Gamble Sands - David McLay Kidd - Photo Tour - All Holes Posted

[Daryl David]

Pro told me on Aug 6 that the greens were running right at 9.  Seemed about right.

[Richard Choi]

If that green is running 8.5, I will eat my straw hat. If Pete believes that, he is wrong.

[Sean Leary]

If that green is running 8.5, I will eat my straw hat. If Pete believes that, he is wrong.

You want Sriracha with your straw hat? See Daryl's comment above.

[Richard Choi]

Yes, and CB was telling everyone the same thing when it first opened too.

[Brent Carlson]

I won't pretend to know the stimp speed for those greens, but they were real slow.  In time a 10 will be perfect for them.

Yes they are minimally contoured.  This is refreshing since nearly every new course built has overly contoured greens.  Honestly they reminded me of slightly tamer versions of Dismal Red.  The difference being Dismal's were much faster and rolled great.  

[Pete_Pittock]

For Jaeger's sakes, lets keep any talk of career rounds out of this discussion...

Just keeping you in check in case you saying else outlandish like your 5 on the stimp claims. I know Peter Pittock was there a couple of weeks ago and he thought they were 8.5 or so..

Don't say stupid things and I won't need to correct you...

I thought they were in the 8-8.5 range, but went high. 7 might be right. I was coming off standard Sagebrush speed. The course probably plays 300-400 yds shorter than the card. 

[Richard Choi]

Flyover: http://www.bestapproachflyovers.com/GMB_gamblesands/flyovers/hole03.mp4

There are a very few things in golf more thrilling than hitting a shot over a towering wall of sand that fills your field of view.



This is the first hole that really shows how Kidd may have been strongly influenced by courses in Sand Hills, NE while building Gamble Sands.

This is a completely blind drive with a lonely small rock indicating where you might want to aim. You just take a deep breath, step up to the tee box and hope that you have enough to carry this giant wall of sand.

The actual distance you need to carry is certainly not overwhelming, the intimidation is mostly in your head. However, if you do fail to carry the sand, the shot you have left is not an easy one.



Once you successfully navigate the tee shot, your work has just begun as this is a VERY long hole. You need to hit everything you have on your second (most likely over the gunch on the right) for you to get close enough for a wedge shot on your third.

Your aim is towards the far bunker on the left side of the fairway. It looks pretty close, but it is most likely more than 250 yards to reach it.



Here is Brent, showing a beautiful swing in front of even more beautiful vista. It is almost impossible to take a bad picture at Gamble Sands.



The fairway bunkers are beautifully shaped and fun to play out of with longer clubs as sand is very fine and easily compacted, giving almost silt like texture. The balls sit up and since it is pretty firm, you won't have too big of a problem hitting a full shot out of them.

Hitting an explosion shot is another story, however...



If you successfully negotiate your second shot, you will have a very inviting wedge shot to the green.



The green runs diagonally left to right with a gentle drop off to the right. The front bunker is the main thing you need to avoid.



As you can see the features are fairly subtle and the gentle sideboards make them even more friendly.

The hole looks great from the green to tee.

[Richard Choi]

Flyover: http://www.bestapproachflyovers.com/GMB_gamblesands/flyovers/hole04.mp4

The first official short hole is something of a palette cleanser before the drama really starts.

The main interest is the sea of sand that lines the right side of the hole from tee to green.



Everything flows from left to right towards the hole and on a windy day, you can hit a low fade that will run right to the hole.



Kidd definitely saved his most interesting greens for the par 3's on this course. This hole has almost Biarritz like green that has high front, low middle that rises to the right back. This green just BEGS for a low running shot and once the green is running at speed, this hole will provide a lot of entertainment.

[William_G]

Thanks Richard

[Garland Bayley]

The pictures mostly bring to mind "there are few things more monotonous than playing every shot from a dead flat fairway." AM

[Carl Nichols]

To my very untrained eye, the greens look very much "lay of the land."

[Sean Leary]

The pictures mostly bring to mind "there are few things more monotonous than playing every shot from a dead flat fairway." AM

Wait until the 5th hole.

[Chris DeToro]

Has Klein been out here yet??

[Greg Gilson]

Richard, thank you for taking the time to post these pictures & comments. I am enjoying the read very much.

[Brent Carlson]

#3 is an interesting par 5 in that you don't see 600 yard plus holes that often.  The tee shot over the hill is fun, but after that there's not much going on IMO.  You can hit two huge shots and most likely not get home.  From there it's a wedge game for your birdie opportunity.

Now #4 is a very interesting par 3.  As Richard said the green is really cool.  Right now it's too slow to take advantage of it.  In due time I expect this hole to become excellent.

After the opening four I was lukewarm on the course.  Yes the walkability was great but where were the great holes.  Well, stepping on 5 tee will please a lot of GCAers - what an outstanding hole (!!).  I'll leave the details to Rich's post.

[Pete_Pittock]

Brent and Richard,
On #3 I thought you bombers could hit the second shot over the fairway bunker on the left, opening up the green. Could you?

On #4 I am a little bit suspicious about a hole position in the front third (Zone 1). It seems more difficult to hold than the front of the Biarritz at Old Macdonald.

[Brent Carlson]

Brent and Richard,
On #3 I thought you bombers could hit the second shot over the fairway bunker on the left, opening up the green. Could you?

On #4 I am a little bit suspicious about a hole position in the front third (Zone 1). It seems more difficult to hold than the front of the Biarritz at Old Macdonald.

Peter - I hit two solid shots consecutively on 3, leaving a 60 yard pitch.  So it's definitely possible.  However, in order to reach that green in two from the back tees you have to be really big.

Did you play #4 up?  I would have liked to.  I'm sure you can hold it currently.  When the greens get up to speed, that will be another story.  The green was so slow that balls hung up near the fringe behind the hole.  I thought for sure they'd come back down for tap-ins.  

[Pete_Pittock]

I played whites because I didn't think the course was going to play a lot shorter than the yardage. I thinned the shot and it ran to the upslope below the back tier pin. I think the fourth is the most difficult par 3 on the course.

[Richard Choi]

It is getting late and I was going to skip the tour tonight, but looks like Brent is getting anxious to talk about this hole, so let's do just this hole tonight.

Flyover: http://www.bestapproachflyovers.com/GMB_gamblesands/flyovers/hole05.mp4

There are holes that you play. Then there are holes that lift your soul and recharge your chi. This is one of those holes.

I knew the hole was going to be good since Leary wouldn't shut up about it during our entire 3 1/2 hour trip to Gamble Sands (he had played it just a few days prior - you know the course is pretty good when Sean "I don't own a piece golf merchandise unless it is from a top 100, a WORLD TOP 100, course" Leary is willing to endure such a long drive to play it).

Frankly, I don't think my pictures do justice to this hole, so I will try my best to describe its drop dead sex appeal.

With its epic rolling fairways, and majestic bunkers, this hole would not be out of place at Sand Hills, Dismal Red, or Ballyneal. It would be one of the best holes at any one of those courses.

It all begins with the tee shot. As you stand, gazing across the sagebrush valley below you, you feel like you are about to ride the biggest North Shore (Hawaii) wave ever. The fairway swoops from left to right in a giant, elegant slope to a low point that seems very, very far away, before rising up and peaking at the green like a breaking wave. Hitting a great drive here is almost pre-ordained.



Even though the yardage book indicates 500+ yards, this hole plays much shorter due to its rolling fairway with huge speed slots. For big hitters, the aim is to hit just right of the far fairway bunker. If you can carry the ideal line, you will be rewarded with 50 yards + of roll which will take your ball all the way down to the low spot on the fairway no more than a short iron away from the green.

If you lay back, you will have a very long distance to an impossibly tiny looking green.



You can better see the ripples across the fairways that act as speed slots here.



If you are lucky enough to take advantage of the speed slot, you are now faced with a tough second shot, all carry over a gorgeous sand bunker, to a blind green. This ain't easy...



... as any indifferent shot will be swallowed by the breaking wave and end up with a bunker shot over a lip way over your head.

However, the approach shot is friendlier than it looks as the fairway gently slopes towards the green, assisting long approaches that land well short of the green.



The green is divided by a spline that runs across the middle, making the back pin quite difficult to get close.



As you walk away from the green towards the next tee, you can't help but feel like you just caught a great ride down a fantastic surf.

This hole is a thrilling ride.

[Matthew Essig]

Here is the picture I took a couple hours later...  Maybe it helps out a little since pictures really don't do it justice.

[Sean Leary]

5 is really, really good. I wish that Rich took a picture from the right side of the fairway towards the green but he was too busy horribly misjudging the number on the stamp for the greens to come over there.  This is one hole where it really does matter where you hit the tee shot, as Rich described. Bothe rounds I hit decent tee shots but was right, which leaves a heroic shot over the bunker.More movement in the fairway but bigger slopes so not much in terms of uneven lies. Choi's pics have been superb but this one doesn't due it justice, probably due to the scale.

World Class hole that starts a stretch of 3 which are all fantastic....

[Matthew Essig]

5 is really, really good. I wish that Rich took a picture from the right side of the fairway towards the green but he was too busy horribly misjudging the number on the stamp for the greens to come over there.  This is one hole where it really does matter where you hit the tee shot, as Rich described. Bothe rounds I hit decent tee shots but was right, which leaves a heroic shot over the bunker.More movement in the fairway but bigger slopes so not much in terms of uneven lies. Choi's pics have been superb but this one doesn't due it justice, probably due to the scale.

World Class hole that starts a stretch of 3 which are all fantastic....

My father and I both hit our tee shots a couple yards right of the fairway bunker, caught the speed slot and were left with a shot straight up the gut of the green. Placement of the tee shot really does matter.

5-7 are fantastic.

[Brent Carlson]

As has already been said - this hole is awesome.  It's like riding a wave from tee to green.  #5 and #14 are my two favorite on the course.

Something else I noticed from the photos, the land contours on the hole match up to the macro contours of the distant hills.  This is even the case viewing the hole from behind the green.  Very cool.

[Phil McDade]

Richard:

Really terrific stuff so far -- for those who haven't attempted to do photo threads in detail, one of the single hardest things to do is capture width, and this is one of the best examples of doing so I've seen here.

[Joe Stansell]

I don't want to step on Richard's excellent photo tour, but I thought folks might benefit from seeing the routing, which I also posted on a different thread, but repeat here: