A Forgotten Redan

[Craig Disher]

There have been many posts on where to find the best Redan but I don't think this one at Annapolis GC was ever mentioned. It has a classic shape and scale and although maintenance has lagged a bit over the years, it's a thrill to see. The top shot bunker on line with the green is an unfamiliar feature to me.

Walking up the slope to the green doesn't give a very happy view. The putting surface covers less than half of the redan plateau and it's cut in a perfect circle with the cup set directly in the center.

[TEPaul]

Craig:

The short bunker is a fairly typical redan obstacle feature and placement. NGLA had it, Tillinghast's Somerset Hills had it and North Berwick has the alternative large mound/bunkering in front.

[SPDB]

TEPaul - NGLA "had" it? Have they been removing more than trees there?    

Chris - Banks seems to have stayed pretty true to the top shot bunker in his redans. Most of his courses I've seen include them. One such bunker was recently restored(?) by Silva at Mtn Lake.

[Tommy_Naccarato]

Craig,
What is about photographs of Redan holes that make you want to just jump into the picture and play them?!?!?

Of course, I would take one route and one route only here, and I don't care how close I could carry the massive bunker. For me its all about touch and feel. I like touch and feel and LUCK!

A great photo.

Here's my image of Riviera's modified "Redan ala Duruntz." (Robert Duruntz:))

[Adam_Messix]

Craig--

Nice picture of #4 at Annapolis Golf Club.  I don't any picture can do that front bunker justice.  Would you say 10-12 feet deep?  It's sad to see that the course may not be around much longer, because it begs for a restoration.  

[Craig Disher]

Adam,
The left bunker (as are many of the bunkers on the course) is massive and deep. The right bunker is even more dramatic. I stood in it thinking I'd be able to take a picture showing its depth. All I could see was the sky. The left bunker is at least 10 feet below the green surface, the right one must be 15.

I stitched 3 photos together to show the entire length of the green. If a player were standing on the intended surface of the bunker - now filled in and covered with grass - he'd be visible only from the waist up.



I took a few other pictures while I was there and will post them to give a sense of what the course looks like now. It's obvious driving in that something's going on. Most houses had a small sign in their front yards asking everyone to "save the community."

[Tommy_Naccarato]

Both Brian Schneider and Kye Goalby have raved to me about Annapolis, telling me what a gem for a perfect restoration it could be.  Looking at this Redan, I now completely understand. They talked about it being their Banks course that no one knew about!

Craig, please do post more of the images.

[Evan_Green]

Do you know if the bunkers were originally sand bunkers and have since been filled in, or were the always grass bunkers?

It is a very enticing golf hole indeed.

[Tiger_Bernhardt]

Tommy I love riviera's except the grass keeps the ball from feeding in like it should. I am with you oon seeing one just makes you want to play it right then. Lou and i went back and played the 6th, isn't it again to see if we could make it work.

[Tommy_Naccarato]

Tiger John,
While I totally agree, on my last visit with Fortson, Duruntz and Shooter as my witnesses, I was less then a half roll/pin-high of putting it on during my last visit there. If it would have made it, I could only think of it getting on the surface and rolling directly to the pin from there, and while it probably wouldn't have been close to the pin, it would have been on line!

Boy I love to speculate. (and dream!)

Evan,
From the descriptions from Kye Goalby and Brian Schneider both, the bunkers had been grassed in years ago, but remarkably they were in great shape to restore as far as what was originally there. Judging by Craig's excellent photo here, They're pretty much spot on.

[Craig Disher]

Evan,
Originally there were about 25 sand bunkers on the course, some incredibly huge. Now they all have either grass bottoms or were filled in. I think what really diminishes the course, though, is the reduced putting surfaces. Some of the greens were over 10000 sq feet and now I don't think any of the holes have putting surfaces much over 3 or 4000.

I'll fix up the pictures so I can post them.

None of the owners ever put much money into the course. There are no sprinklers and I didn't see any hose outlets. But the lack of money has also benefitted the course in that it's never been tampered with - except for one of Banks' greens that was replaced. A restoration wouldn't require much more than fertilizer, a lot of sand, and some good mowing equipment - and a few good hands.

[Tommy_Naccarato]

Craig,
How long of driving time would this be from Philadelphia?

[Craig Disher]

2nd hole. The bunker on the left must have a face of nearly 20 feet. The green actually extends behind with another deep bunker to the left. The putting surface, though, is cut on the far right side of the plateau so none of the huge features are actually in play.



5th hole. This was taken about 200 yards from the green. It was changed 10-15 years ago from Banks' original design - a kidney shaped, narrow front-to-back green with a deep bunker on the right. A fellow who remembered it said it was the most dramatic green on the course.




7th green. A long par 4 with one a 40-50 yard-long bunker on the left. The putting surface actually extended on the left rear behind the small clump of grass and to the right up to the deep bunker.



8th green. The short hole. I don't think there was sand around the base of the green. The rope isn't intended to keep the carts off the grass - it's to keep them from falling off a cliff. Again, the putting surface covers only about half the plateau.




9th green. The bunker is typical of those found elsewhere on the course. This one is about 40 yards long and 20 yards wide. The bottoms are all domed, as though dirt was just piled in and left to seed naturally. The sand level was probably 1 or 2 feet below.

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