A quote from Trent

[Ronald Montesano]

I love this golf course, but reading this bit from the course's history makes me laugh and weep at the same time:

"The front nine would be a parks course and run through the wooded section.  The back nine would have more open, traditional feel of a links course.  To add topographical drama, Trent-Jones said, "We'll make it interesting by adding ponds."

What I imagine to be of the moors or the heath, is the sense I get when I play the back nine. I guess that what Trent was saying was, to eliminate the traditional feel of a links course, we'll add ponds.

[JNC Lyon]

This quote has to be about Crag Burn, right?

This quote gets back to the discussion we had on Tom Paul's "Renaissance Movement" piece.  Was Trent Jones adding those ponds just to be anti-traditionalist and do something original?  Or was he just doing it because of a limited imagination?

Crag Burn is an excellent layout, but some of those water holes (particularly the par threes) get very repetitive.  The best holes out there, in my view, are the shorter par fours at 3, 9, and 11, none of which have water in play but have either some serious options off the tee or wild greens.

[Ronald Montesano]

JNC,

1.  You are correct in that the quote comes from the CB website.

2.  You must have forgotten #11 or played it entirely up the right side. A good drive on a firm day can run through the fairway into the lake. Even more threatening, a tugged approach has H2O written all over it. The 11th green is one of the most challenging to putt on the course.

3.  I'm divided on the par threes...I find #7 and #17 to be nearly identical, despite the different hazards (water and sand). Both play at mid to long iron length to a horizontal green that is not nearly deep enough to hold the required shot.  In contrast, both #5 and #12 are fantastic, Redan-ish holes in that a shot can be bounced in from the short and right, avoiding the water entirely.

4.  The pond on #14 is a fabulous hazard. The green beyond is able to hold shots from 3-metal to wedge. The creek on #16 is subtle and sublime. I'm not a big fan of the lake on #2, but it shouldn't really come into play if you can golf your ball. If you can't, you should play your third up the fairway, leaving a 50-yard pitch over land. The big, big pond on #18 is actually in play off the tee. If you go to far right, you get in the trees separating #9 from #18. Therefore, you have to challenge the tree in the middle of the fairway and the lake. It comes into play for tugged second shots as well.

5.  I'm going to suggest that Crag Burn could have been even better if some of our modern architects were working at the time of its building. If Pete Dye had gotten a hold of the land, it wouldn't look much different.