[Patrick_Mucci]

Aren't all of Winged Foot's par fours identical? How about a photo? That way, i can find a distinguishing point...

Ron,

Yes, they're all identical in that they all have tees and greens with intervening fairways

[Steve Lapper]

Steve, buddy, don't confuse us...pick the one best closer...is your order top to bottom? middle to top? bottom to top? alphabetical?

My Top 18 best 18ths:

Sand Hills
Merion
Pine Valley
Oakmont
Old Moray
Shinnecock
NGLA
Trump Scotland
Royal Dornoch
Mountain Ridge
Riviera
Southern Hills
Royal Melbourne Composite
Pebble Beach
Winged Foot West
Yeamans Hall
Muirfield
Shadow Creek

No particular order...love them all more or less equally. Each comes with a measure of sadness that I'm finishing a round there. 

[Ronald Montesano]

ha ha ha ha ha....you're killing me!  My favorite 18th is now Paramount's soon-to-be-resurrected Reef Hole!!

[Nigel Islam]

I'll second 18 at Pebble

[Patrick_Mucci]

Steve,

You could probably add Hollywood, The Knoll, Essex County West and Hackensack to the NJ list.

Knollwood, in Westchester is a fabulous finishing hole.
Long par 4 from an elevated tee to a slightly dogleg right fairway, high on the left side with a flanking hill left and a large creek flanking the entire lower right side.

The fairway is not flat.
The closer you are to the creek, the flatter the fairway

The green, with a Redan like deflection plate on the right side sits well elevated above the fairway and across the creek, which widens out like a pond.

It may be the most difficult and best finishing hole in Westchester County.

[Alex Miller]

Never been to Bethpage, but looked at google earth and it seems you could build and subsequently tear down a special tee box short right of Red #1 turing the 18th for the U.S. Open into a 490 yard dogleg left par 4 playing to Red #18's green.


Given photos I've seen of Red #1, and now Red #18 it seems possible and much better than Black #18

The USGA considered this before the last US Open held there. If I remember correct, the reason they didn't do it was that it would mean the public would be unable to play the same course that the pros did.

Not to derail, but I was actually talking about playing 1 corridor over. 1 green to 18 fairway to 18 green approximately.


And LACC North's 18 is a great and brutal finish.

[Patrick_Mucci]

Steve,

I forgot to mention Bayonne's 18th along with Arcola's

Brian,

18 at NGLA is my favorite, but Sebonack is a nice finishing Par 5 that flows in the opposite direction with the opposite juxtaposition of tee and green

Friars Head is a very strong par 4 finishing hole.

Perhaps classifying them by par would help.

Forest Hills Field Club in NJ is a very strong par 3 as is GCGC's

[Steve Lapper]

Ron,

   I was tempted to put in Paramount's 18th but decided it would've been too much of a homey bias!

Pat,

   I am intimately familiar with Knollwood (played plenty of HS matches there) and the NJ closers you mentioned, but I really believe that MRCC's closer is the best of the bunch in the Garden State (ex PVGC) and WFW's 18th green works just a tad better. Bayonne's 18th is actually a reprieve, following 16 and 17 (and down or cross wind if the other two are into the wind).

Brian,

   With a back tee box well elevated and yielding a commanding Southerly view of all the dunes this 600+yd hole forces every player to make critical decisions on direction, distance and shot shape every yard from tee to hole....it's easily one of the best on the property and best in the country. As a closer, it's easy to screw up, available to par and occasionally a birdie. The large # (18?) of strategically placed bunkers really ask for precise shot making.

Alex,

   I beg to differ with you about LACC North's finish. It's certainly a strong enough par 4, but not one superior or even equal to the any of the previous 13 par 4's. It's neighbor. Bel-Air CC, one might argue does a better job of providing a more strategic finish.

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