A Potential Restoration: Willie Park Jr.'s Penn State White Course - 11th Hole

[Kyle Harris]

This is more likely what I will send to Tom Doak for his yearly internship oppurtunity, but I wanted to throw it out here to he GCA community for comments.

This is how I would propose a renovation/restoration of the 11th hole of the PSU White Course (Park). All but two of the bunkers in the rendering are grown over today (both fairway bunkers, and the one behind the green would be restored) and the outline of the the current green dimensions and fairway contouring are penciled in. (The circle inside the green and the current fairway to the left of the new one).

The green is lower than the tee and both features in the fairway are mounds. There is a depression in front of the tee that I believe may have been dug out to provide soil for the tenth green adjacent to the 11th tee. The green itself is pushed up with dramatic fall offs on three sides and a quaint knuckle gaurding the front right. I would expand the green contours to the edges of the green pad and shave the banks as fairway into the bunkers. This would integrate the slopes around the green into the green and restore old angles and hole locations.

Similarly, all the trees in the photos would be removed.

The rendering (Scale 1' = 100 feet, so 4 squares to 100 feet):


View (as it exists now) of the hole from middle of my fairway and behind first fairway bunker (about 6 squares below point A).


View (as it exists now) of green from 3 squares below point B:


I'd eliminate all the trees behind the green, as well.

[Kyle Harris]

Oh yeah, it's designed to be drivable... about 305 from the tips. Go ahead, bounce one past that bunker... I dare ya.  

[Mike Nuzzo]

I'm impressed with the style of your sketch.
It appears as if the lay up drive to the left side of the fairway - away from the bunker - is rewarded.  Is that the case?  Hard to tell without arrows of influence on the green - I'd suggest adding some if the preferred approach is from the right side.
Good Luck.

[Kyle Harris]

Thank you Mike,

The green falls into point B on the fairway, especially off the left greenside bunker. It didn't come out so well in the scan, but I still can make it more clear.

[Doug Braunsdorf]

Kyle,

  If I recal correctly, the approach as designed by Park would have come directly over that knuckle which is now covered in rough, correct?

The fairway SHOULD be where the row of evergreens right-center is in the picture, right?  

[Kyle Harris]

Doug,

Yes, and I have it coming oblique from the tee... that line just looks better to my eye and I think will force the golfer into overthinking the aim, since it isn't parallel to any preferred lines of play.

Having the fairway oblique (not parallel to the OB stakes, basically) also let me integrate the two fairway hazards in a much less awkward fashion... utilizing the gathering slopes near both the bunkers to greater effect.

IMM baby!

[Doug Braunsdorf]

Kyle-

  In taking into account an IMM put into place on PSU-WC, which I think would be spectacular with it, is the dark area around the green a slope into the bunkers?  

  When we played here, you told me about this a little bit; we saw the original green pad and where the green had shrunken since 1922.  

My thinking is, optimally, th eplay is a 4 wood from the tee, and a crisp pitch to the well defended green; the golfer suckered into driving the green will be absolutely F****d--balls should run away from the green complex

[Kyle Harris]

Doug,

I think a well struck and planned out shot would stay on the green. However, off by a little bit and the ball will be pinballing everywhere.

The point is, it's a tighter shot than it looks (the approach is almost 30 yards wide, but anything on the left half would hit the small mound and bounce unpredictably) but the tee shot needs to land near point B to not risk being deflected in an unpredictable direction, since that is the low point of the green/fairway complex.