Shinnecock: Prevailing Wind

[Bill Raffo]

Played out there last September with a member who was being funny when he said I was lucky he even showed up on a day when the wind was blowing in the direction it was...the same direction as today, which is not the prevailing wind.  He explained the course was designed to play in the prevailing wind and designed to be a difficult test at that. When the wind blows in the direction it did today, he said it's near impossible and not very enjoyable.


Got me thinking about designers on windy sites and how much thought they put into, not just the prevailing wind but also the other direction wind. I wonder if Flynn was aware of the monster he created and if not, would he have made some different design decisions in areas where the non-prevailing wind is extremely problematic to the player.


Shame that Fox and the other media sort of missed this point today. Michael Collins of ESPN was the only one to mention it...on twitter after the round. Would have made for some interesting discussion between the announcers and Gil Hanse and also help explain the carnage level.

[JESII]

Bill, I believe today’s wind was only a quarter turn, maybe less, clockwise from the prevailing. When the short holes play downwind and the long holes into, the course is brutal.

[Cal Seifert]

Imagine passing on playing shinnecock, even as a member because of the direction of the wind. Ill play that course in a hurricane if I had the opportunity


The wind made the 4th hole turn from barely reachable for some guys to an easy driver wedge for many yesterday.

[Jeff_Brauer]

Bill,


It wasn't too long ago I pontificated on my design thoughts vis a vis wind.  Can't recall which thread, but I included my favorite Jim Colbert quotes, "Pards, if the wind blows right, my lie slopes down right, and the target angles right, I'm not the smartest guy, but I think I will play a fade!"  Top players prefer as many shot signals to go the same direction so they can take advantage of a prevailing wind, short version.


As an architect, I to try to plan at least 2/3 of shots with that in mind, knowing the off wind blows sometimes, and the other third make up for it.  And, when a target must angle against the wind, I tend to make it bigger and rounder to allow a golfer a better chance to get there fighting the elements as it were.

[Matthew Mollica]

Very interested to hear any comments relating to Barnbougle Dunes here, which frequently plays in a prevailing Westerly, of considerable strength. It can also play in the exact opposite wind, and is a markedly different experience, but still very manageable and enjoyable. Hopefully Tom D chimes in as consideration of wind during the design process must have been an ever present factor.