Golf Club Atlas
GolfClubAtlas.com => Golf Course Architecture Discussion Group => Topic started by: Tom_Doak on May 26, 2017, 08:55:33 AM
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Since so many seem to agree that modern courses have too many bunkers, what are some of the more subtle ways an architect can test a tee shot?
Three that come to mind:
1) Reverse camber to the fairway, though it is dependent on defining the edges of the fairway appropriately;
2) enough contour in the landing area that it behooves the player to aim for a flat spot on one side, a la the 8th at Crystal Downs;
3) the subtle ridge on the 5th at Yarra Yarra that steers a ball played close to the right hand fairway bunker further right, while pushing safer tee shots further left, leaving a much more intimidating approach.
What else have you got?
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A reasonably(or not) wide open fairway, but with a green that tilts severely right or left, inviting the smarter more accurate player to set up an easier approach by driving to a preferred side, and the less "enlightened" (my new go to) player to whine it's an unfair hole after his poorly placed tee shot sets up an awkward aproach
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4. Forward camber? A tilted fairway, whether "reverse" or not, encourages the player to play away from the intended target.
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Tee box that doesn't point down the middle of the fairway?
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Tom
Not sure whether the following two examples fit exactly into any of your example types but holes like Foxy where a shot up the left misses the moggles and therefore gets a good bit more run (only part of the hole I like).
The other example is the 7th medal tee at Silloth where the tee is offset to the left. You basically aim out to a ridge coming in from the opposite side of the fairway. The more aggressive line you take with the tee shot the more you kick left and up the line of play. On the other hand a conservative line will likely see you land on the right of the ridge which will kick your ball right and 90 degrees to the line of play. Due to the green being slightly off-set to the right, you are also likely to have to play over the rough with the approach. One of the best drives in golf in my admittedly limited experience.
Niall
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Tee box that doesn't point down the middle of the fairway?
Joe
One of my pet hates I have to admit. A pox on any architect who does it deliberately ;)
Niall
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4. Forward camber? A tilted fairway, whether "reverse" or not, encourages the player to play away from the intended target.
Do you mean they're playing away from the intended target to allow for a fade or draw on the approach, because of the sidehill lie? Or do you just mean playing toward the high side of a fairway so the ball will come back down to the middle?
I like the reverse camber even better because it allows the player a chance to counteract the slope with the shape of the tee shot. If you're playing up into the bank, trajectory has less effect.
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Tee box that doesn't point down the middle of the fairway?
Joe
One of my pet hates I have to admit. A pox on any architect who does it deliberately ;)
Niall
Ha. I did not say I was a fan! But it is subtle.
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Tee box that doesn't point down the middle of the fairway?
Joe:
Like Niall, I'm not a fan of this, either. Indeed I am not a fan of rectangular tees that "point" anywhere.
In my life I've never heard of or read about an architect who deliberately angled a tee to deceive the golfer. There are lots of them about, but all are either a) built on a severe side slope where it's hard to align to the fairway, or b) a construction or maintenance mistake. Mowing lines do change over time, just through carelessness.
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4. Forward camber? A tilted fairway, whether "reverse" or not, encourages the player to play away from the intended target.
Do you mean they're playing away from the intended target to allow for a fade or draw on the approach, because of the sidehill lie? Or do you just mean playing toward the high side of a fairway so the ball will come back down to the middle?
I like the reverse camber even better because it allows the player a chance to counteract the slope with the shape of the tee shot. If you're playing up into the bank, trajectory has less effect.
I like the reverse camber shot better, too. But the opening post asked for ways the shots can be interesting without bunkers. I was thinking about the tee shot, playing to the high side, but you're right that it can have other consequences. I don't think you want to have many holes with a big banking side slope.
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I love speed slots for tee shots, one of the best examples is the hill you can catch on the left side of the fairway on 16 at Sand Hills.
I have discussed before the flat spots at Waveland in Des Moines.
Unlike the orthodoxy here, I do like a tree that requires you to start the ball on one direction or another. Because I hook the ball, I hardly notice them on the left but really am challenged when they are on the right.
The downside to these features is that they are not easily decipherable in one round of golf and do not really come out in photographs. They must be learned over multiple encounters.
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Tom -
At The Mines, there is a ridge/rise running across the fairway from left to right, at an angle: the carry over the left side of the ridge is shorter, the carry over the other side (the preferred line) gets progressively longer the further right you go. It's simple but effective: one time I went left and easily carried the ridge but didn't have much of a shot into the green; the next time I played I went right but didn't hit a good drive and failed to carry the ridge, so I had an uphill, semi-blind shot left.
At a local course, there's a deceptive tee shot that I don't like all that much (because I'm not good with visual confusion) but that I have to admit is effective and fair/playable: a kind of cape style hole except that you are (or seem to be) lining up at exactly a 90 degree angle to the fairway; the drive is over broken ground and marsh to a landing area that seems to stretch 'east to west' almost endlessly, but that seems to be only 10 yards wide 'north to south'. In truth, it doesn't stretch nearly that far (east to west) and is some 30+ yards wide (north to south). The tee shot gives our group fits every time, and terrible tee shots/flubs/topped shots often result -- but if you manage to put aside the visual confusion and just put a good easy swing on it with anything from a 4 iron to a driver, you find yourself always in the fairway.
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Downhill tee shots with plateaus that form flatter lies, making the player choose between (1) a shorter second shot off a downhill lie vs (2) a longer second off a flat lie.
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Carl
What you are describing is basically the first at NB without the slope. The basic decision is better lie versus closer to target.
Niall
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I love speed slots for tee shots, one of the best examples is the hill you can catch on the left side of the fairway on 16 at Sand Hills.
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The downside to these features is that they are not easily decipherable in one round of golf and do not really come out in photographs. They must be learned over multiple encounters.
I forgot about speed slots. I've only rarely seen it, but I love when the short hitter gets a speed slot that enables him to close the gap on the long hitter, instead of the long hitter getting to press his advantage even further. There are a couple at Royal Portrush ... I'm not sure how the hole numbers have changed. I tried to do the same on the 7th hole at Rock Creek.
P.S. That these things must be learned over time is NOT a downside.
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Tom -
At The Mines, there is a ridge/rise running across the fairway from left to right, at an angle: the carry over the left side of the ridge is shorter, the carry over the other side (the preferred line) gets progressively longer the further right you go.
One of my favorites is the ridge on the tee shot is the 4th hole at Bandon Trails. It's a big ridge, and not very subtle ... if you try to bite off too much, you've got a blind second shot, and if you don't hit a fade to the reverse-camber side, your drive tends to kick straight left. It's almost the opposite of a speed slot, really.
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Extreme width with just about nothing in sight - the "Where the hell do I aim?" factor - especially with something like this on the end - and if the person on the tee happens to hit one way left or way right it's pretty easy to find -
(http://i1311.photobucket.com/albums/s661/thomasdai/Screen%20Shot%202017-05-26%20at%2015.09.46_zpso8dids3t.jpg)
:)
atb
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The smart ass in me says ponds....lots and lots of ponds! ;D
For a serious answer, one of the more interesting tactics I've seen at a course here in Utah is, the landing areas are generally flat for short to medium short hitters. But once you get past 250+ yards, the designer put in heaving and rumpling ground features so the longer hitter would have a shorter shot, but a much higher chance that it would be on a sidehill/downhill/uphill kind of lie. But at the same time, they could also get a great kick in just the right spot on a downslope of one of the moguls and have a wedge approach.
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Tom, If you have forgot Riverfront is an example of almost every hole has some element of this.
The 15th hole is a good example. This is one of the picture post card holes at Riverfront in which the player may be distracted from the strategy.
The player can play the tee shot down the right side of the hole and get a clear open shot to the green, but the lie maybe uphill, downhill or hanging. The approach shot is always slightly blind because of the rolling terrain.
The tee shot down the left affords a level stance, but the approach shot requires a carry over a large difficult greenside bunker to the green that tends to run way toward the wetland.
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You would be my hero if you built something like the 14th at Pasatiempo.
Perhaps not as subtle as you were looking for, but I really like that tee shot.
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When I played Dormie, I noticed that the tee markers on a few holes were not on level lies. I mentioned it to the locals I was paired up with and they said that was intentional. Coore and Crenshaw built some of the tees with a slight cant to help the player shape a ball in the direction called for by the hole.
I have absolutely no idea if this is true, but it would be a subtle way to help the golfer play the hole in a better way.
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One of the better holes on our course is a short Par 4 with a semi-blind uphill tee shot. There is a hollow on the right side of the fairway that makes the left side/center a better line, but that line is more uphill so psychologically one tends to drift right (or in my case hit dead pulls left).
Does the prevailing wind off the sea at Ballybunion Number 11 count as a subtle design feature?
And of course to re-raise a long debated topic: how about the tree on number 4 at Mid Pines?
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P.S. That these things must be learned over time is NOT a downside.
I heartily agree from the standpoint of a quality golf course. I do think that such features get overlooked when one is attempting to advertise a course or is doing a hit and run tour of golf courses. I have grown to prefer a golf trip with multiple rounds over a great course to an attempt to play all of the courses in an area.
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Some of the best subtle tee shots I have come across are at Cleeve Cloud. The 5th readily comes to mind. The general slope of the fairway is right with gorse on the left. The fairway is not blatantly shaped to catch the drive on a good line, but the subtle shaping does just this.
One of my favorite subtle drives is to allow the green to be seen from the tee, but the direct line will rarely yield the best angle of attack. This describes Cleeve Cloud's 7th very well. It is also why I don't like the back tee, the temptation is removed when the green can't be seen.
Ciao
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How about a hogsback like at OM
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Two examples, same golf course - Desert Forest.
The 15th hole, par 4, has a left mound built into the side of the fairway, which (from the teebox) appears to narrow the fairway, although the fairway opens up beyond the mound, with a "speed slot" that can give 30-40 more yards to a tee shot that looks as if it will be off the fairway.
The next hole is a par 5 with a diagonal ridge traversing the fairway at the 3w landing area, and a tree further down the fairway (about 160 yds from the green). A well struck driver has a pretty long way to travel down the left fairway (245 carry from the members tees) to a landing area that kicks the ball left and off the grass. A well struck driver down the right (230 carry) can result in either a) a perfect tee shot, right center of the fairway, testing the meddle of the golfer to go for the green in two; or b) a shot that, if there is any right movement, can kick off the fairway.
Two consecutive tee shots that are serious risk/reward holes, late in the round.
Not a fairway bunker on either hole. But two tee shots that will really test strategy and ball striking ability.
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How about a hogsback like at OM
Hog's back, baby:
(https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4201/34871030916_1e0ff6215f_c.jpg)
(https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4251/34911605635_26452e760a_c.jpg)
Or what about a Bottle-type hole, like Hanse's 9th at French Creek:
(https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4246/34524643070_51bbc1215a_c.jpg)
(granted, this hole is heavily bunkered, but the tee should work work just as well without them, I think)
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A mild diagonal offset in the fairway lines, when everything else points you straight. It's remarkably unnerving, because you're just not sure how to adjust to the slight angle, particularly when there are no bunkers present to bring things back to obvious.
A diagonal crown through the landing leaves no obvious play
5th at Crystal is strongest example, but I always liked the 7th at Riviera which is far more subtle
It's not an obvious inclusion in a routing
Cross-fall like the 15th at Garden City, looks simple, plays much harder
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Two examples, same golf course - Desert Forest.
The 15th hole, par 4, has a left mound built into the side of the fairway, which (from the teebox) appears to narrow the fairway, although the fairway opens up beyond the mound, with a "speed slot" that can give 30-40 more yards to a tee shot that looks as if it will be off the fairway.
The next hole is a par 5 with a diagonal ridge traversing the fairway at the 3w landing area, and a tree further down the fairway (about 160 yds from the green). A well struck driver has a pretty long way to travel down the left fairway (245 carry from the members tees) to a landing area that kicks the ball left and off the grass. A well struck driver down the right (230 carry) can result in either a) a perfect tee shot, right center of the fairway, testing the meddle of the golfer to go for the green in two; or b) a shot that, if there is any right movement, can kick off the fairway.
Two consecutive tee shots that are serious risk/reward holes, late in the round.
Not a fairway bunker on either hole. But two tee shots that will really test strategy and ball striking ability.
And those follow the 14th, which is no slouch in terms of driving options!
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I was thinking Pasa 16 on the hogsback. Gawd I never tire looking at this hole or remembering playing it...
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MWxlhm9jzXU/TiMtqKO7nbI/AAAAAAAAAMk/7GKJoS58iqw/s1600/16th%252C%2BPasatiempo.JPG)
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Admittedly over my skis compared to the knowledge here, but I would put forth:
- an uphill blind tee shot. Not to be overused, but perhaps for one hole..?
- or, a downhill blind tee shot like the 17th at RDGC
Subtle? Perhaps not.
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I love speed slots for tee shots, one of the best examples is the hill you can catch on the left side of the fairway on 16 at Sand Hills.
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The downside to these features is that they are not easily decipherable in one round of golf and do not really come out in photographs. They must be learned over multiple encounters.
I forgot about speed slots. I've only rarely seen it, but I love when the short hitter gets a speed slot that enables him to close the gap on the long hitter, instead of the long hitter getting to press his advantage even further. There are a couple at Royal Portrush ... I'm not sure how the hole numbers have changed. I tried to do the same on the 7th hole at Rock Creek.
P.S. That these things must be learned over time is NOT a downside.
The awesome 7th at Mimosa Hills!
http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,35972.msg729862.html#msg729862 (http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,35972.msg729862.html#msg729862)
There's a super-cool thing relevant to this thread going on with the tee shot on the 8th at Kinloch but it's something best learned on one's own, over time.
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I played The Loop today, and my favorite tee shot there is the 8th hole of the Red course [though we played Black today]. The fairway angles left off a slope, and if you're going to hit driver, you have to either hit a bit of a draw or hang the tee shot out into space on the left side.
There are lots of older courses with tee shots like that, because they've grown to be that way, but you almost never see it on a new course because we all unconsciously try to put our landing areas on flat spots, rather than right in the middle of a slope. But I sort of stumbled into it on The Loop because we couldn't always put the tees where we wanted for play in one direction or the other -- and I like it. I hope I can build a hole like it now and again deliberately. :)
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A tee offset from the hole is a nice change of pace. Aligning the tee on one side of the fairway rather than on the centerline creates strategy.
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Illogical bunkering which creates a false line of charm. Basically defending an area that doesn't need to be defended.
I found the opposite of this at Seattle CC. Knew nothing specific about the 1st hole, dogleg right but a sand trap was on the outside corner. My tee shot finished a few yards away and was in perfect position to approach the green.
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(http://golfclubatlas.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/1933.jpg)
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TPC Sawgrass, for me the side of the fairway that fit my eye was not where I wanted to be.
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In my life I've never heard of or read about an architect who deliberately angled a tee to deceive the golfer. There are lots of them about, but all are either a) built on a severe side slope where it's hard to align to the fairway, or b) a construction or maintenance mistake. Mowing lines do change over time, just through carelessness.
Really?
For the last 100 years or so, the tee box on the long 7th at Reddish Vale has pointed towards the bunkers 200 yards out, rather than a few degrees left, down the middle of the fairway. Members are not fazed by it, but it is always amusing to see guests and visitors deceived into trouble. Particularly if there is money at stake!
There is no reason to suspect that this is not an original feature.
(http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg157/dantovey/RV7_zpsiwlbobdn.jpg) (http://s247.photobucket.com/user/dantovey/media/RV7_zpsiwlbobdn.jpg.html)
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Are we moving away from the word 'subtle' in the subject post?
atb
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Are we moving away from the word 'subtle' in the subject post?
atb
Si
Ciao
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I like holes that offer choices...and choices that may not be self-evident first time around. The "obvious" play, based on Strategic Design 101, is not necessarily the best play. The architect invites an impulsive reading of the hole, only to teach the player a lesson in considering alternatives. I will give two examples from the Pacific Northwest, my home region. The 6th hole on Pronghorn Fazio is a 410 yd dogleg left around a bunker. Bunker is at an angle to the tee shot with the nearest corner of the bunker about 240 yds from the tee. A creek runs up left side of fairway until it passes the bunker where it continues through the fairway, ultimately hugging the right side of the green. When you first see the hole, you think the ideal play is over the corner of the bunker, leaving about 120 yds to the green. Not bad at all...but the green is triangular, with the narrow portion at the front. Having hit the "ideal" tee shot described above, the approach to a front flag is challenging, even if only 120 yds. The green is quite narrow from that angle, with creek in front and bunker behind...and play out of bunker is steeply downhill. The alternative tee shot is to hit a hybrid about 230 yds short of the bunker, essentially between the bunker and the creek. From there the shot to the green is about 150 yds, but the angle for the approach is much better. So what seems to be the obvious strategy...reward long, accurate shot over bunker...is not necessarily the best play. An accurate, shorter layup can work even better. A similar setup exists on 497 yd, par 4 5th at Gamble Sands. The tee shot plays up over hill and diagonal bunker, running up right side. Playing it for the first time, you think you will be rewarded for biting off as much of the diagonal bunker as you can. And, in fact, a well-struck drive on that line hits a downward slope, easily running out to about the 300 yd mark. But you end up having an almost 200 yd shot to the green from a sloping lie...and it is blind. The alternative play off the tee is to play over the nearer end of the diagonal bunker, up the left side of the fairway. A bunker lurks there, but there is a speed slot if you avoid the bunker...and a flatter lie and better angle for your approach.
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I was about to offer blindness, or semi blindness in the next shot but you beat me to it. I recall I hole at Long Cove where the green is protected by a large dune, and you need to hug the right to see around it...
Tom -
At The Mines, there is a ridge/rise running across the fairway from left to right, at an angle: the carry over the left side of the ridge is shorter, the carry over the other side (the preferred line) gets progressively longer the further right you go.
One of my favorites is the ridge on the tee shot is the 4th hole at Bandon Trails. It's a big ridge, and not very subtle ... if you try to bite off too much, you've got a blind second shot, and if you don't hit a fade to the reverse-camber side, your drive tends to kick straight left. It's almost the opposite of a speed slot, really.
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It is interesting that our course that underwent a major redesign had two reverse camber tee shots greatly remodelled. One I agreed with as it was a long shot to get to the corner of a slight dogleg and everything kicked into the trees unless you could hit a 230m hard draw. The other was a fade shot but on a much shorter hole and was changed to a semi split fairway with the high side the same level as the green and the other low so the green was above eye level.
I quite like the drop off at the end of the fairway. The 8th at Pebble is obviously not subtle but I do like the 9th at Cape Kidnappers and the 4th at The Lakes in Sydney and 11th at Royal Adelaide where a waste area or rough limits the length you can hit.
I might be in the minority with this one but a big tree on the inside corner of a tree lined dogleg that creates a sort box you have to hit into is interesting as it is not often that you are asked to hit a specific distance front and back.
Put me down as another one that hates tees that point you at the trees...
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I like the unpredictability of a wavy irregular surface. I know that isn't thought to be the best approach because there should be some logical reason for each contour, but a firm sloped green that favors an approach from a certain side of the fwy matched up with an uneven lie, even when you hit the proper side, will test their game and their patience.
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It's not subtle, but the tee shot on #18 had two (now just one) trees in the right center of the fairway to pester those playing away from the cliff.
I love the 10th tee shot at Ballyneal with the "bowl of despair" on the left, especially because of the counterpoint offered by the 16th and its "bowl of achievement."
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4. Forward camber? A tilted fairway, whether "reverse" or not, encourages the player to play away from the intended target.
Do you mean they're playing away from the intended target to allow for a fade or draw on the approach, because of the sidehill lie? Or do you just mean playing toward the high side of a fairway so the ball will come back down to the middle?
I like the reverse camber even better because it allows the player a chance to counteract the slope with the shape of the tee shot. If you're playing up into the bank, trajectory has less effect.
I like the reverse camber shot better, too. But the opening post asked for ways the shots can be interesting without bunkers. I was thinking about the tee shot, playing to the high side, but you're right that it can have other consequences. I don't think you want to have many holes with a big banking side slope.
Reverse camber can be brutal, for example the 3rd at the Lakeside Course at Olympic. If you hit one down the center with no right to left spin, your second shot up the hill feels like it's 400 yards! 17 is the same way, maybe not as dastardly.
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Don,
I'm assuming you are talking about Royal Canberra. 12 was an awful tee shot (think 14 at Augusta with trees coming out 20 yards onto the fairway) and needed some alteration. 5 was always a poor hole in our view - the tee shot was shortish and blind to a reverse camber fairway with mounds and rough at the far end of it but well within reach. Moving the tee made it better because you have to fade the tee shot or hug the trees on the right to keep it up on the high fairway from where the shot is easier than from the bottom level. And it should be looked at as a part of the three hole alteration to 4,5 and 6. 6 is better for taking the tee back to the original position and 4 is a pretty decent hole too IMO.
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May have been mentioned, but a tree overhanging part way at 320-350 yards off the tee. If you get indifferent with your tee shot and get partially behind the tree, you have to deal with it, even if there are no fairway hazards.
I recall a discussion on these years ago, where some club had decided to change all fairway behind such a tree to rough, since you "should have an open shot from the fairway". Tom D remarked that it would be even a harder shot to enforce that idea.
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Don,
I'm assuming you are talking about Royal Canberra. 12 was an awful tee shot (think 14 at Augusta with trees coming out 20 yards onto the fairway) and needed some alteration. 5 was always a poor hole in our view - the tee shot was shortish and blind to a reverse camber fairway with mounds and rough at the far end of it but well within reach. Moving the tee made it better because you have to fade the tee shot or hug the trees on the right to keep it up on the high fairway from where the shot is easier than from the bottom level. And it should be looked at as a part of the three hole alteration to 4,5 and 6. 6 is better for taking the tee back to the original position and 4 is a pretty decent hole too IMO.
Mike - correct
12 definitely needed some work and I like the changes, the dynamics of the back nine have changed a little now as 12 for me plays the easiest where as before it was the equal of 14 and 16 in difficulty but it balances well.
5 is a tricky one for me. I have played the front 9 more than 100 times now and find 4,5,6 is disappointing compared to what it was. I understand it is returning to the original design and 5 is a better hole now although I didn't think the camber was such an issue on that hole as it is pretty short compared to 12 (wedge v 6 iron), agree that the mounds and fairway did need widening though.
I find 4 is a strange one and would like to understand it better. The effective width of the fairway is very narrow given trees on both sides and I understand that these couldn't be removed. This worked well as a par 5 as it took 2 good shots to set up a pitch or maybe on a good day get on in 2. Now with the false front it is extremely difficult (even as someone playing off 1) to hit as most are hitting long irons from a downhill lie to a green that is at level if not a bit higher. The bunkers left catch everything left of centre and anything short wont get up and anything on the front feeds off the green to the same spot on the right. I still struggle with the playability of the second shot given the bunker closer to the green but just try and get up and down every week.
The 4th and 6th were 2 of my favourite holes previously and now are 2 of my least favourite. 6 is good for what it is but it is really just drive, lay up wedge every week, the bunker on the left of the green works really well for catching over zealous big hitters though. Apart from that love the changes and think the course is a much more balanced test of the game.
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Don,
I'd played the original 6th and found when they moved the tee forward it always seemed like you were hitting through the corner and onto the downslope to be then confronted by a long iron into a small green - all as a par 4.
I agree 4 would be improved by tree removal especially on the left.It's a pity but I still like it more than the old hole. One of the issues was those three greens - 4,5 and 6 - were always distinguishable from the original greens.
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;D
I'm all for limiting distance advantage thru architecture but its not easy in the age of bomb and gouge.
What strikes me as really interesting is when a monster drive remains in the fairway but is left with an awkward lie. Whether it be by design or by sheer luck as is often the case with classic age designs. The hanging lie is really good , even if it seems microscopic in degree. It adds an element of skill to a shot and negates some of the huge advantages produced by the new equipment advances .
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What strikes me as really interesting is when a monster drive remains in the fairway but is left with an awkward lie. Whether it be by design or by sheer luck as is often the case with classic age designs. The hanging lie is really good , even if it seems microscopic in degree. It adds an element of skill to a shot and negates some of the huge advantages produced by the new equipment advances .
Archie:
That's not really luck. Most holes are designed so the player will land on an upslope ... but if they were designed 75-100 years ago, long hitters today are going past the design point, and often that means they're left with a hanging lie on the other side of the contour.
I noticed this happened a couple of times on my reversible course, The Loop ... because it was harder to control the tee locations and landing areas for both directions at once, there are a couple of holes where you have to play to a downslope, or around the corner of a short dogleg. I think it's a really cool feature; now I just have to figure out how to re-train myself to do it deliberately on occasion.
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Tom, how about the 3rd at Pebble Beach before the installed the fairway bunkers? I find an angled fairway with no clear target to be the most subtle of all tee shots. Seems like we're always tempted to bite off more than we can chew and blame any shot through the fairway as unfair architecture.
Mike
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I also like the cut and fill angled fairway like the Alps hole at National Golf Links of America, even without the bunker. It's a highly underrated tee shot given the drama that follows.
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Michael:
No doubt that an angled fairway [or a curving fairway] is a terrific device. One of the reasons I don't like tree-lined courses so much is that they hardly ever leave room for such things.
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Angled, curved (a la boomerang shape) and even zig zag cuts can all be interesting.