Dismal Red Photo Tour

[Dan Moore]

John Kavanaugh saw me with my camera taking photos at the 5th Major and recently asked to see some of my photos.  So here goes with a photo tour of Dismal Red.  

Part of the Dismal experience is getting there so that’s where we’ll start.  I drove from Chicago and that took about 1-2 hours longer for me compared to those who flew from Chicago via Denver.  Most of the trip is flat and boring until you turn off I-80 and head north into the Sand Hills.  My first trip 4 years ago was just after the 4th of July yet it was 58 degrees, overcast and misty as we drove through the sand dunes, the comparison to Irish weather remarkable.  











The final approach toward the river.




Build a golf course here anyone?



I took my photos during practice rounds or after play and didn’t get a full course tour of the White Course so I’ll just do the Red Course.

Personally I don’t think the fact the course starts a mile from the Clubhouse area where I slept the night before matters one bit. That’s still 37 miles closer to the first tee of the course I drive to here in Chicago several days a week this summer.  Nor do I think the fact the 1st and 18th holes don’t finish in the same area detracts at all from the quality of the course or the routing.  If anything when you are on a site with scale of Dismal those factors in some ways add to the allure of the escape inherent in such a rugged, vast and remote location.  That said, and with an acknowledgement that I couldn’t finish the pork chop, I hope we can stick to a discussion of the merits of the holes and course as a whole.  

I’m not going to add a lot of commentary along with the pictures other than to point out some of the features that a specific photo highlights.
I’ll let others who have played it more than my 4 times around do that.

Enjoy!!


Google Earth Aerial.  The first hole is in the center running left to right below and along the road.





Front Nine  3557/3264 Par 36  

Yards are the farthest back and the horseshoe tees.  Course can play as short as 4830 according to the card and has free flowing teeing grounds that allow for great variety in how long and what angle a hole can play from.

1st Hole  535/520 Par 5

The first hole features a very wide fairway that extends behind the right hand fairway bunker.





Does favoring the left side off the tee give a better angle to the green tucked behind a couple of dunes?


View looking back toward the tee from near the green with the Clubhouse on the horizon.



2nd Hole 472/430 Par 4

The blowout on the hill in the distance marks the line to the right side of the fairway.  Left toward the bunker leaves an uphill blind shot to the green.


From the right hand side of the fairway


Blind shot from left side by the bunker.


One of Dismal’s exquisite lay of the land greens!




3rd Hole 195/163 Par 3





4th Hole 388/354 Par 4

One of the more option filled drives on the course.  First bunker on left less than 200 yards from the tees.


View of 2nd shot from high on right side of fairway with the pin tucked on a very cool narrow shelf on the rear of the green.



View from behind the green with the pin more in the middle.


5th Hole 261/239 Par 3

Driveable Par 3 anyone?  Great half par complement to par 4 271 yard 15th hole routed in the opposite direction.





6th Hole 326/290 Par 4

A fairly short par 4 with danger down the left hand side.




Death to the left on the drive.  Green is tight to the bunkers and junk on the left as well.



7th Hole 442/388 Par 4





Skyline green with steeply uphill approach



8th Hole 554/512 Par 5

Massively wide fairway that sweeps from left to right by the green.
 





Yes there is wind in the Sand Hills


9th Hole 374/368 Par 4

One of the more interesting drives on the course with a cape style, bite off
as much as you can approach.  Here is the view from the back tee.  
There is a ton of room, it just doesn’t like like it. Hole crosses the road
in the direction of the river.


View from the lower left tee


Some cool looking afternoon shadows


Heading toward the river.




Hole 10 546/537 Par 5

Tee shot over the ravine from tee located steps behind the 9th green.


New bridge over the ravine.







Hole 11 174/149 Par 3

I wish I had a good shot of this green.  It features the most slope of any green with a bowl where the pin is located in this shot.


Hole 12 430/355 Par 4

Blind horizon tee shot with skull to mark the line.


 

View from right of the skull
 

View left of the skull


Pano stiched shot of the approach wish you could see it zoomed in all its glorious detail.



Hole 13 496/441 Par 4  

Long sweeping dogleg par 4 with the green visible across a vast area of prairie grass.


Side view showing green in the distance to the right.


Approach to the well protected green






Hole 14 419/355 Par 4

Rich Goodale and Dan Kelly seeking advice from CJ’s son on where to play the drive.  Great example of terrain defining the hole.  
 



Best line was to hug the shoulder of the dune to the left,  safe play over bunker to generous far right fairway leaves a blind approach.


 



Hole 15 315/271 Par 4

To me the most fun hole on the course utilizing the temptation of the birdie.  
Drove the green with a 3 wood down wind on my 1st play.  In subsequent plays I failed to reach green and ended up 20-30 feet below the green leaving a next to impossible up and down.  In my final play I hit a 5 iron to the plateau high right in front of the right hand greenside bunker left a level, fully visible full 100 yard wedge to the far left pin position and a birdie.




Flat ramp area close to bunker leads to green otherwise you end up 30 feet below the green with a 30-50 yard blind wedge shot.





Hole 16 166/131 Par 3

Great short par 3 with a green that offer numerous distinct pin positions.  Short left on Sunday was a hoot especially when I left it on top of the small hill left of the green while trying to use the slope to get it close.






Hole 17 454/411 Par 4

Blind drive over skull as seen from back of the teeing area.


View of skull from horseshoe tee box.


Looking back at tee area and the fly trap.






Hole 18 447/420 Par 4

Panorama of 18 and clubhouse from 18 tee boxes




Long approach to the narrow plateau green







3447/3070 Par 35

6994/6334 Par 71

The infamous firepit




View of the river and the finishing holes from the firepit


On the 1 mile ride back to the Clubhouse


Sunset Shot of the 7th Hole


Good Nights!

[Sam Morrow]

Thanks for the great pictures.

[John Cowden]

Dude, I'm on my second cocktail, so I simply "thumbed" to the end, with every intent to return and enjoy, simply to say, thank you.  An awesome post on an amazing course.  I've played nine rounds this year, and I'm still sorting it out, and will be for a long time to come.   Cheers.

[RJ_Daley]

I hope you don't mind that I "save-as" into a folder all of the pics of this exceptional tour of the course.    

[Mike Wagner]

Outstanding, Dan.  This is the stuff that makes this site great.  Thanks for taking the time.

[Dan Kelly]

Nice work, Dan. Thanks.

(N.B. -- Mr. Moore accomplished this photography while simultaneously driving the ball dead-center hole after hole. Who needs width?)

I really, really enjoyed the Red course. Played 36 there on Sunday after the 5th Major, before heading off to Rapid City.

Looking at all of the pictures, I'm reminded not just of all the holes I especially like (all four of the par-3s, plus Nos. 2, 7, 9, 13, 15, 17), but of the one critical question I wanted to ask Tom Doak:

What's with all of that gunch short of the 18th green? It seems, to me ... out of place on the Red course -- a very punitive ending to a mostly accommodating course. I was wishing it were all short grass, with all of those wild undulations. ANY shot from short grass there would be a fun shot. Out of the gunch, not so much.

[John Kavanaugh]

Dan,

Where did CJ's son tell you to drive the ball on 14?  I've never seen Rich look so confused.

[Dan Kelly]

Dan,

Where did CJ's son tell you to drive the ball on 14?  I've never seen Rich look so confused.

John,

You should see what he looks like when he starts all of those books on Page 116!

I don't recall our asking CJ's son where to hit the ball (CJ, also in that fivesome, had likely made some sort of announcement already). I do recall that during at least two of my rounds on the Red, I hit it over the right bunker and found a completely blind second.

How far from the green is that hillside angling in from the left? How long a second do you have if you lay it up short of the bunker?

CORRECTION: On second thought, it could be that CJ had to leave the fivesome after the front eight. That whole weekend was a bit of a whirlwind -- leaving MANY of us more "confused" than usual.

[John Kavanaugh]

Rich looking confused:






I keep hitting the ball into the hillside on the left which is also blind and in the gunch.  The gunch has always been thin enough to hit a full recovery to the green.  My guess is that it is about 240 from the tee.  I've considered hitting short of this hillside but cannot resist the temptation of a perfect hard fade off its right side.

The shot from the hillside is 150 so I would guess a layup would leave around 170.  One benefit to such a long approach is the backstop behind the green.

[William_G]

thank you Dan, nice pics

[Tom_Doak]

Rich looking confused:

Thanks for posting that picture, it's a new favorite of mine.  I had a hell of a time convincing Brian Slawnik to dig the bunker short of the green on the right; my crew seemed to think it was overkill.  Doesn't look like overkill here.

Obviously, the best play on 14 is to drive it in the saddle of the fairway just to the left of the bunker, but you have to be very precise.  Plan B depends on individual preference.  However, if you were looking at it from the back tee instead of the middle, it would be obvious that I didn't really consider the drive over the ridge on the left to be a viable option.  I was pretty surprised when someone suggested it the first time I played.

[Simon Holt]

I can't remember what tee we played but my partner carried the hill on the left and kicked to the front of the green.  Great pictures.   I really did love my few days there last year at the Renaissance Cup. 

[Bruce Wellmon]

Rich looking confused:

Thanks for posting that picture, it's a new favorite of mine.  I had a hell of a time convincing Brian Slawnik to dig the bunker short of the green on the right; my crew seemed to think it was overkill.  Doesn't look like overkill here.

Obviously, the best play on 14 is to drive it in the saddle of the fairway just to the left of the bunker, but you have to be very precise.  Plan B depends on individual preference.

I prefer right of the fairway bunker off the tee. (Not the hillside one). Then an approach down the length of the green via a blind shot. The slopes short of and to the right will feed the ball to the green. Just my preference.

[Mac Plumart]

That picture on 14 says it all!!!  That hole is all world!!!

I've seen people drive the green, or try to.  I've seen driver up the right.  3 wood up the right.  Try to drive it over the mound on the left.  All the way down to lay up 6 iron off the tee.  You can make double or birdie on all those options.

However, the strategy you think is the best on any particular day may not be the best one the next day if the wind has changed.

Mind-bottling.   

[Andrew Buck]

Just awesome pictures.  I really hope to make a 5th major in the future as it appears to be an outstanding place. 

Two questions.  On The 7th from the back tees, if the wind is hurting is it possible to carry the center bunker, or are you looking at realistically leaving yourself 240 into the wind for a 2nd?

On the 10th, it indicates the tee is located behind the 9th tee ... is that a typo as I assume it's behind the 9th green?

[Mac Plumart]

You can carry that mound on 7 unless the wind is crazy.

Yes, 9 green.

[Jeff Tang]

These are great pictures. Thanks for posting. I had the pleasure of playing the Red about 3 weeks ago. Really enjoyed my whole time there. However, I was thoroughly confused by #7. I played it from the back tees the first round and didn't think I could carry the bunker so I aimed for the small sliver of fairway left of the bunker and somehow managed to hit it but I would consider that a one in ten shot and doubt I could do it consistently. From there I had a reasonable shot to the green.  If you can't carry that bunker from the tee is there any other way to play the hole aside from laying it up short of the bunker or moving up a set of tees until you can?  Is there a play to the right to avoid the bunker but still get to a spot for a reasonable distance to approach from?  Seems like short of the bunker would be a very long approach. Does anyone know the carry distance over the bunker from the tips?  The second round I played it up and had no problem carrying the bunker and was left with a shortish shot in.

[Mac Plumart]

Jeff...

I've never had an issue carrying that bunker, but I play the middle tees.  I know you can play up 6 fairway and have a wide open look at 7 fairway and green. 

[John Kavanaugh]

I would put the carry from the tips at 270. I don't play the tips.  It's nice that the younger guys have the opportunity but I can't imagine 13 from the tips either.

[Tom_Doak]

These are great pictures. Thanks for posting. I had the pleasure of playing the Red about 3 weeks ago. Really enjoyed my whole time there. However, I was thoroughly confused by #7. I played it from the back tees the first round and didn't think I could carry the bunker so I aimed for the small sliver of fairway left of the bunker and somehow managed to hit it but I would consider that a one in ten shot and doubt I could do it consistently. From there I had a reasonable shot to the green.  If you can't carry that bunker from the tee is there any other way to play the hole aside from laying it up short of the bunker or moving up a set of tees until you can?  Is there a play to the right to avoid the bunker but still get to a spot for a reasonable distance to approach from?  Seems like short of the bunker would be a very long approach. Does anyone know the carry distance over the bunker from the tips?  The second round I played it up and had no problem carrying the bunker and was left with a shortish shot in.

Jeff:

The back tee at #7 is only to silence idiots who might say the course is too short.  I should have put a sign back there to that effect, as the tee shot is just as severe as you describe for mere mortals.

By the same token, if you were playing a match from back there with your friends, it would be a fascinating hole to see who could scramble best to make par.  There is no obvious way to reach the green in two, apart from the very challenging tee shot that you took on, which would be a stupid play if you had the honor and missed it.

[Phil McDade]

(N.B. -- Mr. Moore accomplished this photography while simultaneously driving the ball dead-center hole after hole. Who needs width?)

Rule No. 1: If you want to feel good about your golf game, do not play a round w/ Mr. Moore.

[Jeff Tang]

These are great pictures. Thanks for posting. I had the pleasure of playing the Red about 3 weeks ago. Really enjoyed my whole time there. However, I was thoroughly confused by #7. I played it from the back tees the first round and didn't think I could carry the bunker so I aimed for the small sliver of fairway left of the bunker and somehow managed to hit it but I would consider that a one in ten shot and doubt I could do it consistently. From there I had a reasonable shot to the green.  If you can't carry that bunker from the tee is there any other way to play the hole aside from laying it up short of the bunker or moving up a set of tees until you can?  Is there a play to the right to avoid the bunker but still get to a spot for a reasonable distance to approach from?  Seems like short of the bunker would be a very long approach. Does anyone know the carry distance over the bunker from the tips?  The second round I played it up and had no problem carrying the bunker and was left with a shortish shot in.

Jeff:

The back tee at #7 is only to silence idiots who might say the course is too short.  I should have put a sign back there to that effect, as the tee shot is just as severe as you describe for mere mortals.

By the same token, if you were playing a match from back there with your friends, it would be a fascinating hole to see who could scramble best to make par.  There is no obvious way to reach the green in two, apart from the very challenging tee shot that you took on, which would be a stupid play if you had the honor and missed it.

Tom, thanks. That's actually good to hear. I don't think I'm short off the tee but I'm definitely not a bomber and would unfortunately have to classify myself as a mere mortal. Sounds like we just played it a bit too far back on that hole for how far we hit it. By the way I wouldn't consider the course too short by any means. I think there's a very good mix of short holes and long holes throughout the course. In fact there is good variance comparing the par 3a against each other, as well as the 4s and the 5s if that makes sense.

[Brandon Urban]

Dan,

Thanks so much for the photo tour. Really good stuff. It was great meeting you at Dismal.

Jeff,

What surprised me about the 7th was that initially I would just try to hit one down the left side through the small opening. Then I figured out you could hit it over the bunker, so I would just blast one down the middle (or at least try). In one of the last rounds of my Hundred Hole Hike this year, I flared one way right and figured it was gone. Walked over and found the ball in the far right side of the fairway and had the best look into the green I had ever had on that hole (about 20 plays). I think it really speaks to the discussion that's been had on here many times about how a course reveals itself over time. I would've never known that after a hit and run visit. The best part is there are a bunch of holes like that on this course.

[Jimmy Muratt]

Brandon,

Good post, and that's exactly why width is so important on the course.  Only through many rounds of experimenting (or unintentional misses) do you get to explore various angles and options that aren't obvious to the first time player. 

[Eric Smith]

Enjoyed the tour, Dan. Thanks for the pics.