[JNC Lyon]

What is it? Please state why.

I'll start.
Oak Hill Country Club, Donald Ross, RTJ, The Faz, etc.
East Course:
No. 14, a 320 par four. The tee shot should be no more than 220 yards, but the first timer probably won't hit the fairway, as the left side of it kicks left toward an unseen creek. Multiple plays are required to know where to hit it. The 2nd shot is straight uphill, over three yawning bunkers to a fierce two-tiered green. There is much anticipation and anxiety in hitting the approach, then climbing the hill to see the result.
West Course:
No. 4, 140, par three. Tiny par three tucked into a corner of the property on flat land, but Ross surrounded the green with bunkers. The green has a horseshoe-shaped tier in it, creating a bowl in the front middle. It also means that every pin is a killer pin. Also the site of my only hole in one

[Andy Troeger]

This one is hard since I haven't played any one course more than three times all year

Blackthorn GC, South Bend, IN (Hurdzan)
#18 is a par five about 540 yards from the back, 520 from the next set up. It tumbles down a fairly large hill with a dog leg left, so even at that yardage it gives the longer hitter the chance to go for the green with a good shot. It also has somewhat of a distance slot if you can hit a nice draw that goes with the slope. Trees to the left and a bunker (which makes a good aiming point for the draw) provide some reason to pay attention from the tee. The 2nd shot is either a fairly reasonable lay-up to about 100 yards or a shot again downhill to a green with water left and bunkers right. The green has two distinct tiers (right and left) that make the bunkers almost as poor of a miss as the water, even if you can't tell this from the fairway. The hill again helps move the ball right to left (towards the water), although they tend to keep the area in front of the green too soft for a run up shot. Its as heroic of a shot as I've come across and can make or break a round.

[Peter Galea]

Number 11 at Pajaro Valley Golf Club, Royal Oaks, California. 180 yard par 3 with false front, bunkers left and right, usually into the wind. This is one of four tough par 3's at Pajaro. Really liking it today because....drum roll please..... I made my first hole in one ever (in 34 years of playing golf). Three iron, little curve left, hit four feet in front of the flag and rolled in!
I also made another eagle on the same nine, #15, 498 yards, par 5.

[Mike Benham]

I made my first hole in one ever (in 34 years of playing golf). Three iron, little curve left, hit four feet in front of the flag and rolled in!
I also made another eagle on the same nine, #15, 498 yards, par 5.

Congratulations Pete, I'll be there in about 45 minutes for my complimentary drink ...

An eagle to boot, that new single plane swing must be working well ...

[Jay Cox]

From my last real home course, since I'm now a golf nomad . . .

10th at Yale, 395 yards, par 4 -- because unlike several other holes I recognize as "better" (especially 4 and 9), it always managed to come up with a new way to f*** me up, instead of just repeating the same old ways.

[Peter Galea]

Congratulations Pete, I'll be there in about 45 minutes for my complimentary drink ...

An eagle to boot, that new single plane swing must be working well ...

Yessir! I'm buying. Can't wait to see you here.

That invitation extends to anyone from the DG who shows up!

[John Kirk]

Number 11 at Pajaro Valley Golf Club, Royal Oaks, California. 180 yard par 3 with false front, bunkers left and right, usually into the wind. This is one of four tough par 3's at Pajaro. Really liking it today because....drum roll please..... I made my first hole in one ever (in 34 years of playing golf). Three iron, little curve left, hit four feet in front of the flag and rolled in!
I also made another eagle on the same nine, #15, 498 yards, par 5.

Congratulations, Pete!  Although I have never played Pajaro (grew up in SF Bay Area), it has the wind and severe slopes a GCA man truly loves.  My old buddy John Vander Borght played many a round there a couple years back; I bet you know him.

I belong to more than one club, but the home club is the universally acclaimed Pumpkin Ridge in North Plains, Oregon.  Most of the best holes for me are on the public course, Ghost Creek.  I hate #9 and #18, the long par fours with creeks and lakes.  Very TPC; only great players can easily maneuver the hazards.  But Ghost has great holes:  2, 5, 8, 13, 14, and 16 are all very nice, hilly, no artificial hazardry, great views...very good golf.

My favorite hole at Pumpkin is #5 Ghost, 218 from the back, with a green about 28 yards deep and 60 yards wide.  The other day the tees were back and the pin was way left, hard against the wetlands.  I pushed a 4 wood right, leaving a 130 foot birdie putt.  I hit a great lag, then missed the straight 3 footer for par.  That I like.

[Joe Hancock]

#7 @ the Mines GC.

155 yard drop shot par 3. I've played it five times since the course opened, and I own the hole. 4 birdies and a par, with the par coming on a missed 4 footer after a boisterous wagering crowd placed money on me NOT being able to birdie it for the fifth consecutive play of the hole. My putting sucks.

Joe

[John Kirk]

So funny, Joe.  Congrats on your early success...just wait.

[Kenny Lee Puckett]

Woodway C.C., Darien, Connecticut - 4th Hole (Formerly #11)

A 390 yard Par 4.

The tee shot eminates from out of a tree-lined chute, and it places a premium on risk vs. reward strategy to reach the optimal fairway landing zone as the spine of a 15 foot high plateau runs from 8pm to 2am from 210 to 230 yards.  The ridge repels weakly struck shots from reaching the top.  A collection bunker on the right at the bottom of the slope catches pushed and sliced tee shots and keeps them from bounding into a small lateral stream which parallels the fairway 50 yards from the center line.  A bunker on the left side of the fairway on top of the plateau catches hooked and pulled tee shots.  Shots entering this bunker usually roll close to its 4-5 foot high lip mound which frequently prevents a club selection strong enough to reach the green.  If you don't clear the ridge with your tee shot, one is faced with a blind 180-200 yard second that is frequently pulled off of the slight uphill lie into a large bunker which is short and left of the green.  Complicating the risk vs. reward strategy of hitting driver or 3 metal off of the tee is crowning of the fairway on the plateau.  Hit the edge of the left rough, and the gentle slope will work the ball towards the left fairway bunker.  Land just to the right of the fairway centerline, and your ball will kick down to the right rough, and you might have to punch or cut a short iron around some encroaching pine limbs (These have to go, IMO)

Assuming that you have sucessfully negotiated the tee shot, the 2nd shot from 150 yards or less is relatively straight forward play to a rather large green.  From 125 yards in, the good player is thinking birdie.  The principal greenside defenses are the aforementioned bunker to the short left, and its cousin, a pot bunker behind it which seldom sees a ball.  The balance of trouble to avoid revolves around the downslope of some 40 feet which surrounds the green from the pot bunker all the way around to the right and extending out to 100 yards short of the green.  The stream still lurks all the way up the right side of the hole and around the back side of the green.  There are no hazards to impede a run up shot, and the green will funnel balls depending on the entry point.

The green itself is Woodway's most interesting.  Mildly sloping from front to back, there are 6-8 pinable positions that are defendable by slopes, rolls and hillocks.  The two most prominent shapes are a plateau in the right center, and a mound in the middle back left.  Both positions are pinable on the tops and below their sides.  Putts across either feature increase the speed difficulty of the roll quite greatly.  There are two very extreme positions in the back left and in the back right that are rarely used due to difficulty of access.

Thus, a relatively benign hole (#11 on HCP) is my favorite at Woodway due to the risk vs. reward strategy on the tee shot, and the subtle, but effective greenside defenses.  For most golfers it is an easy bogey/good par.  For the single digit handicap, birdie is quite possible as is bogey.

JWK

Congrats to those above on their eagles and aces!

[Jim_Kennedy]

JNC,
We have a few that I really like but I'll choose the ninth, our closing hole, for this post. It's a par 5, 533yds from the back. The tee shot drops some 50' or so and you are looking down at "two" fairways, one in the immediate foreground, the other in the right background and the hole takes a right hand turn between them. The second half of the hole is somewhat tight with high woods on the right, a pond on the left and a total rise up to the green of about 20'. The right 1/3 of this fairway is hillside that will kick a ball back toward the left(Seth Raynor containment mounding). It also includes a plateau that begins about 160 yds from the green and which runs for 30 yds. The fairway dips again just inside 130, stays fairly level to 100 then rises again , high on the right falling off on the left, to the road hole green.    

There are 4 options from the tee. each one successively more dangerous but with more rewards:
#1- Hit an iron straightaway into the foreground fairway, anything from 160 to 210. The second shot from here will be a layup to the plateau or just over it.
#2- Hit into the background fairway, anything from 220 to 290 will do. From here you'll have anywhere from 240 to 290 in. If you go for it play towards the right side of the green, the terrain will help you get on if you hit it a bit thin.  
#3- Slide one around the trees on the inside corner of the dogleg. This will leave you anywhere from 210 to 240 in. Same   as #2.  
#4- Take it directly over the trees. Aim over the correct treetop and you can be left with 170 to the green.

The green has a crown in it set on a diagonal to the fairway. It's protected by a 6' deep grass trap front left and a sand trap on the right side. It looks benign but can be tough to two putt, especially if the cup is anywhere on or left of the crown.
   

[Phil Benedict]

Jim - Played Hotchkiss frequently as a kid (35 years ago) and most recently played the course about 15 years ago on an early fall day when there was a football game and a cross-country meet.  What an atmosphere - plus girls had been added to the scene.  We had no idea about Seth Raynor as kids but certainly noticed the architectural details, particularly around the greens.  There should be a momument to Raynor's first meeting with Steam Shovel.  There are a lot of options off the tee on 9 but I wonder if titanium drivers and the modern ball have brought the pond into play for long hitters who choose driver.  I used to come within 20 yards on my best hits with a wooden driver and balata ball (circa 1970).  Some day I'll drive up to play the course again.

[rjsimper]

13th at Rustic Canyon...I wont waste space with why, as that has been discussed ad nauseum

and if you count the course I grew up on...then I say either the 6th or the 13th at Palos Verdes GC...both in large part due to the greens.

[peter_p]

Reserve Vineyards & GC, Aloha, OR
South (Fought) Course #16 Par 4, 349 yards. Play to a bottleneck with bunkers intruding from the left and a creek from the right. Green in protected with bunkers left and long, and the creek (with waterfall) edges the green on the right. Good contours on right side make a great Sunday location back right if they ever use this hole in a tournament.

North (Cupp) Course #7, Par 4, 307. Slight dogleg left with green protected by wetland short and left. Lateral hazard on left off the tee balanced by mounding and thickish rough on the right. Green sloping back and left, ala redan w/o the supporting land form.
Tree fronts the right side of the green in the wetlands. Currently a swamp oak because the first one died from overwatering.

[Michael Wharton-Palmer]

Peter,
I could not agree with you more on your like of #16 I love that hole..I know that we have discussed the course before but that particular holes is fantastic, the ideal severity for a hole of that length.

[Jim_Kennedy]

Phil,
The last time you played there were 3 teeing areas on #9 but about 12 years ago the front one was removed. The straightaway carry to the pond is 265 from what you knew as the middle tee and 300 from the tips, so yes, it can be reached, especially with dry conditions or a little turbo boost off the hill at the inside of the dogleg. The "rock" across the  pond is still a good place to aim your tee shot.  

There have been some changes in the past several years so you should come up and check them out when you can. Call ahead ( 860-435-4400 ), I'd like to meet you.

[Adam_F_Collins]

Brightwood Golf Club in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia

Number 1
Par 4 285 yards

Standing on the tee, you are faced with a fairway that goes out almost level with the teeing ground for about 80 yards before descending into a huge swale, whose bottom lies about 160 yards from the green. The ground then rises to the top of a great ridge which cuts across the fairway (and slopes down to flat ground 80 yards or so left of center) at just over 100 yards from the green. This ridge blocks your view of the green which lies about thirty feet below the level of the tee box.

Once you crest the ridge, you see that the earth descends toward the green in a point - so as you go left, the earth slopes left, as you go right, the earth slopes right. Only if your ball is dead online for the green will the ball roll there - down the finger of the point.

There are two large oak trees to the right of the line from tee to green, one at about 65 yards from the green and 20 yards from the center line. The other at 40 yards and 30 from the center. Shots too far right can be blocked or complicated by them.

Bunkers lie 100 yards out and way left, where the ground levels out  along the far side of the ridge, and there is one short left as well as behind the green.

A small, swale about 3 feet deep cuts across just in front of the green to complicate matters.

This hole is most often played with a driver or fairway wood at the green. But that brings big numbers into play as well as the possibility of an eagle or even an ace. You can also play an iron to the top of the ridge and have a downhill shot of just over 100. Or you can play way left with a long iron and go around the ridge - playing off a level lie at a receptive green 100 yards away.

You can take anything from a 1 to a 7 here. What's most interesting is that its short length can really pound the mental state of those who feel the "should" get a good score on such a 'little' hole.

I love it. And the more I play it, the more genius I see in it.

[tlavin]

Number 12 at Olympia Fields North: a 380 yard par four, with the creek traversing across the fairway about 100 yards from the green.  There are huge mature oaks lining the right side of the fairway and a big bunker on the left side of the fairway.  The hole moves from left to right, so you can play it short of the bunker and  leave yourself about 160 yards to a small green with bunkers left and right and a small protrusion of green back right over a bunker providing a great "sucker" pin.  You can also flirt with the trees with a bigger stick and leave yourself with a wedge.  

The hole is the beginning of a stretch of five that utilize the most natural part of the golf course, with an ingenious routing by Willie Park Jr.  Topographically, the holes are reminiscent of the ravine holes at Shoreacres although they are much "bigger" holes in every way.

I would also throw in #16 at Beverly, a wonderful par 4 that has gotten juiced up on the Prichard re-do.  It is now a 440 par 4 that calls for a fade off the tee (a rarity at the old Beverly, which was overwhelmingly a right-to-left course) to avoid a big fairway bunker on the right and a long second shot into a green that Ross built into a hillside on the right, with bunkers front and left.  The hole looks dead straight on an aerial, but it does have a number of options off the tee and from the fairway.

[Mike_Golden]

Number 11 at Pajaro Valley Golf Club, Royal Oaks, California. 180 yard par 3 with false front, bunkers left and right, usually into the wind. This is one of four tough par 3's at Pajaro. Really liking it today because....drum roll please..... I made my first hole in one ever (in 34 years of playing golf). Three iron, little curve left, hit four feet in front of the flag and rolled in!
I also made another eagle on the same nine, #15, 498 yards, par 5.

Pete,

Mazel tov, my friend...

[Mike_Golden]

I'll give you 3 from my home courses over the years, all very, very different:

Bethpage Black- #5, for obvious reasons

Lake Merced GC- #16, a short par 4 with a downhill approach to a devilishly small, back to front and right to left sloped green.

Solutia GC- #15, a 400 yard par 5, dogleg left, with a slightly uphill drive and a fairway that slopes right, approach shot downhill to a green that falls away right to left.  Lots of decisions to make on both the tee shot and approach, and a couple of trees in your way on the approach from the left that really reduces the target area off the tee.

[Steve Wilson]

My favorite hole at Preston Country Club in Kingwood, West Virginia is the 10th, a medium length par 5 that can be stretched to 530 yards.  Curving in an arc, like a drawn bow, from right to left, the hole rises for the first half of its length, plateaus for thirty yards and then swoops down until it meets Buffalo Run which is the last and foremost hazard of the hole.  Just beyond the stream crouches the green which is large for a par five.  The front two thirds has a decided slope from back to front and the back third levels and then falls away from the golfer.

Given the width of the fairway, this hole should be an easy five and a frequent four for the better player.  

The drive can be of any shape provided it finds the fairway, although center or right is better.  On the second shot, position is critical as anything left will be blocked out by a large hardwood which stands sentinel over that angle.  Hugging the right side provides the optimum angle, but if I get greedy there are mounds which can create an awkward stance and/or a gnarly lie.   Typically play of the hole proceeds drive, lay up with a mid iron, and then a short iron to the green.  Thus in many respects it is anti-strategy, but there is something about the hole which fits my eye and always has.  The hole would, however, be an excellent risk/reward for the long hitter.


       

The tee shot:



The Plateau at the halfway and just beyond point:

 







Beginning of the layup area:






 Vantage point from a bad layup that found a gap and produced a  birdie:

 

[Tags:]

Tags:

[Tags:]

Tags:

Call to undefined function theme_linktree()