Last summer my wife and I had the pleasure of a round at Wine Valley near Walla Walla, Washington. Having golfed with Rich Choi the day before at Chambers Bay, who'd told us we'd have a blast at WV the next day, our expectations were high, and we weren't disappointed.
In particular, I was really impressed with the 17th green at Wine Valley. The green consists of a high shelf in the back and a low shelf in the front middle. On the left side of the green is a curved slope around the end of the middle ridge, and a smaller curved slope is on the other side of the green. See my crude drawing below...
The hole that day was cut in the lower shelf, not far from the bottom of the ridge. I unfortunately hit my approach shot long and the ball ended up on the back shelf. I surveyed the green and realized that if I didn't hit the cup after the ball went straight down the slope, the ball might actually roll off the front edge of the green. I noticed the sloped bank off to my right (on the left side of the green looking from the tee) and decided I'd be better off if I hit my putt in that direction. I figured by the time my putt was slowing down it would be going straight sideways across the green so I figured that it might end up nearer the hole that way, rather than putting straight at it. I stroked the putt and we watched as it curved some 15-20 feet sideways and then down and around toward the hole, finishing about 3 feet away. What a fun putt. I can remember that like yesterday.
Wondering who else has played Wine Valley and in particular, what your thoughts are on that 17th green? What a great green.