#'s 1(from anywhere on the fairway), 2, 11, 13 Sand Hills
#'s 3, 7, 9, 10 Fishers Island
I cite the above only because they are pure and most likely the finest example of sets built onto a singular golf course(s).. In both cases the natural land forms, or most minimal of earth movements, lent themselves to essentially pure skyline green placements. Their respective architects merely avoided fouling up Mother Nature's affinity for wind and visual disorientation to disturb the golfer.
Individually, there are numerous other examples of wonderful, and real, skyline greens throughout many of the better courses around the world.
Parkland courses that allow for an occasional skyline green first have to overcome their natural affinity for trees, trees and trees to define their playing lines. Most clubs and their players become so damn attached to their "aiming" trunks and branches they become fearful of any potential visual disorientation a skyline green creates. They also stubbornly (and ignorantly) wish to avoid allowing the wind to become any greater factor than before. Here in the Northeast, most green committees have progressed to realize some trees need to go and playing corridors need to be widened, however many clubs still feel removing ALL the trees behind a green too draconian to consider.
At Paramount, we turned #6 into a perfect skyline once we realized just how much the hole could be improved with exposure to ridge line and wind off the Hudson, coming through the Palisades Gap.
Pat,
Your examples are ludicrous btw. #'s 9 & 17 at PVGC were most definitely once skyline greens back in the 20s and 30s, but have long since morphed into "pocketed" green sites with the growth of the trees behind them.
Mark McKeever,
Unless your picture at Schuykill #10 is incorrect, it is far from any realistic definition of a skyline green. The valley and nearby hillside would be there even if the nearby trees were felled.
Charlie,
Real skyline greens present a marvelous facet of psychological and physical strategy. The lack of depth perception toys with the mind of every player, but becomes even more acutely testy with the nearing of distance on the approach shot. The sheer exposure to any wind on a skyline green dictates a real re-calculation of distance, usually from a spot without a similar or readily apparent gauge of it's strength. Links golf at any of the finer venues across the pond makes abundant use of this feature with ample evidence of it's strategic value.