On a recent trip to New York that included several good to great golf courses, I came away from Piping Rock unimpressed. I told a few people that the course featured no bad holes, and a couple of standouts, but unlike The Creek it did not hit very high highs.
Nevertheless, two weeks removed from my trip, I find myself often thinking about Piping Rock. Perhaps my impression of the course was overly affected by its rather uninteresting start and meek finish. I am convinced that my initial impression was WRONG.
Unlike The Creek, where the best holes are the non-template holes, Piping Rock's best holes (and several are exceptional) are the templates. The Redan, Road, Biarritz, Alps and Knoll are all very FUN golf holes.
It seems the course is constantly changing. New tees have been added on many holes, bunkering has been added/removed/moved/re-shaped; though the greens are seemingly intact -- that is, there is no obvious loss of putting surface.
Take, for example, these aerials of the par-5 6th hole (the first borrowed from Dean DiBerardino):
Below is an aerial from December of 1953. Looks like a few changes from 1953 to 1966 as well....
Here are some aerials from 1966, 1994, 2003 and 2012.
Notable changes:
1) A large-scale bunker in the left-side of the DZ was eliminated between 1966 and 1994. In 2011/2012 a series of 3 bunkers were added slightly farther up the fairway on the LHS.
2) A bunker on the RHS of the DZ was added between 1966 and 1994 (let's guess 1985
). Scale has since been reduced.
3) Cross-bunkers running diagonally across the fairway have been made less-intrusive.
4) Bunker protecting RHS of lay-up area added between 1966 and 1994 (let's guess 1985 again).
5) THE MOST NOTABLE CHANGE, between 1994 and 2003 the green was expanded by at least 1/3 at the front, and in 2003 several feet were added to the front-left portion of the green.
Piping Rock starts slowly with a pair of straightaway, mid-length par-4s. On each of the opening two holes bunkers flank the sides of the driving zone giving the golf course the 'championship' feel we are used to from so many courses today, but is a departure from the strategic design I expect to see from CBM.
Like the Principal's Nose bunkers at Yale, Essex County and Yeaman's Hall, the Principal's Nose at Piping Rock is an out-of-play hazard after a well-struck drive but complicates matters for those trying to advance their ball from the rough.
The approach to the 2nd green:
The 187 yard Redan 3rd is a very good hole and is cited by many as the best example of the redan template. From what I've seen there are two styles of redan: (1) those where the fairway and kickplate collect the ball toward the green, and (2) those where the kickplate will stop the ball from advancing toward the green. The redans at National, The Creek and Sleepy Hollow are good examples of the first style, while the redans at Shinnecock Hills, Somerset Hills and Piping Rock are examples of the latter style.
The green tilts from front-left to back-right making recoveries from this back bunker a delicate task.
The fearsome front-left bunker: