Back to normal after a busy week at Cherry Hills. My player Sampson Zheng finished T1 in stroke play (-7, with a 66 at Colorado Golf Club and 70 at Cherry Hills). Defeated WAGR #19 and Walker Cupper Preston Summerhayes in the Round of 64 before bowing out to a good young Mexican player Jose Islas in the Round of 32.[size=78%] [/size]
I’ve not been a huge fan of Cherry Hills, thinking its reputation exceeded the course’s qualities, but a few more trips around the course inside the ropes last week gave me a greater appreciation. The strength of the course is its greens, which range from very subtle (e.g. #2, #17) to much less so (severe slopes on #5, #10, #11 and #18). There’s a solid variety of short and longer and uphill and downhill holes, and each of the finishing five holes from #14-#18 is challenging in different ways. The rough was thick and nasty, and misses particularly around the greens were punished quite severely. The greens were pretty firm and required a lot of care to avoid misses long, which generally were no bueno. I thought the USGA set up was very good. Several fairways were much wider than I expected, and necessary given the challenge presented by the rough and the severe slopes of several fairways. Holes I liked: #3, a drivable par 4 with a turtle-back green that presented a big range of options that saw players taking those options to their benefit and detriment; #4, a 90 degree dogleg that required distance control off the tee and thought vs the pin positions but also allowed for risk-taking drivers (as Shipley did to his detriment on the 22
nd hole). The 500+ yard 14th is just an all world par 4 in my opinion, requiring a big drive and a precise mid iron to s sloping green with a penalty area lurking. Holes I dislike: The par 3 #15, playing at 240-250 yards, was simply silly even for these accomplished players. The green isn’t large enough from the angle of that tee and is surrounded by bunkers and a creek that make it marginally playable—we laid up short during our rounds to avoid big numbers; I think it played second hardest behind #18 for the week. The alternate much shorter tee used later in the week for match play on #15 was much better. I also thought the par 4 #7 was a weak hole, mid iron and wedge to a flattish green. One instance where I think the USGA made the fairway too wide for the competition.[size=78%] [/size]
The tournament produced a worthy winner in Dunlap and a worthy final too as Shipley was strong and gutsy until the final 9 holes. There was plenty of match play drama throughout, especially as matches reached the great finishing hole that is #18, and Cherry Hills held up well against the talented crop of young amateurs.[size=78%] [/size]
The link below has a good description of the course, including Flynn drawings and commentary by Eric Iverson.[size=78%] [/size]
Scorecard - Cherry Hills Country Club (chcc.com)[size=78%] [/size]
PS I ran into Jim Urbina at CHCC and we had a good discussion about the course architecture and other things, like his current work at Pasatiempo.