[Bill_McBride]

This is from a 1926 Golf Illustrated article authored by Chick Evans where he describes improvements made to the No. 3 Course at White Sulpher Springs.

The tenth is considered one of the best driving holes on the course. It is
an adaptation of the Biarritz hole in France, meaning an extremely narrow
entrance to a well-trapped green.

Interesting that he mentions neither a heroic carry nor a trench in the green.


Anthony

What questions?   

[Jim Nugent]

Oh well, I know a lost cause when I see one...

[Phil_the_Author]

JIm,

This is for you...

Tony, the key is Chick's use of the word "adaptation." It seems that he was saying that this was the "extremely narrowed entrance to a well-trapped green" portion of the design.

That article also mentioned other features borrowed from overseas. For example, "Another type is found on No. 5, which is a road hole taken from the famous St. Andrews..."

And "The short seventeenth, of Scottish Redan descent, is also interesting. The spacious green is on a plateau, diagonally from the tee, necessitating great accuracy of direction..."

[ANTHONYPIOPPI]

I don't think I've ever seen a Biarritz that I would describe as having an "extremely narrow entrance." I also wonder why there is no mention of it being a long hole, or of the green having a swale in it."

Anthony

[Kyle Harris]

I don't think I've ever seen a Biarritz that I would describe as having an "extremely narrow entrance." I also wonder why there is no mention of it being a long hole, or of the green having a swale in it."

Anthony

Anthony,

It may depend on what portion of the Biarritz is being described as green. Aren't there biarritz greens with the back tier maintained as green that have the bunkers pinching in at the swale? When I first read the quote, the thought I've been having about the biarritz green lately became a bit more concrete to me.

I believe that Macdonald used the swale to somewhat mimick that chasm of the Chasm Hole at Biarritz, and that the front portion maintained as fairway was meant to be a bail out for lesser skilled players. If someone chose to shoot for the green, he had to deal with the chasm and the bunkers.

Just my 3 cents (had to adjust for inflation).

[Jim Nugent]

So Kyle, you don't think the original Biarritz green had that swale, either right in front of it or as part of it?

That makes 9 at Yale a "double" Biarritz.  It has the chasm (the pond) and the swale to boot.   Any other Biarritz holes like that?   

[Kyle Harris]

So Kyle, you don't think the original Biarritz green had that swale, either right in front of it or as part of it?

That makes 9 at Yale a "double" Biarritz.  It has the chasm (the pond) and the swale to boot.   Any other Biarritz holes like that?   

Are we talking about the original chasm hole at the Biarritz course in France or the first few Biarritzs built as templates?

I'm thinking MacRayBanks eventually started making variations, but the original idea was to have the back tier only cut as green. Wasn't Yale one of the later day Biarritzs?

[ANTHONYPIOPPI]

Only the back portion of the the ninth at Yale was originally green:

This is from the Hartford Courant, 1925:

"The ninth holes is over the northwestern end of the Greist pond and has its original on the Biarritz course in France.

"The green proper is behind a deep groove in the approach which is of about the same area as the green. The approach is bunkered heavily heavily on the right and left and the fairway is the lake. This holes is one of the most interesting of the course and is deceptive because of the full water play, although the holes is not a long one."

[Jim Nugent]

So Kyle, you don't think the original Biarritz green had that swale, either right in front of it or as part of it?

That makes 9 at Yale a "double" Biarritz.  It has the chasm (the pond) and the swale to boot.   Any other Biarritz holes like that?   

Are we talking about the original chasm hole at the Biarritz course in France or the first few Biarritzs built as templates?

I'm thinking MacRayBanks eventually started making variations, but the original idea was to have the back tier only cut as green. Wasn't Yale one of the later day Biarritzs?

Yes, when I was asking about whether the original Biarritz green had a swale, I meant the original chasm hole.   Do you think that chasm hole, in Biarritz France, had a swale, either in the middle of the green or right before it? 

[ANTHONYPIOPPI]

Jim:

Nobody can say for sure. Any rendition of the hole shows the tee shot and not the green. If C.B. Macdonald ever wrote about the green, his words have been lost.


Anthony

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