpments, often communicating the illusion of appearing suspended in space in place of the water surrounds.
In actuality, there are more Cape greens built in this manner than those featuring the target jutting into a body of water or marshland.
Playing the Cape at National, Macdonald tempts the golfer to cut the corner to gain an advantage, the limitless body of water to the right is a subconscious invitation to slice. Constant temptation is a repeating theme at National, but at the 14th, the penalty for a serious mis-step is not sand, but the finality of water. A drive flirting too close to the water may end up in the formidable bunkering complex to the right of the fairway - leaving a dangerous play directly to the green. Even today, with modern equipment, it is easy to underestimate the difficulty of skirting the hazard.
Truly a creative corner hazard, and odd that C. B. would do this in the face of his own habitual and incurable slice!
Yet with all the compelling features of National's Cape, the most important may lie in the uplifting beauty of the hole. On a sunny afternoon as the shadows drape across landscape, the combination of blue water, rolling fairways and the landmark windmill in the distance cannot help but uplift even the heaviest of hearts.