Gib,
While living in Gilroy from 1996-2000 I played Bayonet quite a lot and while I agree with some of what you’ve written I disagree with your statements concerning the greens. You can’t eyeball those greens and fully appreciate the built-in (whether planned or by chance) deceptiveness. They are some of the trickiest greens I’ve ever putted, in fact the green you cited (the short 7th, before the front nine was re-routed) has never stood out as the best of the bunch in my mind.
I’m mostly a lurker on this site and an admitted novice when it comes to evaluating golf design, my experience limited to mostly courses of the public domain and what I’ve read (Doak, Shack, and Klein). That said, here’s my defense of Bayonet, keep in mind I believe the front nine has been re-routed and I have no scorecard to help with yardage.
Hole 1- Pretty mundane opening, average length, straight away par 5. FW bunker on left guards against bailout to one of the few open areas of the course. Two good, long shots and you should be around the green. The left bunker may lead you astray on the blind approach as it is removed from the greens edge and the green is farther right that it appears from the fairway. The green gives you only the slightest hint of the effect grain (for lack of a better word) has on what'’ to come.
Hole-2 Mid-long par4 with probably the most demanding tee shot on the course. For a long time I tried to fit a fade through the narrow gap created by the trees pinching in from the right, later on I decided a layup with a 4 wood was the best play leaving a 3 or 4 iron to the flatish green. Well placed bunker front-left and difficult run-up is available right.
Hole 3- Short par 4 with well placed fw bunker right and overhanging tree gaurding the approch from left. Here’s where the greens start getting a little tricky, particularly a right pin placement.
Hole 4- 600+ par –5 comparable to 16 at the Lake Course (?).
Hole 5 (new 9?)- Long 4 must find fairway leaving 190+ uphill to kidney shaped green with another well placed bunker guarding back left. Beyond hole high you’ll be putting straight down grain and down a slight slope. Toughest par on the course IMO.
Hole 6 (new 7?) – mid length par 3 to large green with small false front. Trees behind green mask wind making club selection apprehensive.
Hole 7 (new 8?)- Short par four that tempts. Users of the 1-wood will soon find out that a low spin pitch to this green (fronted by another well placed bunker) will not hold the right side as it slopes away and is down grain. Even full shots need to land front middle as the will likely release toward the back. The approch to the left is much easier, but rarely used.
Hole 8 (new 5?)- 200 or so par 3. It’s easier to be chipping from the left side to a left pin position than putting from the right. Next time your there try two-putting from the right or back of the green to a front left pi position, especially if it’s fast and firm. One of the best greens on the course, if underwhelming to LOOK at.
Hole 9 (new 6?)- Short par 4 with narrow green sloping back to front, straight down grain. It’s better to have an uphill 40 footer than a 10 foot downhiller. You’ll be amazed at how long a putt down the fall line stays dead straight.
Hole 10- Par 5. Runs parallel to #1 and strategically the same until you get to the green where a right to left slope, however slight is greatly exacerbated by the grain, a tough two putt.
Hole 11 (The beginning of Combat Corner) The story is General McClure was a large lefty with a big slice and the next two holes provided him a chance to go 2-up on a back nine nassau. Not quite a 90 degree dogleg but close (it looks 90 from the tee and was until it was soften a few years back.). This hole provides the most interesting set of options off the tee. Cutting the corner to various degrees (but not two much) greatly reduces the yardage on the second which is important. The obvious approach is a draw into the front right or middle of the green (watch out for the well placed bunker). From there you’ll have what looks like an easy uphiller to (the green slopes from back-left to front-right, Gen McClure remember) except that it is again straight down grain and the fastest damn uphill putt you’ve ever had! This is one of the most confounding greens I’ve ever played
Hole 12- Now this IS a 90 degree dogleg (L) uphill. You’re better off hitting straight away if you can’t hit a controlled draw (there’s no cutting corners here unless you can carry 280 or so). Straight away you’ll have an awkward 5 or 6 iron approach to green barely visible. Now that you’re all turned around it’s hard to remember which way the grain runs (you are THINKING about it now), Here’s a hint: listen for the traffic on route 1, the grain grows towards just south of the buzz.
Hole 13 Long par 4. The most picturesque hole on the course, down hill with the bay in the background. It’s hard to think ugly standing on this tee. Fairway provides a turbo boost running obliquely, left to right 250-270 yards off the tee that can make the difference between a 4 wood or 6 iron approach. Over cooked draws kick left off fairway. Green has it’s subtleties but is rather generous. Bailout right provides best chance for recovery.
Hole 14 Uphill par 3 that can stretch from 160- to well over 200 yards. Once again don’t get too far past pin high. Just carrying the well placed bunker is ideal.
Hole 15- Gen McClure’s last chance to close the match, another dogleg left to the most severely sloped green on the course (left to right, straight down grain). Another Nicklaus Walked Off story takes place here (it’s close to the parking lot). Try putting from left side to right.
Hole 16 Short par 4 with severely canted fairway right to left. A hook nearly anywhere in the fairway will bound down to, you guessed it, another well placed bunker. Shortish approach from hanging lie to a subtlety tiered, well protected green. There 2 or nasty pin placements on this green one being back left, the others being on the front (if I remember correctly).
Hole 17 Mid Iron drop shot par 3 of little distinction except maybe the well placed bunkers, front and back.
Hole 18- Long par 5 dog leg RIGHT! Unreachable unless you fade it well down the left side catching small turbo boost while avoiding rough and trees that line that side. Large green slopes ever so slightly away and, one last time, straight down grain.
I don’t know if these accounts compel you to run out and play Bayonet or not, but I think you have to play it to understand the subtleties, particularly on the greens. Personally I never tired of trying to break 80 there. It’s a difficult course for sure and difficulty is a most overrated design quality (if a quality at all), but I like the way Bayonet achieves that difficulty, no water, rare OB (1 spot I think) and I never thought of it as overly narrow. General McClure was a rank (no pun intended) amateur when it came to CG design but he did have a Little help you know
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Best Regards,
Bill