Wolf Point Club: A pictorial!!! (18th hole posted)

[Kyle Henderson]

Wow. All I can say is wow. Wolf Point looks like a golfer's paradise.

Es la verdad.

[Kyle Henderson]

The par 5 14th will not offer many birdies, despite its downwind orientation and firm conditioning.


The hole is draped handsomely upon the land, thanks to a combination of low profile teeing grounds, highly refined transitions into the bordering native grasses, carefully considered tree clearing, crafty bunker placements and a creek side green complex gifted by the gods.


Varying wind conditions will add to the challenge of navigating the network of central hazards. As such, the hole will never play the same way twice, even for golfers graced with precise swings and sound tactics.


As at the 5th, the surrounding forest is incorporated directly into the line of play. Gladly, the adjacent corridors are wide enough to sustain the strategic character found throughout the round.


The architect solicited input from the owner before placing the 14th green on the opposite side of the creek. The other crossings can be accomplished with the ball teed up, so it felt appropriate to force a small carry here


Missing short is clearly a bad mistake for the approach…


…But sentinel bunkers protect both flanks (the left side is pictured below)


…And the green’s rear is pitched away from the line of play.
 

Even those skilled enough to hold the green in regulation will be hard pressed to navigate the Nuzzo rolls while chasing par.

[RJ_Daley]

Brilliant routing and presentation of a set of questions to the golfer on this course.

One of the greatest questions I have (and probably not appropriately answered here - but I'll post the question with no expectation of an answer);
what are the legacy issues of this course?  This course is an obvious great work of routing and design, along with a set of strategic questions that reportedly are many and varied by daily wind and other factors.  I think it presents or suggests a capacity for longevity as a modern day classic that must/ought to be preserved for future generations, and perhaps eventually available to future golfers who love to play with a keen eye towards the GCA of the course they are playing.  I'd like to think that while none of us will likely be around in 50-70 years, this course will survive and stand up to the tides of whatever comes to the sport or game of golf.  It seems to me that this course is simply too good not to have the legacy question answered, even it that subject isn't answered now, publicly.

[Charlie Gallagher]

I have thought about RJ's question regarding legacy quite a bit, but the answer is in the owners estate planning. He surely owns a supremely rare asset.
   14 is yet another superior hole at Wolf Point and in addition to its fine array of hazards is made an even more interesting strategically given its par 5 desgination and placement in the routing. With the right wind and player skill set it might be worth the risk if the hole is played forward to have a go at this green in two. It will take two advanced shots to pull off the attack, however. I tend to dislike holes that feature trees as obstacles, but not this one. The trees are perfectly employed on this hole and make sense visually and strategically. I think part of the reason is their relatively low canopy, but I primarily like them because they dictate route picking and add beauty. There's a great visual flow on this hole as you are entering an edge of the course where trees are more numerous along a boundry.
    Two more points, the green is among the more radically contoured ones on this course, which is saying something given the set there. Finally, the employment of the river as a forced carry is perfect here. If played as a three shoter, the carry is not daunting, but if one is going for it, or trying to access a front hole location this late in the round due to the condition of the match, the pucker factor is high.
    Just a great golf hole in all regards.

[Phil McDade]

For those who have played it:

I've always thought a hole design in which purposefully aiming for a bunker, to avoid a worse fate, is poor golf architecture. Does the 14th here come close to doing that? It's a hole which as Kyle notes has an ideally sited green, but I can see the better player -- going for the green in two -- may think that landing in one of the two greenside bunkers might be a better fate than somewhere else around that green. Or am I completely misreading this?

[Eric Smith]

David Davis made a terrific par from the junk at 14:

[Mike Nuzzo]

Phil

I don't think anyone aims for the front right bunker - it is too deep.
The opposite greenside bunker is blind from the fairway and I've only seen a few players hit recoveries from there.
So I'll say no one aims for the bunkers.

I've only tried to reach the 14th green in two once, for which I found the creek right of the big bunker.
It is too long of a hole for me to reach without perfect conditions and swings.

When hitting a long approach I add a club and aim at the left edge of the green away from the creek.
Back left is common, behind the bunker, and a hard up and down.
It is also hard to hit the left small blind bunker, and a miss short further left requires one to play over it to a front pin.

My first three times on the 14th I was a cumulative one under.
Since then I've been plus +dozens and it has dominated me psychologically. 
I've just finally started to get over my fears!

Cheers

[David Davis]

David Davis made a terrific par from the junk at 14:

Mr. Smith, leave it to you to capture my best recovery shot of the century (not really as when you are handicapped with poor ball striking ability like me often the creativity of a lucky recovery shot is all you've got).

I was a little bit greedy on this hole. Eric was giving me the ole "if it were me I'd put it all in, but that's me, I'm an aggressive gambler, Mr. Vegas.." Don on the other hand was telling me I had no chance in hell, and Sam, I think he was opening another beer.

I fell for it hook line and sinker and believe I'd stripe my 3 wood 257 yds to carry the hazard. Instead I missed and the ball sailed with the strong cross-wind to the right and into arguable the worst spot. Don't try this on your maiden visit boys and girls.

In my head I was thinking, out of very deep junk and a horrible lie, under the branch into the bank to stop it somewhere close to the other side of the green. It worked then I hit a bump and run chip that broke like 3 times (no exaggeration) and ended up 6 inches from the hole.

My sentiments to the group,"man, nothings falling!" :-)

Not that anyone cares but it's wonderful to relive moments of temporary glory.

[Phil McDade]

Mike:

Thanks for your insights and commentary -- this has been one of my favorite photo threads in a long while (which is saying something, given the quality that's being posted these days). I'm struck by how closely mown width is used here as almost a penalizing feature, similar to bunkers or rough, in that it appears to tempt the player into positions that may not be suitable for the next shot, or create more risk for the next shot that's otherwise not apparent.

[Sam Morrow]

I think 14 is the best par 5 I've ever played, the landing area is so generous (looks like you could land a plane on it) but it really demands you to pick a line to account for the giant tree on your second. Despite being in the fairway there is plenty of room to go around or over the tree, to me (a short hitter) the first two shots are just warming you up for the golfgasim you will get at the green.

The creek short is intimidating enough but the deep bunker short right is a bear and long and left is brutal because it's all short grass and the ball can run forever if you hit a poor enough shot. The Nuzzo rolls are well in play on the green but the funnel at the front of the green is my favorite feature. I've made both par and birdie by hitting shots from the fairway and using the funnel to get it into kick in range.

As you walk off the amazing 14th you look over at the next tee and you see the relatively (by Wolf Points standards) benign 15th..  

[Bill_McBride]

"Relatively" what?   Missing an adjective here. 

[Kyle Henderson]

The 15th is the last par 3 of the round, taking golfers back across the creek – the stream will influence play greatly from here on in.


As at the 6th and 8th, the architect has resisted the temptation to drastically reshape the land in an effort to push the green flush against the creek. In fact, very little was done to tease up artificial challenges (bunkers, ponds, mounds, waterfalls, etc.). “Signature hole” architecture seems so grossly inferior to well executed minimalism/naturalism as exemplified here.


A large patch of fairway leads to the green’s anterior edge, allowing for worm burners beneath the gusting winds.


Trees may come into play after a poor effort from the tee, but the lie will be manageable and invite heroic recovery attempts.


A healthy range of Nuzzo rolls (knuckles?) in the port side of the putting surface lead to a tightly mown swale.


A retrospective (tees are at the left edge).


Another look back at the “Nuzzo Nuckles.”

[Charlie Gallagher]

  This green is close to a double Bairritz, the knuckles are that pronounced. It offers a seamless transition from 14 to  the 16-17 one-two punch to come.
5,6,7, form a neat corner of the course. 15,16,17 have a similar segregated appeal.
   I recall when I played Wolf Point last December reaching the teeing area on this hole as the gloaming was beginning to close in and sensing melancholy as I realized that the round was nearing its end. I've only experienced that feeling a few times in golf, a couple of times on some great courses in Ireland, and once or twice here in the states. That feeling is a testament to the epic quality of this amazing golf course.

[Ben Sims]

There's several places on this golf course where conventional golf wisdom will bite you in the ass.  None more so than the demure appearing 15th.  The best thing the hole has going for it is sheer confusion in its appearance from the tee.  If Robert sets the flag, not even Don or the owner can truly discern the depth that his shot must travel.  Getting to the same "knuckle" as the flag is a sure birdie opportunity.  Being on the wrong one equals heroic pars and easy bogeys.  Don't go left, ever.  Press bets here, not on 16 or 17.  

[John Kirk]

I have a question for Don or Mike:

There's a beautiful tree in the 14th fairway, which looks like an oak tree.  Do you have confidence that tree will survive in its modified environment?  Does it require any special care?

At Pumpkin Ridge, we have lost a high percentage of trees in areas that were disturbed during construction.  On the private side, virtually every native deciduous trees are gone.

Thanks.  That 14th hole is something else.  Looks a bit like the 3rd at Bandon Trails off the tee, with seemingly random bunkers scattered across the fairway.

[Bill_McBride]

I have a question for Don or Mike:

There's a beautiful tree in the 14th fairway, which looks like an oak tree.  Do you have confidence that tree will survive in its modified environment?  Does it require any special care?

At Pumpkin Ridge, we have lost a high percentage of trees in areas that were disturbed during construction.  On the private side, virtually every native deciduous trees are gone.

Thanks.  That 14th hole is something else.  Looks a bit like the 3rd at Bandon Trails off the tee, with seemingly random bunkers scattered across the fairway.

John, I liked the third at BT a lot, really good par 5. But there is a whole lot more going on at WP's 14th. Tree, creek, green, this is one tough par 5.  I'd love to hear your thoughts on the Wolf!

[John Kirk]

Hi Bill,

Perhaps my comment was misleading.  Just judging by Kyle's photos.  It looks very nice.

[Sam Morrow]

15 To me is the heart of one of the best stretches of golf on Earth. You stand on that tee and you look back and 14, through the trees and across the creek you see 16, you've got 17 green, and 18 tee right there, it's the kind of crossroads that's tough to have at a course that has large amounts of play.

I think it's almost impossible to put into words the 15th green, you almost have to let the pictures speak for themselves. This is one green I hope Mike can get a chance to chime in on.

[Charlie Gallagher]

Sam,
    Kyle has done an amazing job with the camera and captured a great pictoral of Wolf Point. That said, I'm not sure pictures can adequately present what is in that green at 15. I don't know if the medium can portray it.
    Great point about the confluence of golf at 15 teeing area. 5 holes sort of intersect there. It's a wonderous location on the course.
  

[Paul Jones]

When I was on the 15 tee, I though the hole was the least interesting on the course.  Then you arrive at the green and WOW.  

The second time I played the hole I was scared.

[Bill_McBride]

The first time I played 15, I stood on the tee and noticed three shadows on the green that appeared to be headed toward the creek on the left. "Uh oh!" I thought, and played a six iron to the right edge of the green and made par.   I am now par par for my two plays and very pleased with myself.

[Mike Nuzzo]

We had a special visitor last fall.
Pictured below is moments before Tom's ball finds the cup for a 2.
His shots were 5 iron, 5 iron!
His short game is especially good.
It was rewarding for me to see him play too close to the flag and wind up in the swale, even though we were partners.

[Kyle Henderson]

The 16th is a short par 4 that takes us to the northwest corner of the golf course.


As with the previous hole, Sir Nuzzo exercised restraint in the shaping department, with just a single bunker and relatively unfussy fairway contours. Here we see the view when teeing off over the previous green. Looks pretty straightforward, right? Au contraire.


The creek on the left gathers to come degree, but the approach from near it is less confounded by the green side bunker and allows one to play away from the water a bit with the next shot.


Although the green is conceivably within reach from the tee for back-winded gorillas, prudent golfers will lay back to a distance from which they can hit a high, spinning wedge shot.


The greenside bunker is not overly penal, yet the creek on the opposite side adds some pucker to recovery shots from its depths – pitching over the trap from a tight lie might be even more harrowing.


A small green-fronting swale complicates approach shots, but it should be traversed or skirted rather than grossly avoided…


…as anything that lands in the left or rear portions of the green may rebound into the drink, as seen from behind. Pick your target wisely.

[Don_Mahaffey]

I like holes that challenge a player's ability to make a decision, commit, and execute. This hole, the 16th at WP, is such a hole. I've watched very good players stand 50 yards from the green after a great drive, and switch back and forth between a lob wedge and mid iron as they contemplate an aerial approach vs a ground approach. And not because they wanted to try a particular shot, but because they were uncertain which was the prudent play. By this time in the round, they've hit ground game shots, so the romanticism is gone, now its about which shot will work and keep them in the match.  
A 350yd (from the back tee) downwind hole is a birdie hole, and I've seen lots of birdies on the 16th, including quite a few myself. But the approach is not for the meek and you can make 6 easily if you can't commit 100% to your play. The play I like after a good drive up the left side is a "tweener", a bunted low PW that hits the back of the swale and kicks up on the green. But I can only hit that if I've driven close to the creek. From the right I have to go over the bunker and stop it before I roll over the green. Some days, I can do that, but when the wind is up and really pushing the ball, the play is to the right of the bunker, hoping for a little chip and one putt for par. Hardly anyone ever does this, as they always think they can rescue a poor drive with a downwind spinning 70 yard SW to a green falling away, but they usually end up in the bunker or chipping back up from the long grass next to the creek.  

[Charlie Gallagher]

    Don has laid out a detailed strategy for this great, natural par 4. I think the bunker is more of a factor if the hole location is left. In our match last fall I had to pitch over it and before I pulled the trigger Rob, who had said little as we tag teamed around, warned me that anything even a little long would gather speed and head for the creek. Consequently, I hit a decent running pitch, but still came up about 9 feet short.
   When I left the 15th green and started to size this hole up, I was innitally somewhat underwhelmed, it is lovely, but not overly dramatic; just the one bunker breaking up the ground's flow and the creek to the left. The fairway is quite wide and I didn't get the hole right away. Then we played it, and as I got to explore it more closely I was beguiled by  the strategy it presented. Best angle in is from near the creek and as the photos show, that has an element of danger. Then there is the bunker and for all its innocuousness it is a factor that has to be considered becase the green has slope that heads for the creek. The approach, as Don aptly describes it is far more challenging than one would think, once you see the ground formations around the green and how it slopes away. This is just a fabulously conceived par 4 where less is a lot more.