The 4th Green at Spyglass Hill

[Mike Benham]

On another topic, I nominated the 4th at Spyglass as being one of the worst greens that is played on the PGA Tour.

I have played this hole for over 25 years, and being old, my memory fails me but it sure seems like the green has become more narrow.

It is nearly impossible to keep the ball on the middle tier and impossible to keep it on the top (front) tier.

I do remember "when" the fairway was cut all the way to the green surface (like in the 3rd photo)


From the tee:




From an 80 yard approach:




From the Ron Watts Collection:

[Tom Huckaby]

Concur with my elder, with one slight modification... I think the green is cool.  It's the surrounds that suck.  Put it back to how it was in the third picture and it works just fine.... the key is the ability to be able to bounce the ball in.  But I am sure my elder would agree with this anyway and it is part of his point.

[Fred Yanni]

My distaste for the hole stems from how the area around the green is presented vs. the actual putting surface.

I would not mind the putting surface if they made the mounds around the green more playable.  The area around the green is maintained as deep junk in which a ball can be lost.  Good shots that hit short or on and roll through can incur too severe a penalty.  

If you want to keep a narrow and severely sloped green, that is fine.  But then the player should have a a larger and more reasonable playable area around the green to capture the shots that bounce and roll off of it.  If the putting surface was much larger, then they can keep the severe deep junk around the green.  

[Fred Yanni]

Tom great minds think alike - I think we were typing our responses at the same time.

[Anthony Gray]

  I love that green.What's wrong with being different. Its not more than a wedge from the fairway.

   Anthony

[Fred Yanni]

Anthony you make a good point if most players who play the hole were low handicaps, they are not.  I have played the hole 10-15x and based on watching higher handicappers play it the green surroundings are too severe for most of the players playing the hole and the clubs they are coming into the green with.

I, like you, hit sandwedge to the front edge distance and pray for a good bounce.   Fine green if everyone hits wedge in, unfortunately that is not the case for most.

[Fred Yanni]

Just as a follow up;

How fun would the hole be if it was 295-310 and you could try to draw and run a drive up on that front edge...   Now thats a great risk reward hole.  

[Sean Leary]

Like the 17th at Pebble, If it were a bit bigger it would be fine....

[Tim Leahy]

  I love that green.What's wrong with being different. Its not more than a wedge from the fairway.

   Anthony

I am with Anthony, I am a 15 and don't remember ever hitting more than a nine iron in, love the challenge, and don't most balls also bounce toward the middle of that green if they are a little off line?

[Rick Shefchik]

I've mentioned this before, but the day I played it, the pin was at the very front of the green, and putts from deeper into the green were curling away at the hole and rolling back down toward the putter. I don't think anybody supports that. It is a cool green, but widening and flattening the front part a bit wouldn't hurt it at all.

[Tim Bert]

I think the surrounds are fine.  I'm usually just chipping to the green anyway after three or four swings out of the giant dunes on the left so there's no real reason to support a run-up shot. 

[Mike Wagner]

This is one of my all time favorite holes - including the green....different, fun...I've seen 2s and 10s - what more could you want in a short par 4?

Fred, if this hole is too severe for most playing it, well, the ENTIRE rest of the golf course ain't gonna let up much

[Bill_McBride]

I think the surrounds are fine.  I'm usually just chipping to the green anyway after three or four swings out of the giant dunes on the left so there's no real reason to support a run-up shot. 

Grinding for a triple?   

[Tim Bert]

I think the surrounds are fine.  I'm usually just chipping to the green anyway after three or four swings out of the giant dunes on the left so there's no real reason to support a run-up shot. 

Grinding for a triple?   

No.  It was an easy 8.   

[Adam Clayman]

The surrounds are different, now that the ice plant is gone. It does look too lush to play properly, and if Mike is accurate, having long rough, on the humps that gun sight the front, is a terrible maintenance meld.

I've hit many a bad drive on this hole and had 195-210 left. Back then, the play was to aim for the right hillock, get a kick forward and left, where it then would roll right after catching the left hillock's influence.

[Tiger_Bernhardt]

This is a shame for when the fairway is cut up to the green the hole is wonderful. Now it is a hole lost in bad maintenance practices.

[Fred Yanni]

I am going to correct myself on one point - i could not see all the pics on my work computer for some reason (shhhhh).  It looks as if they have cut the rough shorter now than when i last played it around the front of the green, especially to the front left - last time i played you were dead there and lucky to find your ball short left - that is an improvement - they still need to cut it down on the mound behind the green IMO.

Mike - never said the hole was too severe - just the rough around the green.  And now in pic number 3 it looks as if they made an improvement which is good news. 

[Mike Hendren]

I have the Watts photograph hanging in my home office.  This hole is among my favorites in the world.  That said, I'm appalled by the current maintenance.

Mike

[Mike Benham]

 And now in pic number 3 it looks as if they made an improvement which is good news. 

Photos 1 and 2 were from last week, the Watts photo has no date on it ...

You could in fact play if off the mound, left or right, 5 or 6 steps from the green edge, hoping for a soft bound onto the green.

However, if your distance control or accuracy is off by a few yards, then your are in trouble.  I would rather aim at the flag and either pull it or push it and get lucky.

[Eric Johnson]

The area leading up to the green used to be fairway height left, right and center.

Then again, there is no more ice plant....the native plants and open sand look great.