John nearly aces the 11th!
John, Chris and I toasted the end of the 2011 season at Dismal with a Sunday morning game of dirt golf on the new course. Shocker -- I'm in love with the golf course. As a whole, it will offer a heck of a thrill ride with one turn after another of the kind of golf I think most folks around here thirst for. Paraphrasing John Kirk, where: 'watching the ball interact with the ground' provides much of the thrill gca fans and the like admire.
During my initial tour back in July, I fell hard for the lower 10, just as I think most everyone did, and that's understandable, because it is unlike anything any of us had seen before. But what may have gotten lost on that visit, at least as far as I'm concerned, was how good the upper 8 holes are. Sure, from the first time I laid eyes on the 3rd, I felt it was going to be a special hole, and I was awestruck by the big, brawny 5th as well, but both of those are par threes where I didn't have to visualize so much where the fairway was before me. The tees and green sites were already there on both of those holes, much like they are on the rest of the golf course. I suppose I missed some of the more subtle characteristics when everything in view was cut to one length back then. The upper holes are much more edifying in their current state, which is low mowed and (nearly?) dormant baked out prairie grasses on top of pure sand along with some roughed in bunkering that helps in putting the holes together, though I doubt they'll do much to help one's scorecard when complete! I am now of the opinion that the upper 8 rivals the lower 10 in terms of quality golf and it would be difficult for me to choose one over the other as a favorite.
Some highlights from our round...
The first begins with a fairly friendly handshake - a shorter par 5 with plenty of width to ease you into the round. John and I both made 4. Knock it to within 10 feet of the pin and its a one putt in dirt golf. Wish we had a standard bearer..."Hey, we're 1 under on the Doak!", with Johnston at level par...20 feet. :-)
Crew working alongside 1 green.
2 is a longish devil of a four played out into a sea of dunes. John hit a beautiful, blind hybrid second shot from down below the ridge that landed 50 yards short and bounced and rolled for what seemed like forever until reaching the front of the green. Two putt par for JakaB. The second was one hole I know I overlooked on my initial tour in July. The whimsical nature of playing a blind shot over a sand hill promises to thrill.
I think the members tee allows a tee shot to carry to the upper portion of the fairway in most winds. Correct me if I'm wrong here guys.
5 was into the teeth of the wind and we played the back tees here. None of us reached the green with driver. It is a half par from here on days like yesterday for most players.
5 from the back tee. +/- 245 yds.
John and I talked a lot about the new course on the drive back to Denver and we're both on the same page regarding the upper 8 holes: the golf up there is special, along some fantastic ground, with views that'll put a tear in your eye. (Probably the wind.) When the wind's really cranking up there like it was yesterday, you'll be glad to see that the holes are designed to allow for it, with an abundance of width provided.
Another thing I liked about this golf course is the more intimate routing. There are a few spots where multiple greens and tees are within your immediate periphery as well as what will be a really cool, enormous shared fairway on the 14th and 15th holes and I like all of that, mainly because it is a departure from the way the Nicklaus course is routed (mostly). Heck, the whole thing is different from the Nicklaus course (which I also love) and that, to me, is what makes Dismal that much more special.
Some shots from our round yesterday:
3
Looking down in the bunker on 3
View from the bottom of bunker at 3. Chris is on the green.
3 green
10
11
13
13 green
17 fairway
17 looking back
18 tee
18 approach