Streamsong Red (Streamsong, Fl; C&C): all holes up (photos really tuned up!)

[Joe Bausch]

How often do they have a front pin?  That looks like it would be an impossible tee shot to the front.

I saw some old holes up front Josh.  I would say the tee shot is very challenging with a front pin.

[Josh Tarble]

Thanks Joe...If the course is running really f&f I can't imagine many shots staying on that top tier.

[Joe Bausch]

Thanks Joe...If the course is running really f&f I can't imagine many shots staying on that top tier.

On my 2nd day from the back tee to the back pin I semi-fanned my 3 hybrid and it landed and stayed on the front right part of the green.  That green is about 70 yards deep so that yardage to a front pin is way shorter.

[Morgan Clawson]

# 16 - what a great looking hole!  My favorite so far on this thread.

I think it would look even better if all the brush was cleared off the dune on the right.

[Wyatt Halliday]

I am not sure why (maybe the scale of the pin compared to the green and the shaved bank), but the picture of the 16th green complex from short left is my favorite picture I've seen of SS so far.

Then here's another featuring a back location.

[Wyatt Halliday]

For three days, the wind was steady from the Southeast making holes 12-16 a stunningly beautiful bloodbath. I held a funeral today for two long irons and one exhausted hybrid.

[Padraig Dooley]

Here's a photo from last week.



Played it twice, back pin was rescue, front pin 6 iron, big difference!!

[Noel Freeman]

This hole reminds me the most of the Yale Biarritz given the dune on the right.  Given I've aced the Yale 9th  , I liked the front pin placements.  That said I would critique I wish they went full Raynor and added the strip bunker instead of the steep left drop off.  Ran paced the green off at 74 yards which is pretty damn close to what I walked Yale off of last year.  If somehow, they could have shaved the right dune of its grasses so you could bump in approaches this hole would be even more amazing.

One of the things at the Ren Cup I found myself arguing with others was the Raynor Biarritz versus say what is at Old Mac.  I guess playing Yale has made me like the linear nature Raynor built with the swale being level and the strip bunkering versus the more natural-ness of the Old Mac hole.  This green is more like Yale's.. The uphill nature of it also makes it harder to bump and run it to the back like at Yale with the green below the tee level.

[Alex Miller]

This hole reminds me the most of the Yale Biarritz given the dune on the right.  Given I've aced the Yale 9th  , I liked the front pin placements.  That said I would critique I wish they went full Raynor and added the strip bunker instead of the steep left drop off.  Ran paced the green off at 74 yards which is pretty damn close to what I walked Yale off of last year.  If somehow, they could have shaved the right dune of its grasses so you could bump in approaches this hole would be even more amazing.

One of the things at the Ren Cup I found myself arguing with others was the Raynor Biarritz versus say what is at Old Mac.  I guess playing Yale has made me like the linear nature Raynor built with the swale being level and the strip bunkering versus the more natural-ness of the Old Mac hole.  This green is more like Yale's..

I was about to ask if this reminded anyone of Yale's 9th! I haven't played either course in question though... so I felt a little weird about posting it.

I think the fall off left looks really cool FWIW.

[Joe Bausch]

#17.  Par 4.





Tee view, where hugging the right side is favored, I believe:



Approach view:



From short of the green with some bunkering short of the green I really like:



Looking back up the fw and those bunkers:



From the back of green:



We'll finish the tour tomorrow.

[JimFatsi]

Wow, played SS Red 2 days ago, did not get a feel for FLA at all, more like bandon but nicer weather. From the bacon & egg sandwich to our putts on 18, perfect day. Love the mix of short holes, short par 3's, 4's and 5's to some of the most challenging par 3's, 4's, and 5's you will play. The greens were perfect and rolling true, a different sound all together when your ball landed on the greens can anyone explain that sound? They where firm but held just fine, congrats to SS and Coore Crenshaw, This puts every course in Orlando in the back seat.

[Josh Smith]

Recent Streamsong 16 oil painting, sorry to include it on the hole 17 analysis.  



Two objectives, get it over the water and hit it relatively straight.  Anything else is just gravy.  Which hole would you say is tougher, Blue 7 or its neighbor Red 16?  I am voting 16 as tougher.


Josh

[Mark Saltzman]

Josh, great stuff, I love that painting!

To answer your question, I'd say it depends on pin position.  A front-left pin on 7B is brutal.  Ditto a front-left pin on 16R.  On the whole, I' say 16R is the more difficult hole.

[Frank Sullivan]

Yeah Josh, beautiful painting:)  I'm sure the folks at SS would love to have that hanging in the clubhouse or lodge somewhere:)

I'll offer a different opinion.  I believe 7B is the more difficult hole even though it is my favorite between the two.  16R has a very deep green...maybe 70 yds...and a huge bail out area left which collects a ton of balls.  Point being, you have a relatively large area for your shot to land (obviously not right) and still have a shot at par, although not an easy up and down from the left.  7B has much less room outside the green, which is large as well.  After three rounds on each, I have parred 16R twice, and I parred 7B only once, and that was somewhat lucky, as Mark and Mac can attest.  The pin was front left on 7B and I hit a little left and a little long but still on the green (of course I was not aiming there...a solid PULL:).  If my ball had landed perhaps 5-10 feet deeper on the green, it could have easily rolled off the green back left and down into the hazard. 7B's green is a 10 and the contouring is awesome, but difficult to 2 putt un many cases, and 16R is fairly simple as long as you can negotiate the swail in the middle).  I know it shouldn't matter, but when you step on the 7B back tee (or any tee for that matter), you really do feel that you have to pull off an epic shot.  Drama.

[Joe Bausch]

#18.  Par 5.

This is a par 5, a typo below in the yardage book.





Below are a combo of pics from both days:

Tee view:



Neat bunker here creating a wide fw right, less so left:



From 200 yards out:



From short of the green:



From over the green:



Well, that was fun, eh?  I think SSRed is a winner.  I'll be interested to see how the course "ages".

Some other pics:

The "bye hole":



A couple of the rather modern clubhouse, which definitely grew on me:





The accommodations above the clubhouse are quite nice.

The all-purpose gathering room:



Rooms are nice too.





Nice views too.   

[Josh Tarble]

Thanks again for the tour...

I love the clubhouse.  That's the best picture I've seen of it so far.  For some reason the stark contrast and sharp lines of the clubhouse fit perfectly with the naturalness of the terrain to me.

[Jim Colton]

Joe,

 Did you happen to snap a pic of the Coore 18-hole routing that was on display in the game room?

[Will Lozier]

Joe,

More than any other green I've seen, #18 looks like either #5 or #14 at ANGC with that wicked false front, at a slightly different angle it looks like.  Is that a fair comparison, at least in terms of the front third?  And, since I've always thought a front pin would be cool on either for the Masters, I realize having seen both greens in person they would probably require a slight extension to make them pinnable. Is that front section at SS #18 pinnable?

Also, gotta love the built in cup in the gathering room!

Thanks for a great tour!  Hoping to make it down during my spring break.

Cheers

[Joe Bausch]

Joe,

 Did you happen to snap a pic of the Coore 18-hole routing that was on display in the game room?

No.  

Edit:  but now I have a re-constructed version of that early Coore routing (click to get a very large size):

[Pete Buczkowski]

This hole reminds me the most of the Yale Biarritz given the dune on the right.  Given I've aced the Yale 9th  , I liked the front pin placements.  That said I would critique I wish they went full Raynor and added the strip bunker instead of the steep left drop off.  Ran paced the green off at 74 yards which is pretty damn close to what I walked Yale off of last year.  If somehow, they could have shaved the right dune of its grasses so you could bump in approaches this hole would be even more amazing.

One of the things at the Ren Cup I found myself arguing with others was the Raynor Biarritz versus say what is at Old Mac.  I guess playing Yale has made me like the linear nature Raynor built with the swale being level and the strip bunkering versus the more natural-ness of the Old Mac hole.  This green is more like Yale's.. The uphill nature of it also makes it harder to bump and run it to the back like at Yale with the green below the tee level.

Noel - What did you think about the angle from the back tee on 16?  I've never seen a biarritz with that kind of an angle, which becomes quite challenging with the natural falloff left.  Not that I play from back there, but it seems a fade is necessary.

[Bryan Izatt]

Joe,

Great pictures and tour.  Thanks.  I guess I'll have to go back and give it a try.

I just came across a different historical aerial from the construction period.  What was very interesting was the state of the construction of #1 Red.  I guess when they decided to forego the one routing for two and needed to go south for Red #1 it ended up involving a lot of earth moving create the mid fairway and dunes. It's hard to tell if the pond on #2 was created by mining in 2010 or was created for the golf course.  I'd guess the former given its odd shape. I wonder if they had to go back and fill the pond to create #1 fairway on what had been dry land pre 2010.  Based on your pics of #1 it is hard to believe that whole middle of the hole is filled and shaped.  Might we have to revisit our designation of C&C as minimalists?   

Tee is at the top, green at the bottom.  Click through for larger version. 

 

[Joe Bausch]

It took some time to cull the herd of pics from two my 2+ days at SSong (and rehab some that needed it), but I'm very happy with the finished product:

http://xchem.villanova.edu/~bausch/images/albums/SSRed/

[Tim Passalacqua]

Joe,

Thanks for the photo tour.  I had been studying the pictures as you posted them because I had a trip planned to Streamsong last weekend.  Your pictures of the Red course are awesome and the Red still exceeded my expectations.  I was captivated from the first tee shot until the last putt.  It is on my list of favorites and pretty high on that list.  The walk down #2 fairway might be one of my favorite spots on any golf course.  I put the front 9 of the Red up with the front 9 of Old Mac and the back 9 of Pasatiempo...I like it that much.  Beautiful course, great strategy, and nice balance of long and short holes.  A real treat to play.  Thanks for the tour and getting us excited to play Streamsong.

Tim

[Joe Bausch]

It snowed here in Philly yesterday and I've woken up this morning not looking forward to shoveling the white stuff.  So my mind wanders to a visit last January to Streamsong.  I thought this thread could use a bump, and note I think the hotel is nearing completion.

[Josh Tarble]

This is an excellent thread...after my second go around at SS recently, it will be good to look back through.

After playing down there twice, the amazing thing to me, is how seamlessly both course fit together, but yet play completely different.  Two really great, fun courses.