Athens Country Club Picture Preview

[RE Blanks]

Here are some pictures of the Athens Country Club (Ross 18) that some of the participants of the Cuscowilla outing will be playing on Friday.  

#1 - 439 yards - Slight Dogleg right.  


Taken from behind the 1st green.  Green slopes from back right to front left.  


#2 - 394 yards. Hole moves from right to left.  Picture here is the approach from app. 150 yards.


#5 - 177 yards.  Par 3 to elevated two tiered green with raised front.


Photo taken from the left side of the 5th green.  


#6 - 443 yards.  Dogleg left.  The two fairway bunkers are approx. 260 - 275 yards out.


Photo here is just beyond the two fairway bunkers about 180 yards out.  The approach is played over a ravine to elavated green.


Photo taken from the ravine area with the green approx. 35 feet above.


#7 - 408 yards - Photo taken from the 7th tee.  Two carts are approx 230 yards from the tee.  


#8 - 176 yards par three


#10 - 457 yards.  Slight dogleg right downhill.  Lake must be crossed on approach to the uphill green.


Taken from behind the 10th green


#11 - 445 yards.  


Uphill approach to the tiny narrow 11th green.  


#12 - 218 yards.  Photo taken from behind the tee.


Taken from left side of the 12th green.  Green slopes from back to front.


#13 - 375 yards.  Semiblind approach to green sloped from right to left.  Shot hit to the right will feed to the bottom left.


13th green from approx. 100 yards out.


15 - 419 yards.  Right side of the green.  Green slopes from back to front with a top and bottom shelf.  


Taken from behind the 15th.  Here you can see the two tiers of the green.  No bunkers.


#16 - 588 yards.  From behind the green looking down the narrow fairway.


#18 - 399 yards - Dogleg right.  Tee shot should clear the hill and feed down the slope to the right leaving an approach of approx. 180 to 160 yards.    



Approach to the uphill 18th.

[Brent Hutto]

I love that first hole. Was the camera level for this picture? The photo looks like the fairway tilts right to left, reverse cambered from the dogleg to the right. But the tilt in the behind-the-green shot is the other way. Either way it's a classic opening hole.

I also like the approach shot to #2 with the hole cut behind the bunker on the lower side of the green. Makes it interesting to get the ball below the hole there, no?

Is that the clubhouse behind the #6 green?

Looks like #6 and #11 are all the Par 4 you'd want to handle.

The approach to #13 is beautiful. That hole wouldn't look out of place at Cuscowilla.

The 18th hole reminds me of the home hole at Mid-Pines.

Thanks so much for posting the pictures. Were they taken this year?

[Bill_McBride]

Eric, thanks for the good photos of Athens CC, a 1925 Donald Ross gem which some 30 GCAers will enjoy playing next Friday before heading down to Cuscowilla.  Athens is a solid challenge, with stout par 4s, three lengthy par 3s and one nifty drop shot, and good conditioning.  #7 will remind fans of #15 at Cuscowilla except a good 30 yards shorter.

As discussed in the Capilano thread earlier, there are two holes which are no longer par 5 length, #6 and #10, no room to push the tees back farther, so I think the annual Southern Intercollegiate plays them as par 4s.  Don't look at the scorecard and just enjoy; they are both solid holes regardless of the scorecard.

Thanks to Mike Young for putting the Athens segment together; the contrast between classic classic Athens CC and modern classic Cuscowilla should engender some good discussion!

[Tommy Williamsen]

Eric, thanks for the pictures.  I wish I were coming.

[RE Blanks]

Brent, The photos were taken yesterday during the Georgia Florida game.  Only one group of ladies on the course.  # 6 plays as a par 5 for the members but #11 is a par 4 and is the toughest on the course.  During the Georgia State amatuer this year both #6 and #10 were played as par 4s.  The winning score was even par.  And yes you can see the clubhouse behind the 6th green and #1  

[JakaB]

Thanks Blanks...from the pics this course should be the hit of the trip...I will personally club the first DRS member up side the head that trys to recommend Prichard for any reno work...

[Scott_Burroughs]

John,

If you play Athens CC on Friday, check out the oblique aerial shot of the club taken many years ago.  There were very few trees and about 2-3 times more bunkers on the course.  Now the club is ways too overtreed.  If you see that aerial after playing the course and don't think that it would be a major improvement to put the course in it's original form....and no, I'm not in the DRS.

[jeffwarne]

I worked on the course maintenance crew in 1984-85 at Athens CC,so I'm looking forward to seeing this classic again this weekend.
I see where 6 and 10 have been changed to par 4s.
If they simply changed the pars and not reduced the lengths,I'm OK since that means nothing.
My pet peeve is SHORTENING easy par 5s(and calling them par 4s) to make the course tougher in relation to par(but actually slightly easier to shoot a lower number-when was the last time somebody asked you "how many over were you?",as opposed to "what did you shoot?").
To say nothing of reducing the length and changing the angle of a difficult approach which may allow allow a more skilled to separate himself from the rest.Of course modern equipment has already altered this equation.
We could of course reduce all holes to 300 yard par 3s and nobody would break par-the USGA might go for this
Both 6 and 11 were great holes before,regardless of their par,I hope they're not more FAIR now.

[jeffwarne]

I of course meant both 6 and 10-
11 is and was a par 4

[Brent Hutto]

Both 6 and 11 were great holes before,regardless of their par,I hope they're not more FAIR now.

Great phrasing, Jeff. Here's to the unfair nature of golf.

There are a couple of holes at my home course that if someone asks me, I'll say "I hate that hole". But when I'm thinking about tomorrow's round those are the holes I look forward to because I figure that's going to be the day I figure out a way to play them better.

To me a difficult, tricky, unfair or unusual hole is a can't lose proposition. If I make a bad score, it's because it's an unfair hole. If I make a good score, it's because I figured out a way to whip it that day. Conversely, on most holes if you make a bad score it's because you hit a couple of bad shots and you have only yourself to blame. Or something like that...

[BCrosby]

The original Ross field drawings and most of his finished drawings for the ACC still exist. We also have aerials from about 1938, giving a pretty good idea of what the course looked like when it was built.

It was designed to have approximately 90 bunkers, several of which were grass.

Only about 30 of those bunkers survive. Virtually none of his fairway bunkers are still there.

What were once angular, irregular greens shapes - designed to maximize the effect of various green side bunkers and contours - have now all been rounded off.

The most changed holes are nos. 8 and 17, both par threes, and no. 14, now a very bland par 4.

14 is the weakest hole on the course. It has almost nothing to do with the original Ross drawings. As built it was probably the best short par four on the course. It now has little character or interest.

No. 18 was designed to be a par five, with the original tee next to the 17th green. About 1954 the tee was moved forward and it has played as a very odd par 4 since.

On the other hand there are lots of terrific holes still there. My favorites are 7, 11, 12, 13, 15 and 16. I think 18 would have been a terrific par 5.

Enjoy the ACC. Keep in mind that with a little informed care it could be something special.

Bob  

[RJ_Daley]

From the comments, there ought to be plenty to discuss after playing this course.  After reading Bob Crosby's post, I imagine there will be a great deal of distraction to these GCA fanatics looking for all the hidden indications of the original Ross design.  I guess the one picture Mr Blanks provides that would seem to be an obvious point of controversy is the straight line of trees separating 15-16.  I hope we can see the aerial photo mentioned above to see how that was designed without the tree plantings.   It looks like the old CCCs of the depression era may have been in the Athens area with the plantings.  The comment on the loss of green shapes and surrounds is interesting and sounds typical of where one should focus attention.

[BCrosby]

I would add that the ACC has hosted numerous state amateurs and major college golf tournaments and held up well over the years. Fine players can go low at ACC, but no one does so on a consistent basis.  

It's good holes are very good indeed.

It's mediocre holes (and there aren't many) are - in my humble opinion - easily fixable/restorable by someone with  imagination and a feel for Donald Ross.


Bob  

[JakaB]

It's mediocre holes (and there aren't many) are - in my humble opinion - easily fixable/restorable by someone with  imagination and a feel for Donald Ross.

Wouldn't it be a slam dunk to hire Mike Young for any reno/resto work the club needs.....or do you find members to be to close to the situation.