I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to Lancaster this past weekend. My expectations of the course were pretty high, but I found it even better than I expected. Watching the course of play on these holes was a perfect vehicle to explain shotmaking and strategy to my 12 y.o. daughter (who does play a little). To me, the course asked all the right questions of the players -- and to me that is a mark of excellence. I thought the best example of this was play on the 10th.
Standing on the tee, that hole bends to the right around a large bunker. Not that much of a carry, maybe 180 yards or so from the member tee. The fairway then swoops uphill over a rise on the left before bending back right to approach the green, which is guarded by a deep bunker front right. The green itself is canted left to right, and back to front. The playing angles are masterful and will cause a player to be ensnared if he doesn't think before hitting.
If you think from the tee forward and take that drive at face value, you just bomb it over the right hand fairway bunker to cut the distance, and this lands you in a flat area to give a good stance. What you can't see well from the tee is just how much the greenside bunker and the cant of the green dictate approach shots. If you flip your thinking and work from the green backwards, the real answer is as follows:
Q1. What kind of putt can I realistically make on that green? A1. I had better be below the hole.
Q2. How do I get below the hole? A2. The best ball rolls in from the left, taking the slope. Attempts to directly challenge the greenside bunker with an aerial shot leave too little margin for error.
Q3. How do I get the best angle for a running shot? A3. By approaching from the far left, on the OUTSIDE of the dogleg.
Q4. Doesn't that increase the distance? A4. So what? That makes a running shot more effective.
Q5. What about the sidehill stance on the left? A5. So what? Ball below your feet might help you hit a nice fade.
We watched one player pairing that illustrated the concept perfectly. First girl aimed her drive at the bunker and hit a draw which landed near the left edge of the fairway. Crowd reaction? Couple of polite claps. Second girl hit a massive power fade over the bunker down into the flatter area, must have been at least 30 yards past her playing partner. Crowd reaction? Big cheer.
Second shots told the real story, though. First girl hit a fading hybrid which landed left front edge and rolled right, leaving her 15 feet below the hole with a reasonable putt. Second girl had to play the aerial short iron over the angled front right bunker, maybe got worried about the shot, and airmailed it to the back fringe with a slippery downhill putt. Who played the hole better? The girl who answered Mr. Flynn's questions correctly. But to further amplify the idea, those questions might be different for different players, or for players with different goals.
Let's say I was playing this hole from the member's tee. I used to be an 8 handicap a long time ago, but now I'm older and more like an 18. My best drive these days is maybe 220 or so. What would my questions and answers be? What would be my scoring goal?
Q1. What kind of putt can I realistically make on that green? A1. I had better be below the hole.
Q2. How do I realistically and consistently get in that position? A2. With a chip from short and left of the green.
Q3. How do I get to that spot consistently? A3. By playing a club I can hit reliably up the hill, from the easiest stance possible. Let's say a five-iron.
Q4. Given these suppositions, where should my drive finish; with a better angle or with a better stance? A4. With a better stance; since I am not challenging the greenside bunker, the angle doesn't matter.
Q5. In that case, can I carry the fairway bunker and get to the flattest area? A5. I think so; I would go ahead and blast it down the right. If I execute my two "optimized" shots correctly, I then have a possible chip and putt for a four, and certainly take seven out of play.
So as you can see, Flynn's strategy for the 10th hole is adaptive enough to pose interesting questions for many players in many situations. Some of the answers might be counterintuitive. This is the mark of a good work. Though Flynn's holes can sometimes seem a little brutal (and the 10th is no exception), they do not lack artistry. You just have to use your head out there, identify the question at hand, and you'll be OK despite the difficulty. I think that is just the sort of mindset a golf architect should be trying to incite.
Many of the the other holes at Lancaster operated at the same high level in my opinion. There were a couple of them that I didn't really like (especially the tough, tough uphill 9th), but for the most part the place is very impressive.