I love County Down. The look of Pacific Dunes borrows a lot from there.
But I have to disagree that it has no weaknesses. They are:
1. The front nine is so much better than the back nine, and that is anathema to most people's idea of how it should go.
2. There are lots of blind holes ... I'm okay with them, but lots of people aren't. And,
3. The finishing holes still aren't good. I think I liked the old 16th more than the new one, which tries too hard to enforce "shot values". And the 18th is now littered with bunkers, which can't distract from the fact that it is a boring, play-straight-down-the-fairway type of hole.
I had it as a 9 when I first did my ratings, and though two of my co-authors think it's a 10, I can't concur.
Tom,
Fair enough comments. I will admit to always having agreed with your first statement but the thing is, that front 9 "might" be the the world's best 9. Definitely one of the best 9's and largely due not only to the routing but also to the extremely unique and varied landscape they had to work with. I agree it is stronger than the back 9 but I wouldn't agree that it's "so much" better. I really don't see a bad hole on the back 9 and the finish is in my mind way underrated only because the land is less spectacular.
16 might be the weakest hole on the course, but hey there are 18 holes and one has to be the weakest on every course. If that's the weakest hole and it still could be one of the best holes on other highly ranked courses then we are most definitely splitting hairs.
I do find it intersting how members like to play that hole. At least the strong playing members I played with this weekend. They actually aim right of the current fairway. which is literally in the rough or even further to the right into the heather. That way they can approach the back to front sloping green more into the slope. I didn't like that strategy really but the wind was up and I couldn't succeed in putting the ball where I wanted to put it. Maybe there could be a strategic improvement made but the only thing I could think of would be to play the hole when into the wind from the women's tee and make it a real risk reward drivable 4 in current set up. Due to the crazy tilt of the green and the penalizing bunkers it feels like that would be a reasonable option or to play.
To me 17 and 18 are both excellent holes. I can't agree with you on 18, it plays as a dogleg left, really challenges you off the tee, actually to play something other than driver to play into the wider area short of all the bunkers on the right. Then the second shot is also really interesting and needs to be placed well. Finally the approach into that green into the wind is really a challenged and actually rewards a short miss above any other. The green complex is really interesting as well. I'd agree with Mark's comments there.
When did you see it for the last time Tom?
Ally,
You know how the grass is always greener? It's interesting that Tom suggests that only really good players love RCD. You saw me play, anything but really good although My best round of the weekend was the first round at RCD and I was on fire in terms of hitting fairways in the wind and scored really well as well. For some reason I'm a big fan of the blind shots and I'm guessing the Irishmen you speak of would love all the high end Fazio courses in the US as one of the trademarks there is that you can "always" see everything right in front of you. No tricks, no blind shots and not bad lies as long as you play it as you see it. I doubt you will find many purists that would feel that way but that's why there are different strokes for different folks. The games this weekend with you at Portrush and at Royal County Down made me feel more than ever that having 14 clubs is just useless and confusing for a simpleton as myself. I could hardly get myself to just take a full swing with a certain club, always choking down on a 5 iron, punching a 7, trying to hook something into the wind or pulling out the 2 iron. I empty my bag of half the clubs and then even found I had too many.
I guess the level of guys you were talking about prefer to hit each club to it's exact distance and know that if they strike it well the reward is what they are use to. That's not really links golf but there is a big place where you can enjoy 39,975 courses that will play exactly like that. Perhaps just a small percentage of us that hail from over there dream of the opposite. Guilty as charged.
Mark,
Can you explain why you think 17 is a terrible hole?
You have a tee shot that is always a challenge and has to be carefully measured to insure you don't run out into the hazard, then you have a challenging approach up the hills that ideally will just crest the front of the green that is running away from you with some crazy slopes. The green alone makes it a wonderful hole. Juding the tee shot appropriatly certainly ads to it. They could perhaps reshape the water hazard but again, it's aparently natural and the way it's always been.