Templates of Templates - Biarritz

[Ryan Hillenbrand]

The recent thread about Biarritz holes got me thinking about good Biarritz versions not designed by MacDonald/Raynor.

The first I encountered was at #15 atForest Park golf course in St. Louis, when I was not a student of gca and only knew a Biarritz as an old model Cadillac. In fact there are several template holes there as part of the redesign by Hale Irwin 15 years ago or so, the inspiration I believe being St. Louis CC.

I came across this one in Kansas City this summer on a course called Loch Lloyd, recently redesigned by Tom Watson. I thought it was quite a good copy.

Any others you can think of?

[Keith OHalloran]

Indian Hills Country Club in Huntington NY added a Biarritz type green on their second hole which is a long par 4. I am not sure who the original designer of the course is, but the rest of the course does not have a Raynor feel.

[Howard Riefs]

#16 on Streamsong Red


#16 on Mt. Prospect GC

[JJShanley]

6 at Angel's Crossing, near Kalamazoo.

[Tyler Kearns]

We designed a Biarritz green at the end of a short par 5 at Spruce Creek in Morson, Ontario back in 2007.  Like the typical Biarritz, a long second on this hole has similar characteristics of running through the swale to a back hole location.  The green is much smaller than a typical Biarritiz however, so the front and back section of the green are smaller targets and to compensate we made the middle swale shallower and broader to make putting from tier to tier more manageable.  I don't have a lot of experience playing Biarritz greens but it seems the intent and thrill was to run the ball through the swale to back hole locations.  In my limited experience I most enjoyed the recovery shots around the green than had to negotiate the middle swale as it allowed for great creativity and multiple shot options.  Due to the smaller nature of the green at Spruce Creek, I would assume the swale comes into play on a higher percentage of recovery shots.










TK

[Bryan Izatt]

There's a good one at the Venetian Golf and River Club in Florida.