Tom:
Thanks for the quick and informative response!
Some of my thoughts and some additional questions, after playing Dunes many times over the last 14 years:
>On the fifth green, Perry told me to do something really wild, >so I did.
Yes, Tom, you did.
What I like about that green is its flexibility. Put the pin in the front and it is a birdie pin, especially when the greens are quick and the bowl shape helps funnel the ball close. Put the pin in the back middle right and it is of average difficulty. Put the pin in the back right or that nasty little shelf in the middle left and I 3 putt every stinking time.
>The shelf on #7 green is built for a run-up shot, inspired by >#12 at St. Andrews among others.
Another great green complex, especially with the water left and the big mounds right. I like the way back left pin, especially in a money match with someone who doesnt know the course very well.
>8 and #12 are the only true Pete Dye greens, which he was >here to direct in the field.
Both very strong and once again, flexible par 3s. Did Alice Dye have any say in the design of these (or any other holes on the course?)
>#9 green is based on the Dell at Lahinch, though of course it >is a short par-5 and not the same angle into the dell. What >is now the green was originally a waste bunker and the >mound to the right was the green (though not so high); I >switched the two.
Very interesting. One of my favorite holes, maybe that is because I have come very close to making eagle several times.
Did you know that when the Nike Tour visited the Dunes (The Colorado Open was held there two consecutive years in the late 90s), the nines were reversed and this hole was played as a par 4? BTW, I talked to a couple of the players and they loved the course...said it was one of the top 2 or 3 they played all year. Unfortunately the tournament lost money and has ceased to exsist.
Are you responsible for #14? I still have not figured out the mounding over the last 100 yards of that fairway. Being a very short par 4, I am usually 60-80 yards out and want to play some kind of bump and run but there does not seem to be anyplace to land the ball
I heard that the land that The Dunes was built on was farm land and pretty much flat and that all the "dunes" were constructed, including all of the big "sandhills" that separate many of the holes. Is this true?
Yes, it plays very hard and fast in the winter. They do an excellent job maintaining the golf course, and it plays hard and fast almost all of the time, even before the last 4 summers of drought in Colorado.
BB