Deception!

[Bart Bradley]

There certainly has been discussion on this board of the use of camouflage and deception at creating interesting golf holes.  A recent trip to Chechessee reminded me just how much I enjoy and appreciate this architectural tool.

Here is a picture of #13 at Chechessee.  A short, apparently simple par 3....but for those of you who have played here, you know better.  Balls that land short or right of the hole location will generally feed back into the right front bunker.  Standing on the tee, the player is not able to appreciate the slope and severity of this amazingly charming green. 



What are your favorite examples of architectural deception?  For those who have seen this hole, are you as fond of it as I am?

Look forward to your comments,

Bart

[Chris Buie]

Hi Bart.  I did a thread about the bunkers which appear to be right off the green but are in fact deceptively placed some distance from the green.
http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,43507.0.html

[Mac Plumart]

Bart...

Yes, I'm familiar with that hole.



I thought I had an ace.  Hit the ball just a smidge above the pin...the ball spun back, trickled by the hole, essentially lipped out, then trickled, trickled, trickled into the bunker.  Heartbreaking!

And yes, I love deception in golf architecture.

Here is two at Rivermont.  That bunker is not right on the green, but yet it looks like it is.  If you actually aim to hit the ball just over the bunker the ball will feed to the right and, therefore, towards the green.  Risk/reward.  Take a line of attack over that bunker and pull it off...you are putting birdie...heck maybe eagle...it is a par 5.

[Ed Oden]

Bart, here is a good example of one of my favorite forms of deception - from the tee a very straightforward looking downhill par 3 with a green tilted back to front...



...except that the green is in fact sloped severely front to back, as evidenced by this photo from directly behind the green looking back toward the tee...



The downhill nature of the hole creates the illusion that the green tilts opposite to it's true slope.  Fazio takes great heat on this site.  But look at that first picture again and notice how well the ripple to the right of the back bunker gives the impression of a raised back tier and the way gentle curl of the green to the right of the front bunker suggests the front right is the lowest part of the green.  It's all a lie as every inch of that green moves away from the tee.