Anatomy of a Great Par 5 - Lookout Mountain GC - 10th

[Joe Sponcia]

Anatomy of a Great Par 5

Lookout Mountain Golf Club located on Lookout Mountain, Georgia was Seth Raynor’s last design.  “The mountain” was from the start, a planned getaway for the Rockefeller’s and Kennedy’s of the day. 

One of the finest hotels built at the time overlooked the course with grandeur, nicknamed the “the castle in the sky”; the 200-room Lookout Mountain Hotel was the ultimate in luxury, replete with “lavish amenities, such as red velvet carpet, heavy gilt floor candelabras, overstuffed velvet love seats, fainting couches, and the largest ballroom in the South”.



The Fairyland (pronounced fair-uh-lund) Inn was another fine hotel built at the time, which included 40 rooms, and a planned 16 home community which overlooked the mountain.   



While waiting on the golf course to be constructed (Seth Raynor died before it opened), the Fairyland Inn had it’s own on-site and first-ever miniature golf course, called “Tom Thumb”.  It was a huge hit and was franchised throughout the United States.




Few architects were more in demand in the 1920’s than Mr. Raynor having just completed some of his greatest works:  Fishers Island, Camaro, Shore Acres, Piping Rock, and the Chicago Golf Club (along with Charles Blair Macdonald).

Lookout Mountain followed the template holes Charles Blair Macdonald brought from Scotland, which he considered the greatest in the world.  When Macdonald retired from course design, he turned over his clients and prospective ones to his protege, Seth Raynor. 

Walking the property for the first time, Raynor must have been moved by the amount of roll in the topography of Lookout Mountain.  The golf course is (in my view) the toughest 6600 yards one could ever hope to play.  The greens push the limit for what many would consider ‘fair’ (what is fair any way?) when one considers the amount of slope combined with…gravity, yes, gravity that leaves most golfers brains twisted into a pretzel as balls on many greens break the complete opposite of what appears to the naked eye.  To add even more difficulty, most of the fairways lean to one side or the other, making body control, proper trajectory, and the proper placement of each shot paramount.  Eight to ten shots above one’s handicap is a perfectly acceptable score on the Mountain. 

But is it fun?  I tell guests on their maiden voyage, “you’ll play the seemingly worst round of your life and even if you are striking the ball pretty well, your score won’t reflect it…but I’ll promise you, the shots you’ll play will stay etched in your mind for some time”.  Without fail, as soon as their putt falls on the 18th, they are ready for a cold beer…and another crack at this striking beauty.

No course will test your mind like Lookout Mountain.  One could hit nearly every fairway with ease, as many are wide and fair, but as the best courses usually dictate, the greens  are where the real challenge lies.


The 10th Hole, called Cape, is my favorite hole on the course and one of my favorite par 5’s - period.  For some, it is the ultimate risk/reward, for others, it is simply one of the most fun holes to play again and again.

Blue Tees/570 yards - White Tees/531 yards - Gold Tees/432 yards - Red Tees/424 yards

View from the Tee Box:



Former Course Curator, Mark Stovall was fond of the exposed rock that prominently decorates the course in the most unique way.  He told me years ago that he was constantly finding these areas (pictured below) and wanted to highlight them.   

A high draw to the right edge of the right fairway bunker is the best play from the back tee box, as the course normally plays firm.  A fade is a safe play, but negates the kick forward one usually gets from the high right side.  Anything landing left of center is usually a bogey or worse.

Fairway view:



People usually marvel the first time they walk Augusta National after seeing it for so many years on television.  The same goes at Lookout Mountain, as the picture below doesn’t remotely show the amount of movement on this wonderfully shaped fairway.

From here, the two cross bunkers in the distance play around 215-220 yards.  Short of them is the smart play, but look at the green ahead, sticking it’s chin out saying, “Chicken”. 

The “reward” demands a perfectly struck three wood (preferably a fade) to the right edge of the fairway, 5-8 paces right of the green.  When struck properly, the green is receptive to run-ups, largely dismissive to woods landing on the putting surface.

View looking back at the tee box some twenty feet down (top right):



Fairway view (2):



Just beyond the dip leading to the cross bunkers is a blind bunker to the right (shown below) at around 150 yards.  It is very much in play and is to be avoided!  The lay up (third shot), if one chooses, leaves 80-90 yards just in front of the cross bunkers…but look at the stance:  a right-to-left leaning fairway to a severely sloped right-to-left leaning green.  If the pin is on the right, the best play is to bounce it on from the right fairway.  If the pin is middle, same play.  If the pin is located on the left, the right side of the green is a good target (6-7 yards right of the pin, even with a sand wedge).  But keep in mind, this is a severe “gravity” green where the pull of the mountain is actually stronger than what your eyes tell you, because of the topography and its relation to the mountain on the other side.  This phenomenon is most evident when putting to a top left pin, the ball goes faster uphill than it does down because of the greens relation to the mountains gravity.  As members will say over and over again, everything slopes towards the 2nd green - Everything!  Note:  The camera was not crooked when this picture was taken - there is that much movement on the 10th.


Another look at the fairway from behind (the 14th hole, Lido, is on the left):



The approach is a simple dust pan that solemnly rejects shots short and left (pictured 45 yards out):



View from the bottom left corner of the green:  Note the high right side and false front.  Anything on the front left-third of the green will roll back 10-15 yards.



View from the fringe at the top of the hole:  A hole that never gets old!



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Kudos to David Moon @ nooga.com for the historical contribution.

[Nigel Islam]

Thanks Joe. A truly special place and a very good par 5. I was always curious as to the naming of the hole though?

[Tim Gallant]

Thank you Joe. I don't know much about Lookout Mountain (other than its stellar reputation and famous architect), but it was great to read about this hole. Curious to hear more about the green itself. It appears to be a straight tilt from right-to-left (from fairway), but there seems to be a small knoll at the back of the green to navigate as well? Any other subtle internal contours to navigate?


Thanks for sharing.

[Sven Nilsen]

It would be an omission not to note the involvement of Charles Banks here.  One of a handful of courses constructed/completed by Banks after Raynor's death.

[Carl Rogers]

I hope some 2015 Dixie Cup participants chime in.  Between rain storms, the one round I played there started on 10.  There are several strong holes at LM and this is one of them.  I liked the hole after the first par three in the front side (forgot number) and 18.


As we got so much rain in 2015, I suggest a trip back to Chattanooga for another Dixie Cup.

[john_stiles]

The 10th is the Cape hole at Lookout.     


There is certainly a reward for the long hitter who challenges the hillside corner on the drive. Most hit at the left side of the big tree in the first photo.  However, there is the area left of that where a long driver can get a good bounce and a big kick to the left, moving much closer to the green.  If the drive is caught in the wind or mis-hit,  the drive lands short on the hillside and falls into the hillside bunkers at best. Otherwise, the ball stops in the steep hillside grass for a second shot well above your feet.


Being a national homer,  I have seen a few take advantage of challenging the corner.  Of course, there isn't much of the Cape aspect at the green, with a green jutting out into a 'cape' surrounded by hazards.  However the green is well defended by the hillside location and bunkers short.


Below is the cover of the early 1926 advertisement for the Crest Lodge (never built to my knowledge) that was to be part of the course development as lodging for visitors and out of town members.  Fairyland was a real estate development. The Fairyland Club remains today as a social club with dining, pool, tennis, and fitness. The golf course would later be renamed Lookout Mountain Golf Club.
 

[Mark Bourgeois]

Does anyone have Raynor's routing map for Fairyland to post?

[Rees Milikin]

Does anyone have Raynor's routing map for Fairyland to post?

Doug Stein had some links to close up views of this routing map, but they have since expired

[Joe Sponcia]

Thank you Joe. I don't know much about Lookout Mountain (other than its stellar reputation and famous architect), but it was great to read about this hole. Curious to hear more about the green itself. It appears to be a straight tilt from right-to-left (from fairway), but there seems to be a small knoll at the back of the green to navigate as well? Any other subtle internal contours to navigate?


Thanks for sharing.

Tim,


As with many of the greens at Lookout, this one essentially slopes one way: 2 o'clock to 8 o'clock.  It is very quick with lots of slope.

[Josh Tarble]

Joe,
Excellent post.  While each component of the 10th works together to create a really good hole, I think what makes it is the slope of the fairway in the landing zone.

It's not overly long, but it's extremely difficult to hit a long iron or fairway wood from that severe of a hanging lie.  That really complicates the second shot where if it were flat, that second shot wouldn't be too interesting.

[Joe Sponcia]

Josh,


I'm glad you said that.  It really is the case with so many 2nd shots at Lookout:


#3 is a simple, short par 4, but the slope of the fairway, along with the hard right to left green makes for a tough par even with a gap wedge in hand.


#5 My goodness, I've had 7 iron to Pw, it's not that the green is easy, but the often downhill lie to a uphill green.  You can make a double fast.


#7 would be tough if the entire fairway laid flat, but add the uphill green, tough stance, it's a score card wrecker.


As you mentioned, if it weren't for the movement on the 10, it might be just a good par 5, not a really unforgettable one.


#15 is another easy bogey hard par, but it looks so straightforward. 


John Stiles and I played Holston today and were talking about our marginal shots at Holston vs. Lookout.  You can recover at Holston, but at Lookout, you can't just bloop one on the green and make a medium length putt.  The precision of Lookout is the thing that brings me back round after round.  When you hit a great shot, it feels like a BIG shot.  Much like Camargo, the entire round can feel heroic if you are on, and if you're not, the weaknesses in your game are on full display. 


You can't fake it around a Raynor golf course.

[Sven Nilsen]

Here's a close-up of the 10th from the map Rees posted above:

[Ben Hollerbach]

Sven,


The drawing you posted is actually of the current 12th hole. The current 10th is shown in this drawing as the 8th.

[Sven Nilsen]

Ben:


That makes more sense.  After I posted, I noticed the yardages written.  Seemed a bit short for the hole being described.


Sven

[john_stiles]

As an explanation for the hole numbering on the original sketch, the clubhouse was meant to be located directly on the rocky cliff side behind the present 2nd hole. So the original 1st hole is now the 3rd hole, etc.e.


Those ranking courses and such would have been ga-ga as the drive into the clubhouse would have looked across the open expense of the valley 1000 feet below. Not to mention the skyline 18th finish.  And with a grill and locker room placed on the craggy rocks, with that view,  need I say more.


Absent the view that was to never be, the routing and greens such as the current 10th and all the others hold the course as a treat to play.


Note:  The club does not own the property on the other side of the street, the street being behind the current 2nd green and 3rd tee.