Since Tom Doak hasn't played...

[Tim Bert]

I drove around the Banff Springs property on my honeymoon, but waited 6 years for my return trip before teeing it up.  It definitely isn't mountain golf, as I walked both rounds.  As others said, it is in a mountain setting.  Moving back to the original routing would eliminate one of the all-time worst green to tee walks from 14 to 15, though it is a pleasant enough stroll.

I thought I'd add two additional perspectives of the Devil's Cauldron.

Looking back from behind the green...



From a couple thousand feet above (after a pleasant hike)...

[Rich Goodale]

Somewhere in the family archives, I've got 3-D pictures of the Banff golf course taken when my family visited there in 1960.  If I can dig them out, is there any way of posting them without requring all viewers to get those cardbaord glasses?

[Gary Slatter]

Great photos, thanks for sharing them.

Photos of Banff always intrigue me. To me, it doesn't look much like a mountain course, but a course in a mountain setting. Is there much play up or down the mountains? That's where mountain courses tend to get goofy, in my limited experience.

George and Kalen, Banff is great mountain golf. Traversing up and down slopes is called hiking.

[Jon Wiggett]

How would our current crop of architects, if they were surveying the site in a raw state, design a par 3hole in this location?  Surely the bunkering would differ (I am not too fond of it as presented--too far from the green and too many unattractive bunkers all around).  The green position might differ as well (closer to the pond if it doesn't flood--though I would think the spring thaw would be make things very wet in such a location with all the runoff from the mountain behind).  

Hello Wayne,

I had a slightly different reaction to this photo.  Like you, this photo jumped out at me.

Here I see something quite unusual looking, but functionally very sound.  Miss by a little, chip or pitch from the rough.  Miss by more, and you have a good chance to be facing a medium length bunker shot.  Push your tee shot to a back pin (or misjudge the downhill), and you could be in that back right bunker.  That looks like a very tough up and down.

Anyway, I saw the photo, said "Gee, that's very unusual, then decided that the hole appeared to mete out fair penalties for missed shots.

IMHO Bunkers and hazards in general should be there to make the shot interesting and not to punish on a scale of fairness. With the distance of the back bunkers from the green being greater than those at the frount it seems to me that this is a case of a hole being set up to favour lower handicappers who usually miss long and punishing the higher handicappers more serverly as they tend to miss short.

[Jim Nugent]

Do the front bunkers stop any balls from rolling back into the pond?    Never played, just wondering since it looks like the land slopes down from the green towards the water.  

[Bart Bradley]

Do the front bunkers stop any balls from rolling back into the pond?    Never played, just wondering since it looks like the land slopes down from the green towards the water.  

Probably not.  This is a fairly significant drop shot and the grass in the front of the green is tall and thick...I don't think many balls would bounce back into the pond if the bunkers were not in front.

[SPDB]

David Stamm has said he will post the old picture of the hole later this evening.

[Kalen Braley]

While we're waiting for David, I'm sure a hole that is constructed in the form of the devils tower would likely be very resistent to par.  

[David Stamm]

[Robert Thompson]

The problem is that judging by the photo, I bet that is the 1950s -- and if that's the case, the green may have already been altered. The most recent changes were done by Les Furber, a nice man but a very average architect.

[SPDB]

Robert:
Is there a picture of the hole prior to the 50s alterations pictured here? Let's get wayne back on here.

[Robert Thompson]

I might have something -- let me check. I know I have a brochure with all 18 holes dating back to the forties...

[Garland Bayley]

While we're waiting for David, I'm sure a hole that is constructed in the form of the devils tower would likely be very resistent to par.  

Kalen,

We've seen the course at Devil's Tower discussed here, but I don't think that hole was included. Was it the mother of all drop shot par 3s?

[Ian Andrew]

I can't seem to upload anything today - the image is here on my blog for anyone to take and post. Please do so people will have the answer to what the old green looked like.

This was taken during construction as a publicity photo:

http://bp1.blogger.com/_QDoPVOqOUFg/Rz8zTEZAkmI/AAAAAAAABdI/aqQ8giCCNEk/s1600-h/Devil%27s-cauldren-no+bunkers+.jpg

[George Pazin]

Ian's photo, a publicity shot from before opening:

[Adam Clayman]

[Adam Clayman]

We learned from Mr. Cooper that Thompson tweaked the course extensively.
 It was my theory that many of the back bunkers were as a result of some of the concepts and work Dr. Mackenzie had done during that same era.

[Ian Andrew]

Adam,

I know that he tweaked Jasper's extensively - in fact I have those plans. Are you sure Perry was talking about Banff Springs?

The image I have was taken before any bunkers were built and long before the hole was done.