Is everyone who slags Rye and it's ranking a jealous member of Deal?
Think about match play another way ... If you were going to make up a course with holes from the two, which course would you use the most holes from?
I disagree with Chappers Take on Rye's 1, 11 & 17. None of these are remotely poor holes. For instance, Rye's 2nd is every bit as good Deal's 5th. Rye's 17th is a good differentiating par 3. 11 is ugly, but a good hole and one I would choose among the top 15 holes of the two courses I would want. It has the element of being different and that is worth a lot in my book.
Interesting way to look at a comparison. When I think of the two courses my first thought is I want
Rye's
4 (long 4),
5 (3),
6 (long 4),
7 (3) &
16 (long 4)
Deal's
6 (short 4),
10 (short to medium 4),
15 (long 4),
16 (5) &
17 (short to medium 4).
That 10 holes, 5 each. Looking at the configuration for the second choices I need more par 3s.
Rye's
2Deal's
4Thats 12 holes, 6 each
Looking at what I have I think I need another par 5 and more short to medium par 4s.
Rye's
9 &
11Deal's
3 (5)
Thats 15 holes; 8 for Rye and 7 for Deal
For the next two I want to choose holes which I think are sneaky good or unusual.
Rye's
13 (long 4)
Deal
7 (short to medium 4)
The last choice is really a toss-up between Rye's 18 and Deal's 2. Since I prefer the site of Rye's
18 (long 4) it gets.
That makes it
RYE: 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11, 13, 16 & 18.
DEAL: 3, 4, 6, 7, 10, 15, 16 & 17.
This process is not quite satisifying though because it does leave out the huge ingredient of how a course flows. Both have issues in this regard. Deal because of the out n' back routing with the hammering back 9 and Rye with a few holes which are jarring on the eye and a lack of a compelling par 5.
Ciao