10th at the Creek not a Cape, it's a Leven

[Malcolm Mckinnon]

Great article on page 64 in the latest issue of the Met Golfer where the Creek Club has discovered that the 10th hole which has been thought to be a Cape template was actually designed to be a Leven. Gil Hanse was brought in and helped to construct a new mound to guard the left approach to the green.

http://metgolferdigital.com/title/10032

All this from the discovery of a copy of a 1924 magazine article from The Spur which had a photograph of the original hole as well as a Town and Country piece from 1923 which compared the hole to the 17th at the National.

[John Mayhugh]

Thanks a lot for sharing this article by Thomas Dunne. That surrounded by sand feel is perfect for the site of the green.  Seems that the change makes a fantastic course even better.

The Spur was a pricey magazine, going for fifty cents back in 1924!

I can't help but think of Tom MacWood when I see golf course history revealed by some long lost article like this. 

[Rich Goodale]

Great article by Tom and what's more it's probably true!

I play the original "Leven" several times every year and the picture on p 68. of the MetGolf shows Charlie MacD's homage to the original.  Even today, the hole's charm dervies from the fact that in the right condiitions and playing from the right tee for your ability, the green is driveable over that left hand hump to a narrow but punchbowlish green.  Think of the "Dell" at Lahinch, but with a driver in your hand....

That being said, the hole IS a "Cape" to the extent that if you do not have the skill or the fortitude to attempt the carry, you must play to the right of the hump but are penalised the further right you go, eventualy ending up in a wee burn for the most feeble and least courageous.

What today's "'Leven'" (at Lundin)" does not have is the expanse of sand shown on the Creek photos.  However, I would not be surprised to find out that it did, back in the days when Charlie MacD and Whigham trod that links.  Any pictures of that hole from the early 20th century, anybody?

Thanks in advance.

[Bill_McBride]

I have a fond memory of Tiger Bernhardt belting a tee ball out onto that beach!  I forget, was he in bounds or OB?

[Bill Brightly]

One of the cool things about belonging to an MGA club is getting the magazine and seeing what Tom writes!

As a related aside, we have been trying to restore our Banks course, and our Levan hole had its fronting mound removed. Not by the forces of nature, but by William Gordon and our GD Modernization Committee. (The mound will be restored!)

[Patrick_Mucci]

Malcolm,

The "MET GOLFER", seems to be devoting more and more articles to architecture, and I think that's great.

It's a terrific magazine and I try to read every edition, cover to cover.

[Lynn_Shackelford]

Someone sent me the article.  Tom Dunne did a great job with the story and it sounds like the club is in good hands in many way.

I wish we had more golf publications doing this type of thing.

[Tom Dunne]

Thanks all for the compliments. Even in the dead of winter it's a pleasure to spend time at The Creek. Greg Midland, the former editor of the Met Golfer who is now with the USGA, basically put this story on a tee for me. He deserves a lot of credit for his work with the MGA over the past several years. Evan Rothman, a fellow T+L Golf alum, is the new editor and I'm sure he will continue the magazine's momentum. 

[George_Bahto]

delete - see new NGLA Leven thread
 

[George_Bahto]

Creek was also fortunate to find a full-blown Seth Raynor-drawn concept blueprint of the course.

It now hangs in the clubhouse - the locker rook, I think. This is a thing of beauty.

Raynor detailed some of the hazards on some of the holes but on other holes he just outlined the fairway line-of-play. (I suspect he wasn't going to tell them everything until he was hired   

........... and there it was, perhaps the first indication the hole was Leven, not Cape, a hazard along the left approach to the green.

[Billsteele]

Bill McBride-I was in your group that day at the Creek. I remember Tiger playing it from the beach. What a guy!

[Patrick_Mucci]

George & Tom,

Do you think the "Leven" feature was introduced to that short hole to make the bailout or safer shot more demanding ?

[George_Bahto]

Pat, usual berm's positioning serves to tighten up the line of play, and if you miss to the berm side, that feature obfuscates a portion of the green.

It was a bit different at National where Macdonald offered at least three options. Down the left, but if you played thru the wide fairway center bunker(s) segmented the landing zone even more. Add to that the down slope fairway situation, you had a pretty complex hole

Remember, think of this hole strategy in the context of the early 19hundreds.        It was genius

[Bill_McBride]

Bill McBride-I was in your group that day at the Creek. I remember Tiger playing it from the beach. What a guy!

So I guess he was in bounds!

That was a fun day.