Alternate fairways -- do both options really matter?

[Matt_Ward]

I always wondered when alternate fairways are used if both options have some sort of real merit. Usually the 1st choice wins out in 75% or more cases.

Rarely do you find alternate fairways where both options have some real merit depending upon weather conditions and most importantly pin placement.

I am a big fan of the 6th hole at Tetherow -- Kidd's creation in Bend, OR.

The hole plays from an elevated tee with H20 to the far left and the more daring tee shot to the more narrower area. Teh right side is preferable when the pin is cut to that same side of the green -- the right. Not only is the hole a scenic wonder but the strategic implications really use the alternate fairway concept to maximum effect. I wonder if other modern versions of alternate fairways really work to the level of Tetherow's 6th hole.

[Eric Smith]

Though not a modern golf course, the 7th at Holston Hills is a good example of having alternate fairways that give the player two good options. 

The safe play is to the lower right fairway, avoiding having to play over the fronting pond as well as having to challenge the big hill where the higher left fairway is located.  This lower level does leave the player with a blind second shot, which will likely play longer than from above, but seeing as the hole is a par 5, pretty much all the trouble on the hole has been avoided and birdie is still in play.

The bold play is to the upper fairway which is canted enough from left to right to allow for some turbo boosting roll, having just watched some bombers take it deep there yesterday, leaving less than 200 yards to the pin.  The risk there is the deep fescue rough left of the fairway, which is a magnet for golf balls struck by yours truly. 

[Dan Herrmann]

I think Hanse built a great one at my club, French Creek (9th hole).   See Joe Bauch's photo essay at http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php?topic=40345.0



(Courtesy of Joe Bausch)

You have two ways to go - upper or lower.  Upper is a longer and tougher tee shot, but gives a pretty good angle to a punchbowl green.   Lower is a shorter/easier tee shot, but requires an uphill 2nd shot with a bunch of bunkers in play.  I think it works great, and both fairways are used equally.  I'll change based on the wind - a strong northern wind gets me to play the lower fairway just to make sure I clear the wetlands.  A normal summer (SW) wind will get me shooting for the upper, but a poorly struck tee shot will always end up in a huge bunker with zero chance of reaching the green.

Pretty damn cool hole...

PS - Joe had an eagle 2 when we last played. 

[paul cowley]

I always wondered when alternate fairways are used if both options have some sort of real merit. Usually the 1st choice wins out in 75% or more cases.

Rarely do you find alternate fairways where both options have some real merit depending upon weather conditions and most importantly pin placement.

I am a big fan of the 6th hole at Tetherow -- Kidd's creation in Bend, OR.

The hole plays from an elevated tee with H20 to the far left and the more daring tee shot to the more narrower area. Teh right side is preferable when the pin is cut to that same side of the green -- the right. Not only is the hole a scenic wonder but the strategic implications really use the alternate fairway concept to maximum effect. I wonder if other modern versions of alternate fairways really work to the level of Tetherow's 6th hole.

If they're good they are...or do.

[Matt Kardash]

I think Hanse built a great one at my club, French Creek (9th hole).   See Joe Bauch's photo essay at http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php?topic=40345.0



(Courtesy of Joe Bausch)

You have two ways to go - upper or lower.  Upper is a longer and tougher tee shot, but gives a pretty good angle to a punchbowl green.   Lower is a shorter/easier tee shot, but requires an uphill 2nd shot with a bunch of bunkers in play.  I think it works great, and both fairways are used equally.  I'll change based on the wind - a strong northern wind gets me to play the lower fairway just to make sure I clear the wetlands.  A normal summer (SW) wind will get me shooting for the upper, but a poorly struck tee shot will always end up in a huge bunker with zero chance of reaching the green.

Pretty damn cool hole...

PS - Joe had an eagle 2 when we last played. 

If the tee is where the photo is taken from I dont see why id ever feel compelled to hit it onto the right fairway. I dont really get the sense that goign left is really any harder.

[Dan Herrmann]

Matt - The tee is actually about 30 yards to the left of this spot.

The shot to the left side is about 20 yards further and is about 10 feet higher in elevation.    From the very tips, all but the scratches and + handicappers need to go for the lower fairway.

Here's the a photo of the routing that may help illustrate  (9 tee is just north of the "Rd" in "Conestoga Rd"

Also note the alternate fairway on #15:

[Bill_McBride]

Dan, how long is #15?  There appears to be a distinctly easier 2nd from the right fairway.  How much more difficult is the tee shot?

[Jason Topp]

Split fairways rarely work.  The agressive fairway is usually too narrow or too wide.  I prefer a centerline bunker - instead of two options you have eight.

The few split fairways I have liked have all involved an elevation difference which complicates the decision a bit and makes the higher fairway more tempting.

[Michael Huber]

Just throwing this out there, but:

How about making one of the two fairways (preferably the "obvious" route) have some sort of uneven lie...possibly even combined with a green that would favor a different kind of shot? 

Example:

Split fairway, with the left side flat with a longer distance to the green, and the right side with a shorter distance to green and a sidehill lie where the ball is above the players feet.  The green might be designed to favor a left to right shot compared to a right to left shot.

Does any of that make sense?

[JLahrman]

If you don't have two viable options with good reasons to choose both, you don't really have alternate fairways.  You've got one fairway, and a place where it will be easy to find a wild tee shot.

[Dan Herrmann]

Bill,
#15 is a really short par 4 - plays 292, and offers a chance to try to drive the green:


Michael,
Just the fact that you have about a 10' elevation gain, combined with earthworks that obscure the green from view make the lower (right) fairway a LOT tougher than the left fairway.  It's all risk/reward and very well executed.

[Bill_McBride]

The 14th at my club, Pensacola Country Club, is a split fairway par 5 that really works.

The green sits perpendicular  to the line of play.  Assuming a drive in the fairway, the decision is to play directly at the green and be left with a pitch to an elevated shallow green with deep bunkers, or play out to the right of the right-of-center pot bunker and have an unimpeded pitch into the long axis of the green.  There are a couple of major pine tree limbs that come into play on the second shot.

To add to the fun, the left third of the green is 3' lower than the right, with a steep fall off the top right tier.

There is a distinct advantage to playing out to the right, but it can be a dangerous line.

Mike Bogey Hendren says this is the best split fairway par 5 he's played in years.  I think it's a great design by Jerry Pate.

[paul cowley]

Bill,
#15 is a really short par 4 - plays 292, and offers a chance to try to drive the green:


Michael,
Just the fact that you have about a 10' elevation gain, combined with earthworks that obscure the green from view make the lower (right) fairway a LOT tougher than the left fairway.  It's all risk/reward and very well executed.

Great example and photo...forces one to think.

[Jamie Barber]

I had read about a good example of this at one of the Woburn courses in the UK (in Finegan's book). Anyone played it?

[TEPaul]

Matt:

Your question with this thread is a very good one, and a pretty complex one really; at least I think it's complex for architects to design and build alternate fairways that really are used regularly. But if they are I think the architect should be considered successful in his concept and execution.

But then the next question becomes----regularly used by whom?

If you get alternate fairways that are used regularly by say scratch players then something good and interesting must be going on with the strategic concept and the hole. And if the alternate fairways are used regularly by all levels of players then I think it's better or best but for some fairly obvious reason this is pretty rare in architecture.

And then there is the type of alternate fairway hole that is purposefully designed to offer a high risk and high reward fairway and choice for the good and long player only; a fairway that is not possible for the shorter or less good player. Macdonald's Channel Hole at the Lido was such a concept and can be wonderful if it regularly tempts the good long player to take a high risk with which he may actually fail and fail badly a fair amount of times thereby allowing the shorter and weaker player who must take the easier but longer route to the left to win or half the hole. This type of hole is the ultimate example of what used to be called "The Tortoise and the Hare concept."

But again, and in my opinion, for alternate fairway holes to be good in concept and design and execution the various options must be used regularly by players or the concept isn't a very good one or isn't very well carried out, is it?

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