The greens at Holston Hills are generally not wildly contoured, though they do occasionally have steep slopes and false fronts. But the course is built on land that slopes and drains toward the nearby Holston River. Not surprisingly Ross canted some of the greens against the natural slope, some with the natural slope, and some neutral with respect to the natural drainage pattern. Coupled with his subtle contouring artistry, the greens have both variety and flexibility in hole placements, and the result is a mix of approach and putting challenges that provide a fascinating array of choices for members.
Check out Bradley Anderson's review of Holston for some good pics:
http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,46182.0.html.
A few examples:
Right out of the gate at #1, the green is canted from high back to lower front with an orientation directly against the natural slope, on which the uphill putts are faster than you expect and the downhill putts slower. Makes for enjoyable watching if you hit a run-up shot to a back pin at this longish par 4 (450 from the back tees), as a properly struck ball tends to roll out nicely towards the target. But if you’re on the green and above the hole, you don’t have to deal with a super-fast downhill putt, which I think is a great design choice for the first hole.
Holes 1, 9, 10 and 18 are all side-by-side on the land below the clubhouse. Each hole has a different choice in the green of cant vs. the natural slope. # 9 and #18 greens are canted with the natural slope, 18 steeper than 9. 10 is pretty flat, but is obscured from the fairway by how the green is cut into a little hillside.
On the long par 3 14th, Ross built a diabolical, steeply sloped green with a steep false front that cants against the natural drainage toward the river, though it is benched into a steep hill sloping away from the river. Succinctly put from the club’s web site description: “There are numerous contour features within the putting surface that separate the green into distinct cupping areas and one can expect a rainbow bender of considerable speed if one’s ball is located outside of the flag plot.”
The par 4 15th green is canted from high left to low right against the natural drainage. The first time I played it I hit the green in regulation and had a 30-35 foot downhiller that I thought would be pretty fast. The first putt made it about halfway to the hole, and I left the second putt 4-5 feet short. I 4-putted that first time and to this day, more than 30 rounds later, am still more often than not completely confused by that green and happy to 2-putt any time.
On #18, steeply canted from back to front with the natural slope, if you are above the hole and coming straight down hill, you do well to keep the ball on the green, and if you have a longer sidehill putt you’re often looking at playing 12-15 feet of break to get the ball close.
At Holston Hills, I think the greens provide a lot of fun and variety for members, on what at first glance may seem to be relatively “flattish” greens compared to greens with the dramatic hills and hollows pictured above.