Russ, I agree. I’d love to see photos of the course fully grown-in and in season. It was exceedingly cool to be able to see it when we did. Frankly, it’s probably the coolest architecture experience I’ve had to date. Seeing the evolution as it becomes a fully finished product is something I’m very interested in.
Brian, I also agree with you. I generally don’t give 9 holers much credit, and they usually don’t deserve it in my experience. I try to keep a list of courses I’ve played, loosely organized in my order of personal preference. The bottom of the list is littered with the handful of 9 holers I’ve seen.
When I added Sequatchie’s name a week or so ago, it was very tough. I generally just organize the list in tiers, so exact placement doesn’t matter too much. It’s usually pretty easy for me to say “Yeah, I’d rate that course alongside this group” and slot a new one appropriately. I spent quite a few minutes deciding on Sequatchie though.
It has a few obvious limitations. The property doesn’t drain especially well. Then again, the construction of the course has greatly mitigated that issue with the sand that’s been added to the site, installation of large amounts of pipe, and some excellent shaping work that both looks natural and drains very well. The property also isn’t huge, and as a result there’s only one “long” hole relative to par by my subjective view. Even that one isn’t too big, as a 420-ish yard par 4.
The worry with a course that lacks length is that it will also lack variety. I’m a good long iron player and I love to hit 3, 4, and 5 irons. Short courses typically don’t give me that opportunity very often. But Sequatchie has a unique strength in the variety of options each of its holes present. We talk about “options” all the time on this site, but usually the strategy of a given hole is very simple. Most “strategic” holes have an obvious Position A, and also offer alternative options for the player not strong enough or bold enough to get there. On that list of courses I’ve played, Sequatchie is one of a rare group that presents holes with myriad options and no “right answer.”
When I watched Lyn Young’s ball on 5 go up the right side, I saw his ball land and surveyed the area and thought “Nice, he just found the ideal spot!” After arriving next to him in the fairway, I still thought his angle had some advantages but also noticed a few disadvantages. My ball in the center of the fairway had left a slightly more difficult approach, but also offered some benefits. As we got closer to the green, I started to see pros and cons of being on the left side. I could see a legitimate argument for hitting anything from a 6 iron to a driver off that tee, and aiming anywhere within a 60 yard directional cone. Different players will find different strategies depending on the pin placement, wind, and their own skills. To me, that creates a hole that doesn’t get stale with repeated plays.
Other holes feature very similar balancing acts. Challenging the water off the tee at 6 creates a forced carry on the approach, but also lets the player hit more into the slope of the green for better control. Driving up the right side creates a better angle, but a pull or hook risks flying into the water on the approach, or bouncing in off the slope that runs more perpendicular to the player from that direction. The scale of the features that require plotting and recovery, copious micro-slopes that create different lies, and general elasticity of the course creates a design with a massive amount of variation in a tight space.
People who have talked to me about my favorite courses know that I’m a sucker for multiple options without cut-and-dry solutions. It’s why The Prairie Club’s Dunes course is one of my favorites in the world. It’s my favorite thing about Kingsley and Erin Hills, and what appeals to me about the 27 holes that I love at Blackwolf Run. Sequatchie is the first nine-hole course that has ever shown that kind of gray-area decision variety for me, and it presents more ambiguity in about 3100 yards than most courses do over 7000. That’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but it is mine. I’m very glad that I got to see it, and I’ll make it a point to see it again. I hope other GCA’ers do the same, but more importantly, I really hope the people of Marion County embrace what a special course they have, regardless of its length or number of holes. Some people won’t get it, but those willing to get outside their own paradigm will find something really fun and a puzzle that can be solved and confounding in an almost endless variety of ways.