Breather Holes

[Tom_Doak]

Well, I don't know Niagara Falls CC, so I can't comment on that part of your post. 

The fact that "something of value" is open to interpretation?  Sure, it always is, that's why we're all here.

[Matt_Ward]

When I hear the term "breather holes" I simply see the terminology as nothing more than a give away in terms of overall hole quality.

I am not suggesting -- although people keep suggesting it that all holes have to be rigidly strong and unyielding with a heavy dosage on the difficulty meter. Quite the contrary.

The issue for me is whether "breather holes" truly ADD to the overall experience when playing. If they are simply thrown into the pile as a means to get to the better hole just ahead then I see them as being a less than -- rather than a more to element when playing.

[Tom_Doak]

Matt:

What can they add, from your perspective?  Do you think a relatively "soft" hole has merit if it can bite you in the ass when you go to sleep on the tee shot or the approach (but not both)?  Or if it might cause you to let down your guard for the next hole in the chain?

[Tim Bert]

I love the breather hole, and I love the breather stretch as well.  I also love the breather hole that follows the hell hole or vice versa.

At my home club, we've got a great 1-2 combo on the front nine.  A tough par 4 that plays 419 from the member tee and 468 from the championship tee followed by a breather par 5 that plays 473 from the member tee and 508 from the championship tee.

The par 4 usually plays into a cross wind that is also slighty hurting.  It also plays slightly uphill.  The par 5 plays parallel in the opposite direction, so the wind is usually helping a bit (and it plays downhill.)  There are days where I may use the same club to approach both greens.

To top things off, both have interesting greens.  The par four has a vertical spine that splits the green left / right down the center.  If you land on the wrong side, it can be a difficult 2-putt.  The par five has two distinct tiers - the front is the upper tier and the back is the lower tier.  When the wind is helping it can be difficult to stop your long approach on the green unless you run it into the bank in front of the green.

These two holes really make par irrelevant.  As a 10 handicap, I'm looking to come away from the pair with a total of 10 strokes.  In the past 2 months (9 tries) I've accomplished this 4 times.  Interestingly enough, in that same stretch I've made three 4s on the par five and only one 4 on the par four.   

I played this morning and went birdie - birdie on the two hole stretch mentioned above.  Less than 3 foot putts on each hole, and almost chipped in for eagle on the par 5.

I played again in the afternoon and went triple - par, which is much more typical.

Over the course of 43 rounds, I've taken exactly one stroke more on the par 5.  The par 4 plays as the toughest against par for me, and the par five plays the easiest against par.

[Bill_McBride]

How about a "breather" hole that looks easy but is nothing of the sort unless you bear down and hit a a precise shot?

Here I'm thinking of say #14 Pacific Dunes or #6 Cuscowilla!

[Matt_Ward]

Tom D:

You asked me ...

"What can they add, from your perspective?  Do you think a relatively "soft" hole has merit if it can bite you in the ass when you go to sleep on the tee shot or the approach (but not both)?  Or if it might cause you to let down your guard for the next hole in the chain?"

For starters, I don't like the term "breather holes" -- it conveys a clear sense of a "less" situation. I much prefer "change of pace" hole because it makes it a point to go in a different direction / form than the hole or holes that preceded it. No doubt an architect must determine what part of the land will be used for what type of holes. I give architects of immense talent a big time salute because fitting certain holes into the available land that is there is never easy. You have to accomodate any number of important items -- the golf course being just one of them.

When I see a course throw forward a series of strong holes -- I can only hope the architect will be smart enough to realize that change of pace holes are not per se weaker or easier holes but ones that test a different part of one's game. No doubt some courses offer breather holes that are mudane and quite honestly fairly boring to play. Pebble Beach has a few of these types of holes, as a case in point.

Tom, I often use the metaphor of a great baseball pitcher as a great analogy to what I am talking about. In baseball you have guys who can only throw blazing heat. They have not become "pitchers'" in any real definition of the word. Great design can mix it up -- the so-called "breather" hole may appear to be "easy" but the skillful architect is never one to allow such an experience to be just filler between the really outstanding holes. No course, save for the very few ahve bulletproof 18 holes. It's tough to do without the right piece of property, the best of ownership and the most talented of architects. However, if I hear the term "breather" it simply means to me that a lessening of the golf experience is happening. That doesn't mean to say the experience in playing such a course is lessened considerably but it does mean to me that the overall experience is indeed a notch or two below what could be.

Architects are no doubt in the hot seat because they often use "breather holes" as the bridge element to get to the better piece of land in order to deliver even more outstanding holes. I often rate any course not from the total amount of stellar holes but how many inferior ones does it possess and if it does have such holes -- how were they designed and where do they fit in to the total experience when playing.

[Jon Wiggett]

In my experience the tougher holes usually demand your attention and although they maybe harder to score on this fact also helps to lessen the 'feel bad' factor when the score is too high. A simple or breather hole often lulls the golfer into not thinking and so taking a shot or 2 more than desired. Also the feel bad factor is much higher.

Tom D,

interesting comment about Jack N being a perfectionist. One of his best quotes as a player is to the effect that you have to learn to accept the inperfect in order to play good golf. Not sure what I want to say with that.