Kittansett

[Jeremiah_Daly]

I'm a sophomore at Dartmouth College who plays on the golf team and is an avis student of golf course architecture.  I read a lot of the discussions and reviews here on GCA and have a lot of respect for many of those involved here.  I also have grown up playing at The Kittansett Club in Marion, Massachusetts and would be interested to hear people's reaction to my comments on the review of the course.  I believe it is one of the greats for reasons I outline in my comments.  I would particularly be interested by people who have played the course since its Gil Hanse restoration but welcome anyone's comments.  I feel that the review did not fully portray the course.  Thanks

[Ran Morrissett]

Jeremiah,

Your post under the course commnts section is exactly why we started that section and I hope everyone will read it -it is truly excellent and I can only hope that we get more meaningful ones like it.

I will address your points one at a time.

I didn't include the 13th in the course review because I think the hole is ruined by the trees on the right. For those who haven't seen the course, you are double penalized if you go in the fairway bunkers because there is a grove of trees in front of them that completely blocks the line to green. The trees may be there for safety reasons because of the road on the right but Hood wouldn't have bothered to build the bunkers if he wanted trees to be the dominant hazard. I say cut them down, let the golfer challenge Hood's bunker in a risk/reward manner, and let the wind be even more of a factor.

Anyway, that's why I didn't include the 13h in the course review.

Cheers,

[Jeremiah_Daly]

Mr. Morrisett,
 Thanks for your comments about my course comments.  I am eager to learn and respectfully disagree with your thoughts on the 13th, although I do see your point of view.  I believe that bunker is there as a punishment to a bad drive because it is only a 210 yard carry.   I also believe the trees are necessary to create the "wind tunnel" effect on the hole which makes the approach shot so unique.  Nonetheless, you make a valid point.  
I also would like to know what you and others think of a couple of other interesting Kittansett traits:
Crossrough, Crossbunkers and Mounds
 Crossrough cuts the:
  1st fairway off after 290 yards (with a left to right and helping southwest wind)
  2nd fairway off at 300 yards (with the prevailing wind pretty much with the player)
 5th fairway off after 275 yards(with a left to right prevailing wind)
 7th fairway off after 320 yards (its a par 5 with a prevailing left to right and helping wind)
 17th fairway off after 265 yards (which plays a lot longer as the prevailing wind blows right into the player and to the right)
 18th fairway off after 315 yards (which is a par 5 and plays with the prevailing wind blowing right to left and against the player)

Do you all think that crossrough is an effective tool against the massive distances that players are hitting the ball today? (or am I even phrasing the question correctly?)

There are also the crossbunkers on each par 5 (7, 15 and 18) which are interesting features.  The one on the 18th is ingeniously designed as the wind blows the ball toward the furthest part of the diagonal bunker)

The course review portrays an accurate and insightful description of the mounds.

Just want to know what you all think...

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