Can a Great Hole - Part Deux

[Thomas Dai]

Prepared by nature and playable as and when the seasons and the weather and the desire of the player to play dictate or prepared by man and machine and the like to be playable under circumstances that best suit the playing timetable that mankind prefers?
Atb

[Ally Mcintosh]

I remind myself how lucky I am to play at a great course that pretty much presents the same ground conditions 12 months of the year.

[Sven Nilsen]

Prepared by nature and playable as and when the seasons and the weather and the desire of the player to play dictate or prepared by man and machine and the like to be playable under circumstances that best suit the playing timetable that mankind prefers?
Atb

Those maintenance practices I listed above are for The Old Course. 


Things have evolved a long way since we relied on sheep to keep the grass short.

[JESII]

I'm imagining a straw-bale constructed house built among trees that, even if off the grid, was designed to keep you warm all winter and cool all summer, and dry and cozy throughout the entire year -- and that manages to accomplish its goal.

And then I imagine an architect, knowing full well that during the playing season it would be wet and cold part of the time and dry and warm the rest of the time, designing a golf hole and golf course that fulfilled its primary function (as a field of play) and served its clientele as well, and as consistently and continually well, as that straw-bale constructed home does -- spring, summer and fall.

Is that too much to ask of the golf course architect?

A great hole had better be great in those three seasons for sure.


Is The Road Hole only great when you can bounce it onto the front right corner? No. It's better with the bounce but still great after a rain when it's too soft for that.


Is Crystal Downs #8 not great when the greens are running just slow enough that you can keep your putt on the green from above the hole?


How about Cypress Point #16 on a dead calm day?


If it's playable, they're all great!

[Peter Pallotta]

Good post, Jim, and very fine examples. Adding the 8th at Crystal Downs was a slick move! (And fast or slow, wet or dry, that 2nd shot is going to always be terrific, and the little flip wedge to that green complex is going to be equally thrilling under any conditions!)

You know that the ancient Greeks had 4 different words for (and kinds of) "love", while we have only that one single word.

Your post made me think that we ought to get all classical and come up with 4 different kinds (and words for) "great".

They're not all the same, these many many "great" golf holes -- one might say as different as eros is from philia.

[JESII]

I'm not sure if a single hole can travel across categories, but there would certainly be great holes we would call; Spectacular, Challenging, Understated or Strategic. Not sure seasonal conditions could move a hole from one to another of these, but I'd be interesting in hearing.

[Tom_Doak]

Peter, what were the four different connotations of “love”?  My guess is you could derive four different ways to love a golf course by following the same general ideas.  But I’m with Jim S I’m not understanding how that changes this thread.

[Tim Martin]

I can’t see where paraphrasing the word “great” for purposes of the thread has any substantive effect on the original premise. Unless the course in question is located in a climate where conditions stay constant year round it can/will play differently depending on the season.

[Ally Mcintosh]

Sean,

I think you read me wrong. I was bemoaning the courses that ask you to hit it down the middle because no angle is really preferred.

But I’m not clear what you are referring to as “recovery” options. Give me an example and then I’m sure I will agree.

I think of good recovery options (in general) as as scenario where the lie affords an opportunity to go for the green, any decent lay up area short of the green or sideways/backwards.  Give a guy options and see if he can either pull off the what should be a 1 in whatever shot to hit the green with the chance of the penalty for missing this being a kiss on the card OR maybe play the odds a bit more with some risk involved. Too often there isn't the temptation to go for the green because of trees (Worcester is a classic for this), rough (tons of links) or loads of bunkers in echelon up the fairway or near the green.

Provide space to allow a guy to hang himself, but have fun doing it.

Ciao

Ok got it. And tend to agree (although as always there are exceptions).


Got me thinking about what I said a few posts back about how lucky I was to have a course that presents the same way 12 months a year. That’s not entirely true:


It always stays remarkably firm and fast through winter as the turf is second to none. But - like most links courses - the primary rough becomes very hard for 4-6 weeks around June when there’s heat in the air but also moisture and the summer hasn’t yet burnt off the broad leaves. For those 4 or 5 weeks, recovery tends to be less about temptation and more about getting the ball back in play. I do think we should have 10 more yards width during that time as the fairways are so fiery that it becomes a pretty serious challenge for all but the straightest of hitters.


Where we are lucky is that the rough management is extremely good. Some links courses don’t even have that and those 4-6 weeks are more like 6-7 months. That is when you really do need sufficient width.