The Perfect Golf Hole II-

[V. Kmetz]

#13        146  141  127






The second hole on this journey for perfection is one of Tillinghast shortest one-shotters, a hole that was named by its founders, "Cameo" for the elevated target's likeness to the raised setting and jewel cut of a cameo-brooch.  Indeed it is a unfettered gem, a gorgeous flight across a broad expanse of sunken lawn, from one rim of an natural amphitheater to the other side. Even so, it is your humble narrator's contention that if the hole found itself with as spectacular setting as Pebble's 7th, or historic as ANGC's 12th or as venerable as Troon's 8th, it would rank in equal esteem to those celebrated short one-shotters.



There is however, something to be said for the experience of surprise and discovery as an element of perfection and perhaps one thing that makes this hole perfect is that it is indeed, relatively anonymous in the canon; you come primed for a classic Tillinghast course and are already delighted and THEN you come upon this hole and you realize the depth of AWs "game"...how he can put such fun into such rigor...and you hadn't known one thing about it until that day. The 9th at Yale is not a perfect hole (imho) but its experience of audacious surprise the first time you encounter it IS perfect.  This hole operates similarly.


One fine standard for perfection I've identified is that, standing on the same teeing ground, a great range of players, styles and abilities can be successful and this one fits the bill.  The challenge all players -- Phil Mickelson with his PW, You with your 8 iron, Sy Rosenblatt with his Ginty -- have here is the oblique angle of the green, effectively cropping the possible safe landing spots to almost half of the already small surface.


With time and experience, one appreciates how exact the marriage of shot shape and distance to aiming target must be... flying 144 with a yard and a half too much fade and your in the massive fronting bunker, which has about a 12% up and down rate and a 33% probability for 5... flying 148 with 2 yards too much draw and you go bounding off an 8 foot drop behind the surface, where you have an equal 33% chance for either 4, 5 or X... you don;t see any up and downs from long or left which will bring you to this condition:

or which often results in this look:


Another feature which amusingly destroys the margin of the error for this, albeit short, aerial shot is one you might well have already appreciated in the previous photos - the false front.  This entire course might well as be called "False Front" because as I consider it now, it features no less than 11 holes with wicked, mind-blowing, send-the-ball-back-20, 30, 40 or more yards from it's original landing spot type false fronts. This one effectively cuts the technical green surface by 1/4th and the effective landing zone by a further 1/6th... to control the spin of a short iron is the big concern for better players as so many hit fine-looking 9s that actually get near pin-high, until they come zipping off in a fury down to this view (actually, in bad conditions, this is sort of a safe miss area!)

This precipice is as much a concern to the tee shot as it is to the putting, where any pin within 6 paces of that false front is a SURGICAL matter. Though the picture doesn't adequately capture the live sense, the entire green is like the roof of a Volkswagen Beetle pitched slightly down to the driver's side front tire...the false front of the previous photo would be the windshield


It might seem from my description that this hole--far from being perfect--is all headache and kitschy complication... (and I haven't even mentioned the curling, often strong wind which I've seen influence Buddy Marruci to hit 5 iron, and downwind, hold more question marks than the Riddler's leotards.)... but it is not... it is so sweet and nice and honest and charming in its sight that a strong scent of its perfection is in one's appreciation it's not only a looker with a great body, but it's got a mind too... and a bitchy streak... and this sweet thing will make you a fool for its charms....that's you, Phil Mickelson, Lee Trevino, Bobby Jones, Tom Paul, ...cos' if they miss the green they are fucked too...they are going to hate themselves for missing a 9 iron/PW too... they have to got watch their ass putting here too. 


Still, a perfect hole makes you laugh when it won't let you hole out, with almost as much gusto as when you fist pump wheyou ring upn  that elusive "2." A perfect hole makes you appreciate a regulation tally as well as a scramble; and makes you believe you're really golfing when you grind out of a disaster. From the plainly solvable task and exacting beauty of the tee ball, to the tremulous putting and recovery play; to its ability to withstand mere physical prowess and reward careful poise, this gem of a hole deserves your notice and your regard as "perfect."

[Colin Macqueen]

VK,
An impassioned description of a, on the face of it, lovely wee golf hole. You envisage so much trouble and strife that I for one would be a'tremblin'! This would almost certainly induce an unholy shank that, thank the Lord, would ricochet of the rocky outcrop to the right in your last image that you make no mention of! This will be my saving grace as the ball will take a wild leap and land softly on the green nestled six feet from the pin. I miss the putt but other than that it's perfect!
Cheers Colin

[Thomas Dai]

A very thorough analysis. Assuming a reasonable pin position where would be the best miss?
Atb

[V. Kmetz]

A very thorough analysis. Assuming a reasonable pin position where would be the best miss?
Atb

TD,


My advocacy has always been long right...aiming at the last right grass finger of the front bunker with plenty of club (150-155 ish). While that brings a straight downhill chip, (sometimes out of matted "walk-off" grass) I find the lies generally reasonable, and sometimes taking that line you can under-hit-pull it into the rear portion of the green; even a further whiff to the right from that line will usually find soft playable rough grass that's still marginally better than the bunker and long/left is absolute perdition... Most best ball players pick up their ball down there if their partner is anywhere on the planet.


In the green circle is the general area I speak of...

[Tommy Williamsen]

I love a short par three. Stand on the tee with a short iron and you think birdie. For me Winged Foot East is a course I can play. I've only played the course a couple of times but I remember this hole very well. It is a beaut and you have captured its delights and its terrors. It is pretty close to a perfect green site.

[V. Kmetz]

Just consolidating the first three, with IV about to be posted...

[Bill Brightly]

When I think about this course, this hole (and Hole 18) come to mind. If you were required to give a lecture entitled "Why Tillinghast was a great architect" surely this hole would be part of the presentation! To me, this is the perfect example of Tilly getting maximum effect from the little amount of elevation change he had to work with on many of his sites.