Hole 17 - "Redan" - Par 3: 158 - 150 - 135 - 125 - 106 - 96
"Golden Age Bunkering"
This downhill par-three runs along a ridgeline to a greens complex set on a ledge jutting out from the right side of the ridge. A low-profile sand bunker fronts the right front side of the green and is visually-balanced by a second bunker flanking the left side of the green. Mounds back left and back right serve as a backdrop to a putting surface that flashes hard up onto the ridge along the right. The green falls off sharply behind into an Oak Savanna.
“This hole fits quite well in the landscape with natural highs serving both the tee and the green. Seventeen is routed high point to high point playing over a swale that runs from the eleventh hole on the right to ponds on the other side. From a routing standpoint, the highs were exactly where I needed them to be in order to transition from the rather isolated sixteenth green location all the way to the intended eighteenth tee (a necessity in order to return to the clubhouse). Drop-offs to the left and behind the green provide just the right amount of challenge for the end of a round with not too taxing of a recovery.
The hole has a bit of a reverse Redan look and feel to it with the bunkering, yet the dominant slope of the green plays more like the original Redan from front-right to back-left. Nonetheless, the bunkers naturally fit into the front and side slopes of the green which creates a strong visual statement. The bunkering is reminiscent of golden-age bunkering one would see applied to George Thomas’s work at La Cumbre, for example. It is not nearly as dramatic as simple noses at Braemar take the place of Thomas’s fingers. Nor is there any sand wrapped around mounded peninsulas. Rather it is the placement of the central axis of each bunker and how each one cascades down from one side to the other along those axes.
The bunker locations allow for accessible pin placements (front left) and much more challenging, “Sunday” pin placements such as the front-right quadrant. When the pin is front right, the aggressive golfer must spin the ball back off a spine that runs out of the ridge running along the right to a very shallow target tucked hard behind the sand. Yet the less-inclined can run the ball up the opening between both bunkers. This bunker placement is a good example of providing strategic options for low or high handicap golfers.”
Hole 18 - "Hero" - Par 4: 422 - 359 - 348 - 311 - 280 - 142
"Heroic Finale"
This dogleg-right final hole is a textbook example of heroic risk-reward strategy. An even match coming down to eighteen will most likely end in victory for those who take the more aggressive route off the tee. That direction requires a drive over a fairway bunker in the corner of the dogleg and a pond flanking that side as well. The benefits are great with a tremendous distance advantage over the more conservative approach to the left. Although a shorter approach will be the reward, that shot must then carry a greenside bunker protecting a front right pin placement.
On the opposite side, for those who tend to shy away from the water, playing too conservatively may end up with a blind approach and a three or four club difference.
“This is a hole where existing ponds worked favorably to drop a dramatic heroic finale in my lap. The shape and orientation of the pond between tee and fairway afforded the opportunity to develop a risk-reward left to right tee shot. It is the essence of the heroic school of design, biting off as much as one can chew.
I am not one who believes the last hole should be the toughest hole. Instead, I would allow the topography to develop the hole’s character and based on the lay of the land, the last hole at Braemar will be more of a scorer’s challenge than a lengthy brute. Yet just because the hole is short doesn’t mean it is an automatic birdie. One still has to hit it close and make a putt. For everyone else, the hole will leave them with a good feeling, ready to return. In the Robert Trent Jones vernacular, it is an easy bogey. Probably a simple par as well, but it isn’t an easy birdie.
Following up on the parallel relationship to the twelfth hole, the best tee shot here is to the right, directing the golfer away from twelve (the best tee shot on that hole is to the left). Similar to twelve, visibility becomes a problem depending on which side of the fairway one plays toward and how the large ridge separating the fairways affects the approach. Whereas the tee shot on twelve discourages the shorter route from the right, playing away from that same ridge demands a more aggressive play toward the right on eighteen.”
