One of my latest architectural ruminations has been about kicker mounds and their use around greens to help and hinder certain shot shapes.
What better place for research than Huntingdon Valley. Yesterday, in between play (I was doing course setup) I was able to snap a few pictures of examples of kicker mounds that enter play based on the situation.
First, a look at the 2nd hole of the C Course.
From the fairway, the shot is very intimidating. This picture is from roughly 200 yards out (far left of Ran's picture of the same hole in the HVCC 'Course by Country' section). However, a running approach into the right hand side will take the kicker mound and bring the ball to the day's hole location - making the approach a bit more palatable to the wily golfer.
Here's a view from the right fairway near the green.
Another good example that is more situation dependent is found on the 8th hole of the C Course. Here the mound is in the front part of the green, and will kick a ball left to any front/middle left hole location - as show in this picture.
However, when I moved the hole to the back left teir, the kicker mound becomes a detriment to the golfer, funneling the ball to the bottom of the green and making for an awkward angle from which to putt to the back left hole location.
The back view of the green shows how the kicker mound helps the front, and hinders the back - changing the style of play for the hole based on the day's hole location.
I like this usage and how it compounds the ground and aerial games. Any other examples out there?