The First at Hooper: What challenges the player the most?

[Ben Hollerbach]

I've been staring at this picture of Hooper for days, reveling in modesty of the design.


One big aspect that I've latched onto is where the two players are walking clearly appears to be ideal driving position and any ball lost out to the left will present the player with a challenging approach shot. But then I was struck with the question, what makes the approach shot so challenging? As I see it, there are 4 main obstacles that contribute to the difficulty:

• The sidehill lie
• Playing the ball out of the rough
• The bunkers short and left of the green
• The large tree short and left of the tree

While they will all contribute to the challenge my wonderment is to look at which one is most impactful.

• The sidehill like will encourage the second shot to be lost further to the left, bringing the tree and bunkers greater into play, but in this case the tree and bunkers can act as a safety net preventing the ball from being lost even further to the left.
• The rough will make impact more challenging, but there is space to play the ball short and out to the right, potentially running the ball onto the green or leaving the approach safe just short of the green.
• The bunkers impact will vary with the ability of the player, the better player may not view them much of a challenge as they may be able to play over or around them onto the green.
• The tree on the other hand will impact all players trying to fly the ball to the green. They will be forced to steer clear of the tree on all but a low running shot below it.

If you begin to remove each challenge one by one, looking at the impact each challenge has on the hole, I can't help to think that the tree has the largest impact on a second shot played from the left. If the tree stays, every approach shot from the left has to played with the tree in mind, but at the same time the tree will act as a aid in stopping aerial approach shots lost to the left. Remove the tree and the player will view the shot as loosing some of its challenge, affording more options for the left hand approach shot.


Frequently on this board we discuss the gross tree removal across the course, but they can have their own strategic value. Much like how a well placed bunker can greatly impact the play on a hole, routing a hole around a strategic tree or two can equally influence the way a hole is played. With such an aerial focus to today's game, this has never been more true and should be kept under consideration more often.

[Michael Moore]

1. You have to hit a long tee shot right out of the gate.
 
2. You have to aim away from the line of instinct (or whatever it's called) which is 450 yards long and is absolutely spectacular and magnetic.
 
3. After a marginal tee shot you have to decide whether to ruin your round or not on the second stroke of the day.
 
4. After a good tee shot, yes, you have to approach that precarious green with the ball above your feet.

[Tim Martin]

I like the way you have a bunch of options because of the half par nature of the hole. There is a lot of width in the drive zone with the right side of fairway providing the best angle into the green. Even if you hit the green in two that is a pretty severe back to front slope which means high of the hole can mete out some pain. Finally I love that it shares some common fairway with the ninth hole where you get a great look at both the elevated 1st tee and 1 green behind. It should make most golfers happy as it is the number 9 stroke hole with plenty of ways to make par. A fun opener for sure.

[Ben Hollerbach]

Focusing on playing your second or approach shot from the left edge of the fairway and rough, how much does the guardian tree short of the green influence what type of shot can be played?


If the tree is removed, will the need to play down the right hand side of the hole be reduced?


How much does the position of the tree and the slope of the fairway impact the correct playing line off of the tee.


I could imagine that any second or approach shot played from a sidehill lie along the left side of the hole would be anything but a walk in the park, but it's the tree that has the greatest impact on the difficulty from playing down the left hand side.

[Ryan Hillenbrand]

Very similar look to the 1st hole at Norwood Hills West - a Stiles course in St. Louis. Wonder if Stiles had a template for opening holes?


Though I grew up playing Norwood I've never seen another Stiles Van Kleek course.

[Peter Bowman]

Hello everyone, it has been a long time since I have logged into GCA.  Lots has happened in the past year at Hooper, but I’ll address the First at Hooper.


Hooper has a very simplistic design and “modest” is a perfect description.  It’s like my wife, modest yet stunning in natural beauty.


Here’s what make the First at Hooper such a great opening hole—likely the best opening hole I’ve ever played (confirmation bias).
- the view of the CT River Valley of NH/VT is spectacular.  It will continue to improve as we remove trees behind 1 green and left of 2 in the upcoming years
- Hooper has no driving range, so it’s only fair to give a fairer opening hole if one chooses to play the hole conservatively. So a short, reachable in two, par 5 is a great design choice. 456 yards, downhill
- the tee box sits about 40 feet above the highest point of the fairway, which is 255 yards out, about 60 yards behind those two golfers in the picture. That gap between that is a steep swale downward and a steady climb back up. If you can crush it hard enough, you’ll catch the mild back slope and get yourself and extra 15 -30 yards and a, easy 6 iron 2nd shot. If you’re 3 yards shorter on the carry, the ball stops on a dime, leaving you 200 yards in.
-lets say you drive the ball 220. That leaves you with a slight uphill lie, limited view of the green, but a generous landing area for your next 180yd shot and a pitch inward
-let’s say you can crank it off the first tee but can’t hit it straight. If you pull it left you are SOL as the left bank is steep and kicks hard into the woods. If you’re lucky enough to find your ball you still have to hit it.  Good luck getting it back into the fairway anywhere.  However you have a tempting shortcut to the green if you can get around that oak tree.
-let’s talk about the approach shot next. DONT GO LEFT! It’s tempting to take your long iron or fairway wood and go for it. If you go left of the slope, you just turned a birdie into a double bogey as you negotiate a pitch shot over 3 bunkers and a towering oak.  You can aim left of them which puts you miles above the hole.  Have fun putting that one
-oh, don’t go right because the ground is hard and you will be pitching over the right bunker while trying to hold the green
-the 4 bunkers by the green are gifts from Stiles! 4 points of mercy, I say!
-If your tee shot goes right, you have a direct view into the green if you can carry over the maples between you and the green. Easy to fade it too far right toward the 2nd tee


1st at Hooper is a generous gifter of eagles and birdies. But damn it’s so easy to get that crippling double bogue if you go left.


But let’s say you hit 2 great shots and a good putt for eagle.  You now have to face hole #2, and karma like to serve your eagle right with a triple bogey on 2.  A par on 2 feels more like birdie!


Perhaps these are reasons why Tom Doak wrote something to the tune of “at the moment at least, I could think of no two better opening holes in golf”