What does this hole name mean?

[Bryan Izatt]

Many courses have named holes and many of those names, and the holes they describe, are familiar to us. I'm currently playing at a course that was built in the last ten years and has holes named by the architect who promoted a golden age ethos in the design.  Some of the names are classic, Redan and Cape for instance.  Some relate to topographical features.  But, there is one that I can't fathom:


"Pleading The Fifth"


Anybody have any idea what kind of hole this might refer to or is it something that is unique to this architect's thought process behind this hole?

[Steve_ Shaffer]

Perhaps the architect didn't want to incriminate himself for designing such a difficult hole. 

[Peter Pallotta]

Bryan - two guesses: was watching recently an old Shell's from CBM's Mid Ocean (Lema against Alliss) and the 5th hole is a Cape, IIRC.
That hole is also, like yours, a long Par 4; so maybe the joke is "I'm pleading for a 5th shot here, 'cause if I try to par this hole in 4 I'm gonna incriminate myself!"

[Jason Thurman]

Sounds like the architect is a big Dave Chappelle fan.





My other guess is that it's a pretty difficult hole that a player of brittle spirit may choose to simply skip, rather than risk the disaster that potentially awaits the golfer who plays it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution

[Mark_Rowlinson]

Names tend to age badly. As an example, Birchwood Gold Club near Warrington, named its holes after moments in Gulliver's Travels. It is not a happy experience. Even the Old Course suffers from having some weak names among the glitterati: Short, End, Long are not really worthy of the honour.

[Kyle Harris]

"Pleading the Fifth" is an American Legal Phrase which means you are invoking you 5th Amendment right to not incriminate yourself under oath.

[Ally Mcintosh]

Mark,


Short, End and Long are three of my favourite golf hole names.


No beating about the bush. No trying to work out what they mean like "Pleading The Fifth".

[Tom_Doak]

Mark,


Short, End and Long are three of my favourite golf hole names.


No beating about the bush. No trying to work out what they mean like "Pleading The Fifth".

+1.  As to the o.p., the name means that the architect or developer is not very good at marketing. 

[Brian_Ewen]

Mark,


Short, End and Long are three of my favourite golf hole names.


No beating about the bush. No trying to work out what they mean like "Pleading The Fifth".

+1

[jeffwarne]

Maybe he didn't want to admit who designed that ridiculous rock, edged pine straw bed and subtle sign...

[Pete_Pittock]

I like a good mystery. What course, where?    Fifth is also a bottle of liquor. Maybe the nines were reversed and this was the old sixth.

[Bryan Izatt]

Well, I can see from the responses so far that there is no standard description of a "Pleading the Fifth" hole.   


The hole in question is a long par 4 that has no bunkers.  The green is large, elevated with a 10 yard deep serious false front with a back right upper plateau and a lower back left plateau.  Clearly the green is the focus of the hole.


The architect in question is Steve Smyers.


I've come across a course guide describing each hole and here's what it says about this one:

"This is one of my favorite holes on the course,” the designer admits. “It’s a long hole that is reminiscent of the fifth hole at Augusta National because of the type of shot it affords the player on their approach to the green.”

Smyers knows all about that particular hole at the Masters venue. As a member of the USGA Executive Committee, he has served as the hole official at No. 5 during the Masters and watched young players, trying to approach the green with high lofted shots, struggle to get close to any pin cut on the upper, back ledge. “Tom Watson came in there – this was just a few years ago – and he hit a bump-and-run shot , landed it well short, rolled right up and he was the closest one to the pin,” Smyers recalls.

With its false front and gentle spine that divides the upper plateau left and right, the 15th at the Eagle Course will accommodate, even encourage, the same type shots. And with no bunkers on the hole, the entire terrain is open to the ground game."

So, maybe the hole name is just a clever riff on the green being a take-off on the fifth green at Augusta.  Or, maybe he didn't want to "incriminate" himself for having "borrowed" the green concept from Augusta.  Or, ........................