How much fun is playing Pine Valley?

[Patrick_Mucci]

David Davis,

Length usually equals a hard hole at most courses, but at Pine Valley, holes that aren't long can produce very high scores.

You can't view difficulty in the typical fashion
You have to differentiate between hard/long holes and holes that aren't necessarily hard/long, but have the potential for producing very high scores for reasons other than length.

As JS stated, a marginal shot can produce a very high score.
ie, a perfect drive on # 8, leaving you a 70 yard approach shot.
Miss that approach shot off a slightly uneven lie and you can make a 6, 8 or 10 in the blink of an eye.

Jason,

Having played PV when the trees were less invasive, there is a difference or impact on scoring.
I'm not sure I can quantify it over 18 holes, but, situationally, you could make reasonable interpolations.
The corner on # 1 might be a good example.
Today, a drive hit right has zero chance of recovering through the trees to the putting green.
When the trees were thinner and smaller a recovery to the putting was possible.

[archie_struthers]

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Pat m ......  You used to be able to rope it over the bunker on #1 and get a decent lie. Cutting the corner was worth the risk to get a flip wedge or nine iron to the green.  if you pulled it, no big deal, it's in the fairway.  Now that play is dead. If you go right now an augmented bunker and heavy rough .  Its very narrow and only worth thinking about in a scramble, lol.

[Patrick_Mucci]

Archie,

I remember being in the left side of the 17th fairway and having my approach blocked by intervening trees.

Fortunately, they've been "pruning back" some of the trees and shrubs that became intrusive over the years.

I always like the course as depicted by some of the aerials hanging in the clubhouse

[Jon Wiggett]

Jon,

Pine Valley was never intended to cater to "all standards" of golfers.

It was intended to present a considerable challenge to the championship golfer with some concession to the lesser golfer.

Patrick,

I understand that and I was not criticising PV it was just my observation. It is possibly the finest course of its kind that fills the purpose for which it was created I have ever seen, probably

Jon