The 10th Green at Holston Hills: The Ross Saucer

[Mike Hendren]

Not a punchbowl, more like a saucer.  And no, not inverted.

The 10th green at Holston Hills is my favorite architectural feature on the golf course.  While the hole is flat, Ross sited the green on a slight upslope that also falls slightly from right to left.  Rather than construct the green at elevation, however, he dropped it slightly across the entire front, perhaps no more than 18 inches and cut it into the bank at the rear, perhaps two to three feet.  The right side is also cut into the hill while the left is slightly above grade to facilitate drainage.  The result is a right to left sloping green and a sort of truncated punchbowl where the bottom of the flag is always hidden.  

A great example of a hole that is timeless.  I'm guessing at one time the player approaching with a long iron looked on expectantly as his ball bounded once or twice in front of the green then disappeared onto putting surface.  Similarly, today's strong player approaching with a short iron cannot confidently judge distance to yield a reasonable birdie opportunity, particularly with the green's cant.

I'd be grateful if someone could post a photograph.

Mike

[jonathan_becker]

Similarly, today's strong player approaching with a short iron cannot confidently judge distance to yield a reasonable birdie opportunity, particularly with the green's cant.

Bogey,

That's the most truthful sentence I've read today.  The first time player on #10 has no idea the room that is available to land the approach considering it's such a short shot in....and it's that little rise in the front that throws everything off.  This May was my first time around HH and I hit a SW to a flag that I thought was towards the front right with not much room there.  I get up there and my ball is 30 feet short and the flag is towards the back with plenty of room to spare.  If you want to get it close on the right, you have hit a perfect shot that won't spin down the slope.  It's the cant mixed with the front rise that fools you into hitting a shot ends up being mediocre.

It's funny that you mention this green because it's been almost 4 months since playing it and I still think about the deception of that approach a lot.

[Mike Hendren]

JB, fortunately I was enjoying my grits and greens combo over lunch or otherwise might have choked when I read that you hit SW into 10.  Please tell me that you were not playing the back markers.  Word has it you also drove the 16th green.  Big hitter.

Mike

[jonathan_becker]

Bogey,

That's funny.  I played it from the blue marker (not the black) and hit 3 wood.  The ball was running forever that day.