The 12th fairway is currently being reshaped, I think to basically eliminate the reverse dogleg aspect of the hole, but I am not entirely sure. The hole currently in play is a long par 3 played from the dune directly behind the 11th green. When the 12th hole was created in the 70s, I believe the original thought was to create this short hole. What ended up happening is a tee was built left and short of the 11th green to create a tough par 4 legging right of the church. Previously, the hole went left of the church to a completely different routing. Anyway, I think this temporary hole may be the best par 3 on the course. Thinking about it, I wonder if the aerial nature of the hole is one reason the club opted for a par 4 instead. The other short holes are of the aerial type, which I think is quite unusual for a links with at least four par 3s. Anyway, below is a winter photo of the hole. I hope the club keeps this tee as an alternative to the normal tees.
This is a look back at the 11th green from halfway up the dune where the temporary 12th is located. The path from the 11th green to the 12th tee is evident.
The 6th hole too has been altered. Previously, the tee was located behind and left of the 5th green. The new tee is on a dune behind and right of the 5th green. This is a tee that was previously used for the 6th when it played down what is now the 13th fairway. The hole was moved to the seaside of the dune ridge in the 70s as part of the same work which saw the 12th re-routed to the right of the church. This change necessitated major alterations for the 13th and 14th. Hence, the 13th now plays up the old 6th fairway in the reverse direction. It happens that the old 6th tee works relatively well for what is now the completely new 6th hole.
The hole used to play over a pond then dogleg around broken ground to the left before running out. Big hitters often had to lay up. The hole now plays as a sort of double dogleg for most. Big hitters can easily clear the front section of the dune on the right where previously play was to the left of this dune. Most players cannot clear the front dune section and must play left or short even. This leaves a shot over the broken ground. Big hitters can ignore this and play the hole as fairly straight and approach the new green with a short iron. As part of the work, the right side of the green was essentially lifted to create more hole locations and make what was a very demanding approach far easier. My experience tells me most didn't like the green because it wasn't receptive to long irons/woods....which was true. My thinking was and still is, all courses need a small handful of greens which are either very difficult and or a bit whacky. The old 6th was one of the greens, but in a very innocent way because visually the golfer couldn't decipher the severity of the roll away on the right side. Anyway, a few shots of the new 6th. Its certainly a more attractive than the previous version. However, I think the hole has been made easier for better players and more difficult for lesser players.
A look at the green from the 13th fairway.
Happy Hockey