Erin Hills (the Bye Hole)

[Jason Blasberg]

Here's the Bye Hole.  Some more holes and photos to follow this weekend.



This hole has tees from 164 to 137 from several different angles. The back right pin is in a TINY green space.  The yardage book states:

"The Bye hole may be played by every golfer, subject to their pace of play.  Quite often the Bye hole may be used for tournamentsat Erin Hills replacing the Dell Hole."

That's the 18th green in the distance.

[Jason Blasberg]

Here's the Bye hole from behind the green,

[Jeff Doerr]

That's the one I'd want to play!

The mowed flat section between the bunkers on the left has a cool path feel/function.

The front pin looks tough if you miss it in the first bunker on the left. Is the drop behind that pin as strong as it looks?

It looks like great mix of easy bogey/hard par if you miss the surface due to wind or an errant swing.

[Phil McDade]

Jason:

I've heard some compare this hole in approach to the Postage Stamp at Troon. One of the virtues of that hole, it seems, is the "back and forthing" that can occur when a golfer is in a bunker on one side of the green, and -- because of its narrowness -- risks playing into a bunker on the other side of the green. Which, of course, makes one tentative in getting out of the bunker in the first place, risking a third or fourth shot to extricate your ball. (I think this is how Tiger played it once in the '97 Open...)

Does the Bye hole replicate those choices/dilemmas in any way? Any estimate on the square footage of the green? It reminds me a bit of the 12th at Whistling Straits, a short par 3 which has something of an hour-glass green, angled like a NADER, with a tiny back right pin position hard by Lake Michigan.

[Dave Bourgeois]

Has does the Bye compare to 2 or 20?

[Jason Blasberg]

Jason:

I've heard some compare this hole in approach to the Postage Stamp at Troon. One of the virtues of that hole, it seems, is the "back and forthing" that can occur when a golfer is in a bunker on one side of the green, and -- because of its narrowness -- risks playing into a bunker on the other side of the green. Which, of course, makes one tentative in getting out of the bunker in the first place, risking a third or fourth shot to extricate your ball. (I think this is how Tiger played it once in the '97 Open...)

Does the Bye hole replicate those choices/dilemmas in any way?  

I went back and forth on the Bye Hole, it is very narrow.  

[Jason Blasberg]

Has does the Bye compare to 2 or 20?

It's too elevated to compare directly and it's not as exhilerating a shot because you see the entire green whereas the "over-the-edge" aspect to 2 or 20 makes it special.  The green also doesn't have near the front to back tilt that 2 or 20 has.