There I was yesterday, having to leave the PGA championship for a round of forgettable golf at a Ted Robinson 'masterpiece' called Tijeras Creek in 'beautiful' Rancho Santa Margarita.
So I get out there expecting the usual TR drivel of boring boring holes, faux waterfalls and the front nine turns out to be pretty good, with several Scottish style pot bunkers (I was in two of them during the round and actually almost made par both times). So we get to the back nine, which we were told was in a canyon and 'really interesting' (always a trouble sign) and the 10th was actually a decent hole, a dogleg left with a pond fronting the left side of the green-this was followed by a nice par 5.
So, I'm feeling pretty good about this and we drive up to the 12th hole-which I look at and immediately decide-of all the courses Ted Robinson has ever built, this has to be the worst effin hole of all time-picture a somewhat elevated tee, dogleg left, with a barranca on the left, a fairway no more than 20 yards wide, and.......OB to the right as it falls into the canyon. you basically have no place to drive the ball, nothing to gauge wtf to hit it, nothing-just a barrance on the left, and a hill on the right with OB beyond it. So I took driver out, hit it right, over the hill, OB, marked down a 6 and went to the next tee. So, there's one for Teddy
So, figure maybe this is one hole they had to shoehorn into the property, and it would have made a good 200 yard uphill par 3, but then we got to the first par 3 on the back, a downhill 175 yard hole where you almost can't see the green because of all the growth of brush and trees between tee and green. So, there's two for Teddy.
Of course, in addition to these atrocities, you had the usual Teddy layout of having to drive long distances between holes and huge elevation changes-I guess he specializes in taking properties with enough property for 9 holes and building the other nine on top a mountain.
So, Mr. Robinson, you almost convinced me that I could play a course of yours and have a good time. Thanks for having enough crap out there to take that thought away