Colt Template Holes?

[Michael Chadwick]

When I looked out from the 15th tee at Colt’s Old Elm, I immediately had flashbacks of a hole from one of my first Colt experiences, the 4th at St. George’s Hill. From the tee, they appear quite similar, sharing the same drive and pitch (or drivable) form of a shorter par 4, with a bunkering scheme requiring a lofted carry to reach the green on one’s 1st or 2nd shot.


Old Elm 15



Old Elm 15 green



St. George's Hill 4


Both courses’ tee boxes are positioned in line with the right of the green, implying that more space—and possibly the desirable angle—is more leftward. That’s certainly true at St. George’s, where a center left drive positions oneself in front of the foregrounded green side bunker, leaving a lane of turf into the heart of the putting surface. But a tree and adjacent bunker lurk for the miss that errs too far left, and the same can be said at OE, where a large bunker cuts into the left edge of fairway (while simultaneously guarding long of 13 green). An added wrinkle at OE, however, is the long yet narrow green is angled more perpendicularly the further left you drive it, so center to center right is optimal, but then too far right brings a tall copse of trees into play.


St. George's 4



Old Elm 15

While St. George’s is very much drivable, 272 from the back tees, Old Elm’s 15th does play longer, 323 from the member tee, so I doubt the green gets driven too often. Yet what both holes have in common is that the further one pushes the tee ball towards the green, the higher the stakes of finding a hazard, and facing a delicate pitch.

Both of them are among my favorite holes on their respective courses, and I wanted to bring up the similarity in case others have seen similar Colt holes elsewhere, or other hole configurations he may have reproduced throughout his portfolio.

[Mike Worth]

Pine Valley #12 and Northamptonshire UK # 4 are very similar.


As I understand it, Colt felt a golf course should have a short Par 4 that required a drive followed by a pitch and run second shot. These 2 holes were the same template.


I don’t know Northamptonshire’s history enough to know if their 4th hole has been altered over time as PVs has not been. I would say the drive at Northamptonshire was more demanding as the fairway was a tad obscured with fescue in front of the tee. The landing area was a slight down elevation from the tee as compared to PVs. From memory I also remember the tree line being closer on the right side than PVs


But the holes were dog legs left that required the same driving precision in order to have an easier pitch and run second shot

[John Challenger]

Michael, the last photo in your post is an old aerial that does not reflect the recent restoration of the hole to the original Colt design. As far as I know, it is the only other arrow-shaped green complex Colt created, other than the first one at St. George's Hill. Not sure exactly when Colt designed the green at St. George's Hill, but probably sometime in 1912, so the window of time when the design was on his mind is narrow. In early spring of 1913, Colt was at Old Elm and designed this second version. I wonder why he didn't use the idea more often because it led to such exciting tee and approach shots. Colt was not a believer in templates though, which might be the reason for its rarity. Colt's unique design was actually left on the drawing board at Old Elm because Donald Ross did not build it, but today it has been carefully retrieved. Not sure if the carry to reach the tip of the triangular landing area just over the bunker is 327 yards away. How did you measure it? The hole is downhill and it is downwind when the wind is coming from the north, like it often is in October. The zenith of Colt's design career may well have been in the years just before WW1 when golf architects were still artisans. His discoveries in the forests of Surrey in 1912 were brilliantly realized the following spring in North America with his two masterpieces, Old Elm and Pine Valley. Donald Ross was still an artisan too, and the green complexes at Old Elm might be some of the best he ever built.

[Michael Chadwick]

John, I was hoping this thread would get you into the mix. Thanks for providing additional context, and clarifying that Google Maps is now outdated.


As for the yardage, I just grabbed it off of BlueGolf online, because I don't keep scorecards around afterwards.


The arrow shaping at OE now brings even closer resemblances to the hole at St. George's Hill. Thanks for making note of that; my pictures don't fully convey it at OE.


OE likely deserves its own thread. It really is a best of both worlds unique combination of Colt and Ross. The greens are endlessly beguiling. I myself would play more rounds at OE than Shoreacres in a 10 round split.