The Dunes Club - Photo Tour - All Nine Holes Posted.

[Kalen Braley]

Kalen -

When are you going to venture east? I can't always play away games. You should have made it to the Dunes Club.

Jim,

I would have loved to get back there for this event.  However, I'll send you an email to discuss that, I don't want to hi-jack this thread any more than I already have.   

Bill,

Carry on, the course looks absolutely terrific.

[Bill Seitz]

Hole #6 - Par 3
Back - 185; Middle - 165; Front - 135.

The yardages here are deceiving, as there are, by my count, at least nine different tee boxes on this hole.  The front and back yardages are pretty accurate, but it can be played to just about any yardage in between.  Unlike the par 3 second, the tees sit at different elevations, so there are boxes that sit at roughly the same elevation as the green, and others from which the hole plays slightly uphill.  I'd call it one of the more scenic holes on the course, but that would imply that the others aren't scenic, which simply isn't the case.  It is, however, very beautiful to the eye, and based on the other thread, this hole is a favorite of many players.

The green complex slopes right to left, with a long, narrow bunker guarding the left side.  The right side is protected by long grass, but it's playable from there.  Long and left, however, is not a place you want to be.  The green is only about 15 yards wide at its widest point, towards the front.  It narrows to about 11 yards at the back.  Because the sloping nature of the green complex, the right side plays a bit more forgiving than it looks, while the left side is more dangerous.  Ideally, a tee shot will find the left side of the green just short of the hole, leaving an uphill putt.  The green contours are pretty subtle here.  

View of the hole from one of the right side tees, which sit at a higher elevation.


A closer look at the green.  The author's tee shot is visible just left of the flag (this was birdie #3).


A look back at the multitude of tees.

[PCCraig]

That 6th hole is sweet. What a natural greensite!

[Michael George]

Kalen:

I have not had the pleasure of playing with you yet.  However, I played with Jim at The Dunes Club.  Lucky you were not there, because he beat me like a red headed step child and I shot in the low 80 (I think 82 but not sure).  It hurt.

While the pictures look narrow, the course is not narrow at all.  Usually, like #5, the fairway opens up beyond the trees.  So it is intimidating off the tee, but you end of having a lot of room. 

Just don't go in the long grass and if you do, listen to your caddy (or land it in the cross walk like Jim did).

[Howard Riefs]

The fifth hole is a medium length par four with the largest variation of yardages from front to back tees.  We played somewhere around the middle tees both times.  The tee shot is played to a pretty wide open fairway guarded by scrub on the left and trees on the right.  The landing area is a little over 50 yards wide, and from the middle tees, a lot of players will be hitting something less than driver.  

For as much as I enjoyed the course, I remain perplexed by the width of the 5th fairway. At 50 yards wide, it's at least 1/3 wider than the other fairways. The second time playing the hole, I clipped the trees on the right side of the sand area and still found my ball in the fairway (~160yds from hole). 

Has the hole always played this way? Were a significant amount of trees removed at one point that lends to its current width?   

[Jeff Tang]

Bill, really enjoying the photo tour, thanks for posting.  In my one play at the Dunes Club (2 times around) I really enjoyed myself.  I will agree that the photos make it look like there is not a lot of width out there but I found it to be very playable and I'm also not the straightest driver of the ball.  It's the kind of course where you can make birdies and also make some big numbers.  I made three birdies the day I played but also had four doubles or worse.  Local knowledge would help a lot here including just finding your way to the next tee on some holes!

[Bill Seitz]

Hole #7 - Par 4
Left Tees Back - 364; Right Tees Back - 386; Middle - 363; Front - 348.

This is one of two holes, along with the second, to feature two distinct teeing areas.  Both are elevated tees to a dogleg left, the severity of which is determined by the tees from which one chooses to play.  It's a longer hole from the right tees, but the tee shot is easier, as it calls for a slight draw.  From the left tees, the hole is shorter, but the dogleg is more severe.  Either way, the play is probably less than driver, and the target area is right around the 150 marker, right-center of the fairway.  If you can sling a big right to left draw, you can hit driver and cut off some distance, but it's a pretty big risk.  Pull it too much and you're in the trees left.  Don't pull it enough and you're in the very tall grass on the right.  The elevated tee should add some carry, making it easy to hit the ball a bit too far.

It's a short hole that plays longer for two reasons.  First as indicated above, it's difficult to play a safe tee shot that ends up inside 150 yards.  Second, the approach is played entirely uphill.  The rise is gradual until you get to the green, which makes it look less uphill than it really is, creating a tendency to underclub a bit.  The green is long and narrow stretching more or less straight back from the approach angle, and is guarded by a bunker on the right, and long grass left and long.  It's about 12 yards wide, and about 25-30 yards deep.  Strategically, this was one of my favorite holes on the course.

The view from the front of the left tee area.  The target is the golfer in the distance, right over the caddie's head.


A close up look at the two elevated tee areas.


A look at the tees from further out in the fairway


The approach.


A look back at the fairway from the green, showing the severity of the dogleg.  Were they in this shot, the tees would be outside the frame of the top right corner. 

[Bill Seitz]

Hole #8 - Par 5
Back - 513; Middle and Front - 507

The eighth hole plays from an elevated tee box to a generous fairway, about 60 yards wide at its widest point, though it narrows as one reaches the scrub area that bisects the landing area from the lay up area about 265 yards from the tee.  While the fairway itself is wide, the hole doglegs to the left from this point in, and trees set close to the left edge of the layup area effectively narrow the tee shot landing area to about 30-35 yards up the right hand side.

A good drive should leave a layup of just under 200 yards, and the shot should definitely be played up the right hand side for the best angle to the green.  A large tree hugs the left side of the fairway on the approach, and the overhang is just high enough to catch shots played with a short iron.  In our second round, I was forced to hit a five iron to the green from about 135 yards out to keep it below the overhanging branches, and unfortunately drilled it into the back bunker.  Had I been on the right side of the fairway, the shot would have been clear.

The green is elevated from the fairway, but sits just below the crest of the hill that fronts the entry.  None of the surface of the green is visible from the approach area.  The green itself is small and oval shaped, about 20 yards wide and 15 yards deep.  It's protected by sand left, right and behind.  The approach corridor is also protected by bunkers left and right, so a shot hit short to either side presents a tough recovery. 

As was discussed in a different thread, there may be an alternate line of play here if one decides to take aim at the fifth fairway, which runs parallel to the left of the eighth fairway.  Doing so cuts off the dogleg a shot early and leaves a straightforward approach to the green.  However, that approach would be played over the fifth tee area, and the player will still have to contend with the hill and a narrow opening through the trees, with very little margin for error.  A long hitter who can bust it 290 off the tee will be left with about 225-230 to the green from this angle.  I'm unaware of any local rules against this play, but nobody in my group attempted it.

View from the tee. The alternate route up the fifth fairway would be to the left.


Another shot of the alternate route.  The green sits behind the small forest of trees on the right edge of the photograph.


View of the layup shot.


A look back at the tee from the same spot.


A view of the green from about 100 yards or so out.


Closer view of the green.

[Mark Smolens]

One of the cool moments on the course is walking up the hill on eight to see where the approach shots ended up.

[Bill Seitz]

Hole #9 - Par 4
Back - 425; Middle - 391; Front - 371

The Dunes club closes with a mostly straightaway par 4 that slides just a bit from left to right.  Again, while the driving corridor looks small, there's more room out there than is initially apparent.  It's about 40-45 yards wide in the landing area, though the tee promotes a drive down the left side, and that left side can creep up on you in a hurry if you pull it a bit too much.  A good drive should leave a mid-iron approach to an elevated green fronted by a nefarious looking bunker.  After playing holes six, seven, and eight, this green should appear rather large.  It's about 35 yards wide and about 30 yards deep.  It's really a fairly simple looking finishing hole, but it's no push-over.  Miss the green left or right and your flirting with trees, some scrub area, and what could be a pretty difficult chip depending on where the pin is cut.  Again, I don't recall this green having a whole lot of internal contour, but sometimes the subtle breaks are the toughest to read.  I can't recall what I made here the first time around, but I closed the day with my fourth birdie of the back nine.

The view from the teeing ground.


The approach.


A closer look at the green and front bunker.


A look from the fairway back to the tee.


Thanks again to our gracious hosts.  It was really a fun day.  The course, the experience, and the company were all top notch, and I really look forward to making a return trip at some point.

[Mike Hendren]

Is this course a total aberation in Nugent's career.  If so, why?

Mike

[Sven Nilsen]

Is this course a total aberation in Nugent's career.  If so, why?

Mike

I imagine this was more than just a "turn it over to the architect" project for the owner.