You have till EOD (PST) Wed to cast your votes. Just state your preference on this thread. The voting is open to all. I highly recommend those who have played the holes to try to influence the voters as much as possible. I will tally the results on Thu and schedule the next round.
Seed #8
Ekwanok 7th
Tale of the tape: Par 5, 595 yards
Why: From Ran - Certainly the most famous golf hole in Vermont and perhaps in New England, the monster 7th exemplifies how architecture has changed over the decades. At the time, Dunn and Travis worked with the land and the result is a uniquely memorable hole with a hill that bisects the fairway from the 300 to 370 yard mark. Conversely, the vast majority of architects today would make the land fit the hole by dynamiting the 60 foot hill into oblivion. While the7th is no longer the absolute terror that it once was (a good player is likely to hit 3 wood off the tee into the bowled fairway, a 4 iron over the hill, and a 7 iron onto the green), the golfer must still bear down on all three shots, a trait often found wanting in most three shot holes built after World War II.
Seed #9
Royal St Georges 5th
Tale of the tape: Par 4, 460 yards
Why: From Ran - This hole and the next were par threes under Laidlaw Purves‘s initial routing. One reason is that the dune line down the left ran all the way to the property’s edge. Laidlaw Purves didn’t have the inclination, the equipment or the budget to alter the dun escape. However, all that changed within twenty-five years from the course’s opening. A gap was knocked into the dune some three hundred yards from the tee and a new, bunkerless green was built on the dune’s other (left) side. Thus, today’s striking par four was born.