Thompson Green Complexes

[Jason Topp]

I had the pleasure of playing North Oaks with Jeff Shelman and Pat Craig on Saturday.  The course was one of Stanley Thompson's last designs.  Playing the course, I realized that I knew little about Thompson other than he worked with Railroads and was quite a character.

The most striking feature of North Oaks for me were the green surrounds.  Many of the greens were tucked between hills surrounding the greens - almost a punch bowl effect with the front typically open. 

Are such green complexes typical of Thompson's work in other locations?  I found them pretty interesting. 

[Jeff_Mingay]

Jason,

When you say 'tucked between hills surrounding the greens', do you mean artificial mounds? If so, yes, this is pretty typical of a lot of Thompson's work.

[Jason Topp]

Jason,

When you say 'tucked between hills surrounding the greens', do you mean artificial mounds? If so, yes, this is pretty typical of a lot of Thompson's work.

Yes - in most cases the greens were in between artificial mounds - a bit like number 8 at Augusta National but with bunkers.  The result is a bit like a punch bowl green.  Do these types of green complexes create drainage issues?  It would seem to funnel a lot of water onto the green although the greens were sufficiently tilted that such drainage might not be a problem.  It seems like the opposite approach of a normal Ross green.

Also - how does such mounding fit with Thompson's view that blind shots should be avoided?  There seemed to be a lot of blind appraches (depending on how one defines the term)

[Mark Buzminski]

Not sure, I've only played two Thompson courses - Oshawa GC and Kawartha GC.  All I can say is that the green complexes at Kawartha are spectacular, with bunkering built into the mounding.  What a great golf course.