The Golf Club (pics)

[John Kavanaugh]

John:

Pacific Dunes was actually my 13th course out of 25 so far -- right in the middle of my career and 13 years after I started on my own.  It may or may not be my best work, but if it is, that still doesn't prove your point.

Tom,

By the time you reach the age of Pete Dye your 13th course will be in your first tenth percentile.  It will be seen as very early...I'm pulling for ya kid.  When it comes to proving a point I can always wait a few years.

[Peter Pallotta]

David - thanks.

This is the second course recently (the other was the Behr course, Victoria) that I thought looked very at ease with itself, comfortable in its own skin. It looks like it should be wearing a cardigan.

It's a very pleasant look.  

Peter

[Andy Troeger]

The Golf Club is a nice, gentle piece of farmland but there is not much elevation change at all.  Those first two pictures that you "don't get" are absolute genius -- they illustrate how to make an 18-inch elevation change into an important golf feature.

I never did ask Pete what was the idea behind the odd wavy edge to the pond wall on the 18th.  I may just call him to find out.  But, the course was always meant to be a club for good players, and that forced carry on the 18th (a very long par-4 back in the day) had its role to play.  When I was your age I was an innocent bystander in a "Daytona" match at The Golf Club where one team was giving the other a drubbing for 16 holes, and then on the 18th the leading team blew a gasket (one player made double digits) while one of the opponents made a 4 and won back all their money and more.

David Whitmer:  Originally the practice putting clock was way at the back of the 18th green.  (It was the same at Crooked Stick, too, incidentally.)  I can't tell from your picture whether they use that anymore or not -- are there still holes back there?  And I can't imagine anybody (other than women of course) preferring to play Double Eagle over The Golf Club.  Not even Tom Weiskopf.

I was trying to think of what I could add to what has already been said about TGC. The post above would be a good start certainly. I think TGC is fabulous and consider it the best course I've played. The routing and variety of holes and challenges present are wonderful; its challenging without being over the top. Many of the holes are very subtle, but there are some unique features (see #13). I'm not sure I like the wall on #18, but the hole itself is a great closer although difficult with the forced carry. I hit a 4-iron the day I played and carried the pond by about a foot to make a 2-putt par.

#6 might be the best use of a creek I've seen on a long par four with the angle on both shots. The green is huge and creates many interesting pin locations as well.

[Phil McDade]

Ryan:

As for your three pics, I'd say:

-- the first one looks like Dye is channeling Lanford/Moreau (whose Indiana courses he played as a youth) with that sharp falloff. It looks like a neat feature, particularly in how it's disguised from the fairway.

-- the second looks interesting, in an odd, unique, one-of-a-kind way. I'd have to play it to get a sense of whether I liked it, but at first glance, it's not totally off-putting (and a look he uses a lot at Blackwolf Run in Wisconsin).

-- the third is really jarring, and quite ugly, in terms of being at odds with the rest of the natural look of the course. But then again, I hate approach shots over water fronting a green, so that's my bias.

[George Pazin]

Thanks for sharing.

Man is Ohio flat.

 

[Tony Ristola]

This is a course I'd always wanted to see a series of photos from. Nice stuff, but if built today, like Pinehurst No.2 my bet is it wouldn't be celebrated.

[Jim Franklin]

I just got through my first round at The Golf Club and I loved it. The one thing you cannot see from the pictures is how far below the water level the green on #13 is. I though that was very cool. I also thought the little elevation change on #10 was very good. Pete certainly makes you think while you play and I can't wait to get back out there.

By the way, the jerky is out of this world.

[Adam Clayman]

The low profile nature of the course really jumps out. And, Isn't it refreshing to be able to see the ground behind almost every single green?

[Sean_A]

This is a lovely tour David.  There is wonderful balance of pleasurable looking shots mixed with some which raise questions. 

Ciao

[David Davis]

David,

Thanks for the tour, nicely done with the pics.

I have to say if this course were any flatter it would have to be in Holland (no not Holland Michigan ;-)). Of course the maintenance is far superior there and the trees a bit taller but this could almost be confused for a Dutch farmland or even polder course.

Due to my dislike of polder courses it's one I'd have to play and really think about the architecture to see if I liked it I think.

Definitely different and understated as compared to the Dye courses I've played. Not that that's bad. Clearly this was done in the pre "feed the courses steroids" days. Interesting!

[JLahrman]

Thanks for bringing this thread back up. It's timely given the Pine Tree pictorial that Mark Saltzman is currently working us through, which I'm enjoying.

Can't help but notice the plaque at Pine Tree noting Ben Hogan's comment that Pine Tree is "the greatest flat course in America".

I have no idea if Ben Hogan played TGC, or what his own architectural preferences were. But had he played TGC, would he have been likely to amend his statement? Or, more directly, for those who have played both courses, which do you prefer?

By the way, this does appear to be a flat course (based on the pictures; I haven't played it myself), and Ohio is hardly Colorado, but all of Ohio is not flat. Anyone who has played golf in the Cincinnati area can attest to that. Southeast Ohio does not really have any noteworthy courses (unless you want to count Longaberger), but that part of the state is the Appalachian foothills. Central and northwest Ohio is quite flat, but neighbors of TGC such as Scioto and Muirfield Village manage to have some contour. I confess that I'm not sure how much earth was moved to make those courses but the Olentangy River does create some slant to the land in that area.