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Ran Morrissett

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Dunes Golf & Beach profile is posted
« on: January 04, 2010, 11:07:18 AM »
When a Flynn or a Doak or a Coore designs thirty to forty courses throughout their entire career, the opportunity exists to play a majority of them which in turn leaves the golfer with a sense of that person's body of work. The same is much harder to say when a man's name is tied to over 500 courses such as Trent Jones's.

Not having seen Peachtree, Bellerive, or his courses in Spain, I am a poor one to put his work in perspective but in typical GolfClubAtlas.com fashion, I'll forge ahead anyway  8). Of his courses I have seen, The Dunes stands out as being the most strategic, much more so than Spyglass or Ballybunion New for instance or even the charming Greenville Country Club. It makes sense that Stanley Thompson's influence on his work was the greatest early on. Perhaps the Toronto Terror deserves a tip of the hat here as there is a joy found in playing The Dunes that seems absent in some of Jones's later work.

My favorite Trent Jones story is told by a friend in Pinehurst. In 1985 when the U.S. Women's Open was played on Baltusrol Upper, Trent Jones came into the souvenir tent wearing his customary jacket and tie and asked my friend for some logo shirts for his grandchildren. My friend responded that they only had T-shirts in this tent and Jones asked 'what's that?' to which my friend unfolded one. Jones exclaimed, 'The shirt has no collar - who would possibly wear such a thing?!' and walked away.

Of course, that is before it was socially acceptable to dress like a slob all the time in America  >:( and the story highlights that Jones was indeed the last of a generation.  I was at a large USGA gathering at Hope Valley Country Club in Durham where Jones was the featured speaker in 1986. His range of stories - from the people he had met, to construction techniques that saved his customers money, to some of his favorite holes and courses - left no doubt as to his love for his profession and for his appreciation for the wonderfully full life that he enjoyed.

Though The Dunes is an easy U.S. Top 100 in my book, the playing experience can be choppy. I played it on two different trips this year and both times, we had to wait on the second tee :P. The fact that the course can be poorly run is a shame as it is a special place and people would appreciate Jones's work all the more if the playing experience was smoother. The greens and next tees are closely situated making it an easy walking course but unlike in 1949, golf carts now rule the landscape - along with the noise that they bring.

What a shame but again, that doesn't take anything away from what I consider to be Jones's heroic/strategic design masterpiece. Yes, Harbour Town had a great influence on modern designers but let's not forget The Dunes too as a standout post WWII design.

Cheers,

PCCraig

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Re: Dunes Golf & Beach profile is posted
« Reply #1 on: January 04, 2010, 11:21:12 AM »
Another great write-up Ran!

It's nice to see an original RTJ Sr. design included in the Courses by Country section of GCA.com. His historical brand may be a bit watered down compared to the Flynn’s, Raynor’s, C&C and Doak's of the world, but if the golfer knows where to look his portfolio offers some exceptional designs.
H.P.S.

Jim_Kennedy

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Re: Dunes Golf & Beach profile is posted
« Reply #2 on: January 04, 2010, 01:24:43 PM »
Ran,
Great T-shirt story, I think I heard George Pazin wince.  ;)

I wonder this: a good/very good course may never be seen in the proper perspective if it's near a great one. Conversely, if a great one is located in an area of over 100 golf courses that some people see as the 'Walmart-by-the Sea', does it suffer the same fate?

"I never beat a well man in my life" - Harry Vardon

Jay Flemma

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Re: Dunes Golf & Beach profile is posted
« Reply #3 on: January 04, 2010, 02:03:27 PM »
I also like the Dunes.  It has a lot of charm.
I remember when I had to stay at one of their properties to get a tee time (this was years ago), and I met my first Palmetto bug:):)
Mackenzie, MacRayBanks, Maxwell, Doak, Dye, Strantz. @JayGolfUSA, GNN Radio Host of Jay's Plays www.cybergolf.com/writerscorner

JNC Lyon

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Re: Dunes Golf & Beach profile is posted
« Reply #4 on: January 04, 2010, 09:11:19 PM »
Ran, et al,

I am sure the Dunes is a fantastic golf course.  RTJ is a very underrated architect on this website.  He had a much greater knowledge of strategy and charm than most people give him credit for today.

However, any judgment of RTJ courses should not be completed without seeing Crag Burn in Buffalo, NY.  I'm sure everyone on this site wants stay as far away from the horrid Buffalo Bills as possible for fear of bad luck.  Nevertheless, this course, championed by the few, the proud, the Upstate NY GCAers, presents golf architecture at a very high level.  It stacks up well not only with courses of the RTJ era, but also with the neighboring classic courses of Upstate New York.  Of all the great classic courses in the upstate (and there are more than you think), only the two courses at Oak Hill and Leatherstocking fall ahead of it in my book (and these only just).

Crag Burn presents tremendous strategy, epic, gorgeous bunkering, and challenge for the best players.  The club itself is also first-rate.  It is the only "just golf" private club in the region.  If you love golf, you will love Crag Burn.  If you looking for tennis, swimming, gardening, or socialites, go elsewhere.
"That's why Oscar can't see that!" - Philip E. "Timmy" Thomas

Michael Taylor

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Re: Dunes Golf & Beach profile is posted
« Reply #5 on: January 05, 2010, 12:10:04 AM »
Always a pleasure to read your reviews, Ran. Great job as per always.

Also I'm not sure if it's just me, but it looks like it's possible to drive the 13th green at The Dunes. Is it possible? If not how far is the carry?

Pup

Joe Bausch

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Re: Dunes Golf & Beach profile is posted
« Reply #6 on: January 05, 2010, 05:33:21 AM »

Also I'm not sure if it's just me, but it looks like it's possible to drive the 13th green at The Dunes. Is it possible? If not how far is the carry?


If you have an opening between the trees from where the regular tees are sometimes placed, it is still a 325 yard carry.
@jwbausch (for new photo albums)
The site for the Cobb's Creek project:  https://cobbscreek.org/
Nearly all Delaware Valley golf courses in photo albums: Bausch Collection

Sean_A

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Re: Dunes Golf & Beach profile is posted
« Reply #7 on: January 06, 2010, 04:29:40 AM »
Ran

I have long wanted to see The Dunes because it is one of the earliest expressions of true modern design.  Question for ya.  In addition to the left & right greenside bunker scheme being glaringly in use, was RTJ the first guy to place bunkers near water?

Ciao
New plays planned for 2024: Nothing

Daryn_Soldan

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Re: Dunes Golf & Beach profile is posted
« Reply #8 on: January 06, 2010, 11:37:30 AM »
After reading the profile I pulled up an aerial image of the course. What's the story on the par 3 between the 13th and 14th holes? Also interesting to see the two different teeing angles on 18. Looks like one group of tees makes the hole play as a dogleg right and the other as a dogleg left.

Eric Franzen

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Re: Dunes Golf & Beach profile is posted
« Reply #9 on: January 06, 2010, 11:51:22 AM »
After reading the profile I pulled up an aerial image of the course. What's the story on the par 3 between the 13th and 14th holes?

It's a temporary/provisional hole. It was in use last year when I played the Dunes, because the 15th or 16th (can't really remember which one...) was closed for some kind of maintenance or renovation work.
« Last Edit: January 06, 2010, 11:58:38 AM by Eric Franzen »

Jim_Kennedy

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Re: Dunes Golf & Beach profile is posted
« Reply #10 on: January 06, 2010, 03:43:07 PM »
Sean,
I don't think he was the first. The bunker along 18 at Pebble and the similar set-up at Sheringham in the UK, the bunkers between the sea and the 16th at Cypress, the bunkers just over the creek on Merion East's 9th, the bunkers between the Sargasso Sea and the green on the 'Cape' hole at Mid Ocean, and the bunker between the green and the creek at ANGC's 12th all preceded RTJ's use of the feature.

 
« Last Edit: January 06, 2010, 04:03:51 PM by Jim_Kennedy »
"I never beat a well man in my life" - Harry Vardon

Mike Tanner

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Re: Dunes Golf & Beach profile is posted
« Reply #11 on: January 07, 2010, 01:49:34 PM »
Thanks for posting this profile of a course I've longed to play for years. I live in southeastern Virginia with proximity to two R.T. Jones courses, the much acclaimed Golden Horseshoe in Williamsburg and the not so highly esteemed Stumpy Lake in Virginia Beach.

While I've noticed some of Jones' signature elements at Stumpy Lake—the airstrip teeing grounds and entry-guarding greenside bunkers—the photos in your profile revealed something new to me. Both the Dunes Golf & Beach Club and Stumpy Lake share a nearly identical water hazard fronting the eighteenth green.
Life's too short to waste on bad golf courses or bad wine.

Jim Sweeney

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Re: Dunes Golf & Beach profile is posted
« Reply #12 on: January 13, 2010, 08:13:09 PM »
Interesting point about the 11th not being a cape due to the trees on the right forcing the golfer to play to the left. I have not played the Dunes; however, the photo of 11 immediately brings to mind 16 at Hazeltine.
"Hope and fear, hope and Fear, that's what people see when they play golf. Not me. I only see happiness."

" Two things I beleive in: good shoes and a good car. Alligator shoes and a Cadillac."

Moe Norman

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