I had the opportunity to play the Penn State White Course this past weekend, as part of a fun weekend at Penn State.
There is tremedous potential here for both renovation/restoration: restoration of the Park holes and strategies, and renovation of the more 'modern' holes to create a more seamless, varied challenge, and better test of golf while espousing good architectural principles.
There are some very good holes there, some great architecture, and with a little TLC, this would be a very, very good course.
While my thoughts and ideas may not be congruent with the goals of the Penn State University athletic department, I thought this to be a fun exercise.
The first two holes I will comment on are holes #16 and 17.
According to Kyle, Hole #16 was designed by the Golf Team, in the mid-1990s. Playing at about 203 yards, it serves as the longest par 3 on the course. However, the current hole, in my mind, with its slightly pitched green, does not make best use of the right to left sloping terrain; the perfect setting for a Redan hole!
In fact, that was my first thought upon stepping to the tee box; (the match was in Kyle's pocket several holes back)
What a great natural site for a Redan! In fact, a slightly longer Redan, perhaps approximately 215 yards from the tips, would be a perfect addition to the course-- for one, it is sandwiched by two shorter par fours; two, it comes late in the match or round, when the golfer should be plenty ready for the challenge; three, it provides 'balance' in par 3 holes; i.e. each of the par threes tests a different club or different shot. In fact, while I like the 'template' par 3 concept, I feel with today's knowledge of architecture, we can go one better and use the theory behind the various par threes--to test a specific shot.
To further this last point, consider the par threes here were played with the following clubs during my round: (5)- 8 iron; (7)- 7 iron; (12)- 5 iron (uphill tee shot) (14)- 7 iron. (downhill tee shot). The card yardage for #5 is listed as 200 yds, the tees were up on our day, and I would recommend this green be redesigned with significant contour to test a precise short iron.
I do not have any current pictures; perhaps Kyle could provide one, but as you hopefully will see, the terrain has so much more potential than for a flat par three hole, which is the current offering.
The next hole, the 17th, is a short par 4 of about 330 yards, slightly uphill. As the hole stands now, it is nothing outstanding, but nothing poor at the same time. To make it more testing, I thought of the pedestrian-only road on the far side of the hole, running parallel with the green, and replacing the current green with one similar to the 10th at Merion.
In its current form, I found the hole to be nothing more than "bang it out there, find the fairway, and have a wedge approach to a basically round green". No real penalty applies, with the exception of the long-ball hitter who drives straight through the fairway.
I thought of a long, narrow, and undulating green, well guarded by bunkers and chipping area. The bunkers would need to be truly hazardous, thus befitting a short approach, and the chipping area would carry poorly hit approaches or overzealous drives over the green.
Now, I am a fan of the chipping area in lieu of rough, to offer the golfer who may have driven just through the green a chance to putt or chip, rather than hack it out of four-inch rough, with luck as his only hope to get it close.
The fairway, rather than in the existing "upside down, rounded L shape" could be cut as such that the golfer must make a forced carry of rough of about 150-200 yards to a fairway that is more long and narrow--but affords some degree of angle on the approach. I would ideally reward the long hitter who can keep his drive under control and in the optimal position, looking straight up the green, with a flatter lie, similar to the 10th at Merion, whereas the golfer who may use a "chicken stick"
may have to contend with the ball slightly above their feet, but provided ample room to bail out on the high side of the green, in the chipping area.
At the present, I understand this may be confusing to read/envision, but I intend to make some rudimentary drawings and post them in the next several days.