Courses that have changed hole sequencing permanently

[Ally Mcintosh]

Talk of Cavendish on another thread (plus Renaissance for Scottish Open only) has me thinking of highly rated courses that have changed their hole sequencing from the original design?


My favourite example of this is County Louth / Baltray that changed from Simpson’s routing in the 80’s. Original course was:


Front nine: 4,5,6,7, 8, 9, 1, 2, 3
Back nine: 11 to 18,10


What other ones? Which have been successful? Which less so?


Flipping nines less interested in.

[Robin_Hiseman]

I suppose Ballybunion would be a prime example. That used to start on the 6th. I recall they reinstated that playing order for the Irish Open?

[Jim Sherma]

I don't think a sequencing change due to building a new clubhouse in a different location on the property is what Ally had in mind. Adding this constraint would disqualify Ballybunion, NGLA and others. I believe he wanted examples of courses that changed the routing while leaving the infrastructure and holes in place. I'm sure that there are a lot of examples of flipping 9's, e.g. Augusta. Looking forward to hearing of other cases such as County Louth.

[Paul Rudovsky]

Main Course (Clyde/Squirrel) at Brookline.  For 1913 US Open, it played (using current hole numbers):


1-8
11 (Himalayas)
12 (short downhill par 3)
13
9
10
14-18


important to understand this order when reading "Greatest Game".


not sure when it switched to current 1-18 order.

[Ira Fishman]

Not quite as highly rated, but the two courses at the Broadmoor are a combination of Ross original routing and RTJ routing.


Ira

[Kevin_Reilly]

Again not highly rated, but holes #2 and #7 at Harding Park were flipped about 20 years ago.

[Will Spivey]

Old Town flipped 9 and 18 many years ago, and also changed the current #9 to a par 4 (from a par 5).

[archie_struthers]

 


Question for my Irish friends>  has Portrush made the changes to the routing permanent ?

[Wayne_Kozun]

Augusta National.  Cabot Links.

[Matthew Rose]

Medinah #3

[Tom_Doak]

Medinah #3

Not quite the same as the others, because they redesigned a few holes and that required the change of sequence.


In addition to those already mentioned, Arcadia Bluffs is one closer to home for me.  I think they changed twice, and I am always confused when people talk about it because I remember the original numbering.  Cabot Links is another recent example of the same thing.

[JESII]

Philadelphia Cricket Club did so when they renovated the course 10 years or so ago. The holes across the train tracks, 4 through 9 featured parallel par 5's in 4 and 7. By switching them, they also switch the two holes immediately after so 4-5-6 because 7-8-9 and 7-8-9 became 4-5-6.


I have no idea the reasoning and am not sure of my opinion. #9 was an iconic finishing (to a nine) hole and is now the 6th...while still an awesome hole, does it matter that it's 6 instead of 9? I really don't know. Current 9 (old 6) is a short, somewhat quirky par 4 that I like, but doesn't exactly leave a mark.




Huntingdon Valley rearranged its C-9 a few years ago in an effort to bring the starting hole closer to the other two nines to encourage more play. A rebuild of the current two starting holes on that nine, but otherwise the order is the same, just starting from the old 7th tee. I prefer this orientation because I like the two new holes better than the old.

[Adam G]

Essex County Club. I believe the original routing was the current 1, 16-18 then 10-15, then 2-9.


The way it plays now, the back 9 around and over the hill is justifiably famous with 18 being an amazing downhill par 4 between two hillocks that was originally #4. The course now has returning nines, although the walk from 9 to 10 is somewhat long.

[Mike_Trenham]

Merion- Front 9


Previous order 1-2-6-7-8-9-5-3-4

[Michael Wolf]

Did Lookout Mountain ever actually start on what's now #3? The clubhouse location was supposed to be on the overlook behind 3 tee.

[Matt_Cohn]

Again not highly rated, but holes #2 and #7 at Harding Park were flipped about 20 years ago.

I'm not sure I knew that. Trying to imagine that stretch in the PGA if they played 6, 2, 8, 9 (as a par 4). Yikes! Seems much better the current way; 1-4 would be pretty easy otherwise.

[Peter Flory]

I believe that Westmoreland in Chicago rearranged the holes at some point in the past for flow reasons. 

[Tom_Doak]

I forgot to mention Yarra Yarra where my associate Brian Slawnik suggested the change to the club.


The original routing had the first hole as a long par-3 . . . not as uncommon in Melbourne as most other places . . . playing out of a little pro shop separate from the clubhouse.  A few years ago, they rebuilt the clubhouse and tore down the little pro shop, and at that point the first tee was much further from the pro shop than #6 tee.  In addition, the club had rebuilt holes 2 and 3 and they were generally considered the weakest stretch of the course, so it was a very unappealing start.


Brian suggested changing the starting point, so the sequence of the first six holes today is what was originally 6-5-1-2-3-4, before hooking back into the old routing from the 7th on.

[Simon Holt]

Mach Dunes flipped their 9s fairly early on, from memory.

[Wayne_Kozun]

Just like ANGC

[Dan_Callahan]

What other ones? Which have been successful? Which less so?

Ally, any news on whether Carne is going to reconfigure their routing to incorporate holes from Kilmore? Or is it just going to remain the back 9 from Hackett and the 9 from Kilmore to create Wild Atlantic Dunes? For some reason I thought it was going to be more interwoven than that to fix some of the awkward transitions.

[Kevin_Reilly]

Again not highly rated, but holes #2 and #7 at Harding Park were flipped about 20 years ago.

I'm not sure I knew that. Trying to imagine that stretch in the PGA if they played 6, 2, 8, 9 (as a par 4). Yikes! Seems much better the current way; 1-4 would be pretty easy otherwise.

Change was made after the redo.  You used to walk to current #7 after #1.  Which makes sense due to tee proximity.

[Ally Mcintosh]

What other ones? Which have been successful? Which less so?

Ally, any news on whether Carne is going to reconfigure their routing to incorporate holes from Kilmore? Or is it just going to remain the back 9 from Hackett and the 9 from Kilmore to create Wild Atlantic Dunes? For some reason I thought it was going to be more interwoven than that to fix some of the awkward transitions.

Hi Dan,


I’m glad to say that when they play the Wild Atlantic Dunes course, they do interweave the sequencing to get rid of a couple of transitions. So routing is:


Front 9: 10,11,12,13,14,15,16,5K,6K
Back 9: 7K,8K,9K,1K,2K,3K,4K,17,18


Returns to clubhouse after 12. Hope is we can rework the 1st tee complexes soon to improve logistics and transition from 9K to 1K.

[Garland Bayley]

Has Strandhill changed their ordering, or is that still in the offing?

[Greg Gilson]

Whats the change at Cabot Links?