ASKERNISH photos -- the famous par five 12th ("Piobarachd")

[jkinney]

It took me about four rounds before I began to appreciate this rubic's cube of a golf hole. Once understood, it became for me one of the finest examples of strategic options and risk/reward that I've seen. The tee is on the ocean bluff looking straight inland over the same deep valley one comes across the other way on the par three 11th. That it is a double fairway hole is not appparent from the tee.

The right fairway invites all but the longest hitters. But there is a directional marker on a left hillside on top of a hill, the backside of which is a downsloping, narrow fairway through which an intrepid drive will run so far as to make the green reachable in two. The safer route to the right fairway makes one hit up another hill with its own directional marker, leaving a mid iron third shot to an elevated green whose slope runs away to the front (which we'll also see later on "Old Tom's Pulpit").

[Mac Plumart]

Simply epic!!

If dual fairways are not enough, the green slanting away is killer.

[jkinney]

 Mac - What pure genius in this design ! I love the side view photo with the left fairway (near) going down and the right fairway (far) going back up !

[Jeff Taylor]

OMG!
Is this what minimalistic means?

[jkinney]

Jeff - The 12th is minimalistic, IMO, in dealing with the terrain as it presents itself. Maybe it is minimalistic chaos theory !