90 degress and humid, let's head to Nantucket (pics)

[Mike Sweeney]

The day started out at Sankaty Head. Our host for the day has been going to Nantucket for 50 years and has been full time for 7. Sankaty Head was a reflection of our gracious host.

1st hole starts off into the wind of 25 mph. Sankaty is NOT a short course in the wind.



Mystery on #2


The Sankaty Head Lighthouse will be moving to the orange stakes area due to erosion. no change to any holes.




Skip Wogan of Mr. Moore's Hall of Fame keeps things very low profile


The course reminds you of Shinnecock including the clubhouse which looms over the course from a variety of places on the course







The Short par 4 9th


As much as I love Newport CC, staying here for the summer in the caddy housing will happen in my next life.




The 18th from the 12 hole




The afternoon round will be at nearby Nantucket Golf Club















Sankaty Head opens up to public play in early October. My advice is simple, get on a boat and go play it and your wife/girlfriend will be very happy in town shopping.

After lunch with the hospitality of Mark Lucas via Steve Curry, we head to Nantucket Golf Club.

[Brad Tufts]

Jeez...being a member at a supposed Skip Wogan course (although probably more attributable to W. Stiles), Sankaty has always been one high on my wish list.  I can't wait to get out there some Oct.

Just looking at the pics, I can't imagine another course I have not played that will be such a slam dunk once I finally get out there.

[Patrick_Mucci]

Mike,

Thanks for the pictures.

Are there prevailing winds and if so, how much do they influence play ?

Was the course designed with the prevailing winds as a foundation ?

[RJ_Daley]

that place has relaxation written all over it!  

[Scott_Burroughs]

Mike,

Thanks for the pics.  I don't think I'd ever seen ground pics of Sankaty Head before.

As to your comment on the course not playing short in the
wind, are there more into-the-wind holes than downwind
holes?  They often balance out, but I know what your sayin'.

[SPDB]

Pat -
For most of the year, the prevailing winds are westerly, hence the quickly eroding bluff on which Sankaty Light (and probably hundreds of millions of dollars in real estate) sits, necessitating its relocation. I've never felt the course
was designed with the prevailing wind in mind, in fact several
of the longer holes move in an easterly direction (you can
always tell because you'll be playing toward the Light).  

[Jim_Kennedy]

Mike,
You don't have any photos showing the trees!!! As I recall there is one that's almost in play.  

Nice pix

[Bob_Huntley]

Mike,

Get George Soros to pony up and put those telephone/power poles underground.

Bob

[Jfaspen]

Is the lake in one of the pictures a natural or artificial hazard?  It seems out of place with the rest of the course.

Otherwise, very nice pictures and what looks to be a fun but windy golfing experience.

jf

[PThomas]

great pics...I wish I was there cause it's humid here!

[Mike Sweeney]

Ok we are warming up and so far we have:

* power lines

* take out the trees

* artificial lakes

* prevailing winds and erosion knocking out the working class lobstermen from their cliffside homes.

Next up Rees Jones!!

[M. Shea Sweeney]

sweeeet

been interested in Sankaty Head for a while, what a very cool quiet place.

[Mike Sweeney]

Similar to the Maine Island Golf Tour, there are certain places on earth that need to be experienced, and Nantucket Island is one of them.

http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forums2/index.php?board=1;action=display;threadid=25025;start=msg465557#msg465557

We were told by our Sankaty host that he often plays at the now 18 hole Miacomet GC which is "quite good." In between Nantucket GC and Sankaty is Siasconset Golf Course where we saw a father and his 4-5 year old out playing a quick nine holes. Nantucket wins the battle between Nantucket Island and Martha's Vineyard golf.

I really mean this when I say that I did not see the power lines out there. The wind shifted both speed and direction between rounds, so the concept of prevailing wind 30 miles out at sea is a relative term on Nantucket. If the rounds were flipped from Nantucket to Sankaty, I think Sankaty could have been a low round for me.

This trip was started when I bought a raffle ticket to Steve Curry's Turfgrass Auction last winter. If you have a $100 million or so to invest in a hedge fund, I will guess that you can find a way onto Nantucket GC. However at this stage of life, I will advice that you invest in Steve's raffle as a cheaper alternative.  

Our host was Nantucket GC Super Mark Lucas. Between a very busy weekend, finishing a complete bunker re-do and with his wife getting ready to have their first baby on the mainland, Mark made the time to say hello and walk a few holes with us.

He is truely interested in people's opinion's (even hit and runners!) so if we can be constructive, Mark contributes here too!

One other note, it is not necessary to state that the bunkers are too white and the grass is too green. IT IS THE GROW IN STAGE! Please go see Merion today and pull up an old thread. It takes time!

Enough with the caveats, here is the Nantucket contrast of old and new:

Hole #1





Avery nice short 4





Rees does centerline bunkers









Cabins for overnight stays between the 9th and 10th holes for those not wanting to drop $10 million on a cottage







Sankaty Head appears to sit higher, and it does. As such, I would guess that it catches more wind on some days





Looking up to 18 clubhouse SH lighthouse









A nice short 4







17 was my favorite hole at NGC. The best approach to the pin is from the right side fairway close to the bunkers. He moved some dirt around the green and edges to make it more interesting than some of the green sites at Sankaty. At the same time he keep the bunkering to strategic rather than cosmetic.



Mullen, Nebraska is 1800 miles west, yet it has similar vistas. With views like this, why so much bunkering? That is my one main critique of the course. I love the contrast between the two courses, but I did think the natural land could replace some of the bunkering at Nantucket GC. Of course I am also lobbying my friend at Hollywood GC to add back in about 50 "lost" bunkers, so the GCA Double Standard continues!  



18



Thanks again to Mark.

[Steve Curry]

Mike,

Glad you had a great trip!  I see both friends, Chris and Mark are keeping nice and dry.  Great photos and I will have to comment more later as I am preparing for my own meeting about bunkers.

Cheers,
Steve

[Joe Hancock]

Mike,

You've given me an opportunity to state my preferences in terms of mowing habits:

Nantucket pictures show a much more tolerable visual in the fairway mow patterns vs. Sankaty. The difference? They're both the "up and back" or "ying yang" pattern, but at Sankaty, it appears they're going for drama points by burning in the ying yang. The pictures at Nantucket allow the fairways to sort of just bleed out or melt out into the roughs, then into the natives.....much more pleasing to my eye.

Once again, not an architectural thing as much as it is presentation. Thanks for the pics, you lucky guy!

Joe

[Pete Lavallee]

Good point Joe, it looks like you would want
to aim for the down grain stripe at Sankaty
for an easier shot and more roll.

Thanks for sharing the pictures Mike; strang
but neither of these courses look much like
anything on Cape Cod; although they did seem
similar to some pictures just recently posted of
Hyannisport.

[ChipRoyce]

I have to say that the Nantucket Bunkers seem so over the top. I don't see why they needed to have so much "flash" to them and have such extreme contours, in contrast to Sankaty

[Mike Sweeney]

I have to say that the Nantucket Bunkers seem so over the top. I don't see why they needed to have so much "flash" to them and have such extreme contours, in contrast to Sankaty

I was told that the bunkers are still a work in progress, meaning nearly all will still be edged throughout the summer.   Some bunkers will be changed entirely, like the pot bunker in the middle of #13 approach.  They plan on them having more of a natural edge, instead of smooth lines that are present now.  

But, one of the main goals of the project was to make the holes more strategic from the tees and fairways.  I don't know what was there before, but there were lots of options from the tees. Also, most of the bunkers have entry points that the ball will easily find if a shot is errant.

In contrast to your point above here is an example of Rees going low profile in comparison to a flashier neighbor. Again I like contrast between courses, it was the number of bunkers that I had questions:

Rees at MPCC 13



13th at Cypress

[Steve Curry]

Joe,

It looks as though Mark had reversed direction, thereby muting the contrast.  Maybe Mark will chime in.  

Just as it was at TPC of Boston the other day, so to with NGC.  I wish I have a better idea of before.

Cheers,
Steve