The most difficult shot in golf to design

[Tommy Williamsen]

It must be the second shot on a par five. Most are hitting their second shots from different distances. Designing the second shot so it is interesting for folks that hit it 200 yards or 250 yards must be a daunting task.
Placing bunkers down the fairway is easy so everyone can find trouble. Seventeen at Baltusrol Lower and Seven at Pine Valley have cross bunkers that need to be cleared, but short hitters have a distinct disadvantage.
Eight at Crystal Downs is beautiful in its simplicity. There are no bunkers to gobble up a ball, but placement is everything. Hit it left, and the third shot is played from well below the hole. Keep it on the right side and the third shot is distinctly easier.
One I do like a lot is at Four Streams GC outside DC. I was a member of this Steve Smyers course for 15 years before I moved away.


The tee is in the upper right corner, and the green is in the bottom Left. After the tee shot avoids the bunkers on the right, I had a choice. If I didn’t hit a particularly good drive or I would hit it in the rough, I would lay-up just short of the bunker on the right. This gives me a decent angle with my eight iron. If I hit a decent drive, I would hit my second shot to the left of the bunkers, although the fairway is narrower than it appears in the photo. I would only have a sand wedge left. Longer hitters would fly both sets of bunkers on the right and use the slope to direct the ball toward the green. Very often, players in my four-ball would hit their second shots to three different places.

[Max Prokopy]

Steve did Old Memorial in Tampa and a couple of their 5's have some neat second shot features.  They act like cross hazards in certain winds or if you hit bailout tee balls.  It's fair for a member's club that also gets a lot of sticks.