I may not have read the critique of Sand Hills correctly but to say the running shot is not on there, is nonsense. I played 18 holes with Neil Regan and he used a puterr on every second shot to the green; and I must say, very effectively.
Bob
Regarding the ground game at Sand Hills:
I have 2-putt birdies at #s 1, 2, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 16
I have 3-putt pars at all the rest except 13 and 17.
Of all the (many) courses that I have played, very few if any come close to Sand Hills for offering Mackenzie's ideal of putting tee to green.
Some of these long putts would not be the right choice in competition. Many would, or might be.
Thanks for sharing this, Neil.
Miss your photos on here, hope life is treating you well.
Hi Neil, Bob and George,
I'll play devil's advocate here. I'm not sure Neil's unusual approach to the ground game, putting the ball from long distances, is terribly relevant when evaluating more typical low trajectory shots. Sand Hills has a number of greens, such as holes 1, 2, 4, 11, 13, 14 and 18, where the last 10-50 yards short of the green are quite steeply uphill, and though course conditions are ideal for low trajectory play, these types of uphill approaches do not encourage me to attempt a running shot along the ground. Whether the wind is blowing with or against me, I would likely choose a club that I felt would reach the green on the fly. In a severe crosswind, I might try to use the fairway.
Especially downwind, you will see balls bound up these slopes onto the green. I can see a 2-iron on #13, or a fairway wood on #14. But with a short iron in my hand, like on #2 or #11, I'm only going with the low trajectory play as a defensive move. There are holes at Ballyneal with steep upslopes as well, like #4 and #11. You'll often see a fairway wood bound up onto #4 green. But you would rarely consider bouncing the ball onto #11, maybe in a stiff downwind breeze.
Overall, Sand Hills lends itself well to low trajectory golf, but in the grand scheme of things, I don't feel it is the best ground game course. Still, Sand Hills is fabulous, and when given the chance last year to rate the course in Ian Linford's poll, I gave it a "10".
If I were to play devil's advocate a second time, Neil's ability to two putt for birdie from long distances at Sand Hills indicates the course contours are too simple, and too easily navigable with a putter. An example of taking anecdotal data and making a contrarian argument.