[Jason Thurman]

Well, do you like it? Or not?


On the one hand, I birdied it. On the other hand, it might be the easiest 200 yard birdie in golf.


I want to go bell but I just can't decide.

[V_Halyard]

Hahaha. It's your reward for the preceding dogleg uphill Pot bunkered green. Unless you're in an "I hate Fun Golf" mood, you gotta' ring the bell.

[Jason Thurman]

It's interesting that you mention 16. Because I made par there after a mishit driver pulled well left, a ripped 3w into the fronting bunker, and one of the best bunker shots of my life. I'd take that par over the "everybody gets a trophy" birdie that followed, any day.


It's not that I hate fun golf, but I don't love when the ending of resort golf courses makes me wonder if the design instructions were "Hey, make sure guests leave with a good taste in their mouth so they come back again. I know you can't GIVE a shitty golfer a birdie, but... see what you can do."

[Kalen Braley]

Jason,

I've thought a bit about easy courses over the years as it applies to the everyday 15+ Joe.

I think many in this range aren't going to get jacked in shooting a good score on a flat, featureless, and mostly bunker-less courses where you can basically hit it anywhere.  And from what I've seen in pics of SV, it would seem they pulled off a course that looks strategically interesting and challenging, yet still provides a lot of good scores and few card killers holes for the bogey golfer.

And I think that's the hook.  Weekend hacks aren't bragging about going low 80s in an open field, but do same over undulating terrain with lots of cool features, sand, and such...and it becomes a very notable golf experience.  For me personally as a 15+ I don't think that's such a bad thing.

[John Mayhugh]

Maybe it's the easiest 200 yard birdie in golf if you hit the ball in the right place.
I've played the hole twice and seen six other players play it. In those eight tries, I saw one birdie and three more didn't make par. A punchbowl green can definitely flatter shots, but that green has a lot of contours that mean balls don't always just end up by the hole. Longer putts, especially, can be challenging. I think the hole works just fine.

[Tom_Doak]

Does it have to be either / or ?  I don't think it is one of the best holes at Sand Valley, or one of the worst.


If you're going to build a par-3 that will require some people to hit driver, don't you need to build a reasonably receptive green?


And if you've got a big bowl for a green site, and the last green is 250 yards off, wouldn't you use the bowl, instead of perching the green on the lip of it somehow?

[Matt MacIver]

It was a little jolting seeing it from the tee box and my ball didn’t reach the green but did hang on the hill and I do recall a lot of slope on the green. Think the more I would play it the more I might like it. Not too many different ways to play it though.

[Paul Jones]

I played 17 recently and that back pin placement is tough if you are long or pin high.  1 person hit the front of the green and was able to 2 putt.  I was pin high to the right and had no chance of getting up and down.  3rd was long, not sure how his ball stayed above the green, but it was impossible also for him to get up and down.   That is a really neat green with some easy pin placements, but some really difficult pin placements also.


It is a Bell for me.

[Mark Mammel]

Bell all the way. Especially with 18 to follow.

[Jason Thurman]

How hard is 18? It seemed like a beast at dusk on a rainy evening, but I found a bunker off the tee and I think it took two shots to get out. Could've been three. I'd probably remember the hybrid to set up a par save as vividly as the tee ball on 17... but I missed the 7 footer on 18.

[Ronald Montesano]

Great hole. Challenging and receptive at same time.

[Buck Wolter]

I don't remember any easy holes on that course.

[Erik J. Barzeski]

Maybe it's the easiest 200 yard birdie in golf if you hit the ball in the right place.
I've played the hole twice and seen six other players play it. In those eight tries, I saw one birdie and three more didn't make par. A punchbowl green can definitely flatter shots, but that green has a lot of contours that mean balls don't always just end up by the hole. Longer putts, especially, can be challenging. I think the hole works just fine.

I'm in this camp.

I played it twice. It was about 236 the first time, but I was told by someone I wanted to hit it about 210 (but uphill, that's almost the same 236 it measures). My friend said "land it short and let it roll on."

The pin the first time was to the left-center. I hit a hybrid, thought I caught it pretty well, but it landed a bit soft and didn't make the edge. I had to putt between two sprinkler heads or something, and it rolled around past the hole and looped back to a gimme.

The second time the hole was to the right, so I flew it just far enough to the right that my ball stopped 4" short of a hole in one. I had hit the shot pretty much exactly where I was trying to hit it.

The hole is neither a Bell or a Buzzer for me. It's just a hole on a golf course, and I don't think it's particularly "bad" or "good."

And plenty of people will not have gimme pars on the hole, let alone gimme birdies.

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