There are many who view St. Enodoc in near mystic reverance. Whether the affection is deeply planted and spiritual because of the Norman church on the property or if it just for the spirtual nature a great golf course can give--it is irrelevant--it is one of the special places in the game.
I've visited several times inspired by both Doak and Steel but moreover by John Betjeman. Russell Talley and I meandered over the property near the summer soltice at 9pm in a scene out of the Good, the Bad and the Ugly where Tuco is searching for the gold in a single minded, ecstactic trance. It was then that Russell nicknamed me Tuco because of the way I ran around St. Enodoc. My wanderings and love of the course resulted in an article for Neil Crafter's Golf Architecture.
The 16th hole was one of the great short par 5 links holes I've played. Totally natural and short at 495 yards, it was a wonderful incendiary hole to a great finish. The land rippled like ocean tides especially in the landing area and a speed slot could be reached by a tender fade eaving a short approach and chance for eagle. When Paul Turner and I visited a few years back, I was able to execute 2 shot and hole a 3. The pictures below show the original green site which was ringed in between some wonderful natural dunes--the perfect setting for a links hole. The ball is where I landed before knocking in the Eagle.
But alas, no more. The club hired Peter McEvoy to do renovation work around the club and add some length.. To a Par 69 golf course that was 6200 yards and a course record of 64 no less! My jibe is not to insult or disrespect the club nor the architect for I have not seen the work outside of what is published in the St. Enodoc magazine.. Just go to their website, there is an article in the magazine about how the club thought the hole became too short in summer with birdies galore evident by the big hitters.. A fair critique--maybe, but what have they done? The new green is I believe 40 yards back of the old and now has bunkers protecting it-- I would have though they at least kept the hole bunkerless. And if some of the long knockers were hitting driver 9 iron or wedge in summer time I don't see what hitting driver 6 or 7 iron now is really going to accomplish. Enodoc is not going to have any pro events, maybe some nice Amateurs but all they needed to do was make it a par 68 for that or make the very difficult 10th a par 5... Oh well, maybe I just have sour grapes and should see the work but do note some of the past work on some of the holes there (the new 13th green) has not been totally well received. To each their own..