At the request of several posters, here are some photos "walking down" the 18th hole at Stone Eagle, taken two weeks ago on the afternoon of the 1st Club Championship.

For those you care to know, there was no wind to speak of, the fairways and greens were relatively firm (reasonable run-outs on tee shots/no obvious deep ball marks), but certainly not rock-hard, and the holes were cut in pretty challenging locations overall.  We did not walk the course, kudos to those who do or have, as I don't think that is the strongest aspect of the course.  Realistically, though, how many members are going to walk it regularly anyway--in this instance, riding or walking did not impact my assessment of the course...

While the 18th is not my favorite hole at Stone Eagle, it is a worthy finisher, and not just because of the length.  There are major distance advantages to be had, if one gauges correctly (or in my case, lucks out) and uses the hard right-left slope deep in the fairway.  There are sufficient "safety" areas to allow the hole to play as two medium shots, wedge/chip up and attempt or par that way....

Tee shot (499/490/448/420/339)...

While the overall slope is significantly downhill, the most pronounced slope is off the side of the bunker barely visible in the right-center of the picture at 268/257/215 from the tee boxes.  Catch that slope and the caddies say the ball typically kicks down nicely into the far "garden area" in the left far part of the fairway, seen here...

The moguls and shelf on the right offer the better angle to back and left pins, such as the one we had, but I'm not sure how many balls would stop up there.  It may be better to be slightly short of that area, particularly if one draws the ball, as then the fronting and left side bunkers wouldn't have to be cleared as dramatically...The left side rocks/desert is obviously out of play, especially during rattlesnake mating season!  There appears to be a gentle gradient at the edge of the fairway which may keep slowly rolling shots out of the left side.  It does not help a low sniping hook pull, however!  Trust me!

Fairway center

The ball visible in the left fairway at the edge of the picture is in good shape, 162 yds from the center of the green.  The uphill is not extreme, but enough to factor into the yardage by 1/2 club, we reckoned.  The green itself is 35 yds deep, and that day's pin appeared to us to be arising out the huge leftside bunker.  In reality it is about 2/3rds back left, but not as severely left as it could have been...  There is something of a back stop front and back right, which can be used a bit to shoot balls back onto the green...

Looking back down 18, across the course...

One of the underappreciated aspects of soaking in the surroundings while golfing is looking back across the course to where you've been.  This picture is from one of the forward tees on #17.  The bunker visible at the 9:00 position is one of two (the other is below the rockpile to the right of the bunker and is the one visible on #18 tee) guarding the right side of both #17 and #18.  The 18th tee complex is at (roughly) the 10:00 position.  The cluster of 4 bunkers at 11:30 is the second green, and the 8th hole is running horizontally at the upper center of the picture.

The visual of Stone Eagle is not so much islands of fairway and green, but anastomosing (gotta use a dermatopathology term!) cords of green, intersecting at different angles, not unlike Legos or building blocks.  There were multiple fairway and green complexes melding together in most enjoyable ways.  This identity could also be used to great advantage to the lesser player, as there was sufficient width to play even the tightest holes--just not always from the planned fairway!

Looking back across the green from back right...

There are plenty of "dead elephants" in this green but the overall rise was several feet from front right to back left.  My playing partner had to crush the 75ft putt from that angle with a "full shoulder turn", just to navigate up that pitch.  This picture also show the 1st fairway and second holes, running from 3:00 to 9:30 across the center of the picture, and the distant 5th fairway (great hole!) visible just above and to the right of that.  One can also make out a tongue of the 6th fairway at the top right...

The final thought...

This is the 19th hole, and I really liked the way the hole feels as is it were just plopped in there--the rocks seemed larger and more haphazardly arranged, the deck overlooking the 1st tee complex, practice green and this hole is a delightful respite, etc.

Perhaps other can chime in, but this might help give you a bit of a feel for Stone Eagle, at least the visual aspects of it...

That what I was getting at, Tom, that the rock distribution on the perimeter  of #19 looked every bit like it had been unchanged for thousands of years...

I did not make my over to the right side of #18, but I did greatly enjoy the visual distortion on many of the holes, as the "waves" of the different rock ridges, both in the foregrounds and as backdrops were often quite disorienting...I mentioned to my playing partner that I visualized many of the shots at Stone Eagle as if the rocky areas were gorse, a la Pacific Dunes, and that brought some of the line back into "focus" for me--it was just a visual trick I played on myself to get back in the moment...

Similarly, I navigated well away from the deep bunker on the right side of #8, and didn' go over to inspect--I guess I'm not fit for "Naccarato" status or I would've hit one in there on purpose...

Quick question--it did not look to me as if there had been many old hole locations cut on the back portion of the 10th green.  Will that shelf back there be utilized regularly?  The grass on the green seemed to us to be cut or maintained at a slightly different texture that the front area of the green...

Still very early in the evolution the course, though...

Excellent post Peter, thanks once again for the great pictures!

The 18th was not my favorite hole on the course either, but there was a great variety of holes and they were all fun to play.  Plenty of width and some wild greens.  Not walkable, but in that heat who would want to?!

Tom H--

I'm a pretty militant walker, and Stone Eagle is by no means unwalkable.  I guess my only points are that I'm not sure there was any enormous benefit to walking it, and I'm not sure the bulk of the membership will anyway, so who cares...

There were plenty of spots where we just let the caddy zip the cart ahead to wherever we were going next or whatever, so you got plenty of walking in regardless...

Walking every single course just to be a militant, anal-compulsive about it is not always the way to go, and Stone Eagle would be one course, in my thought process only, where I didn't feel like I missed out on as much...

From a walking Stone Eagle standpoint, one nice feature was that there weren't too many spots where consecutive uphill holes would really drain you, particularly on the back nine.  I think on the only back-to-back holes that were, more or less, uphill were #5 and #6, which are followed by a long hike up to and then way, way, way down #7.  If you're looking to press an advantage over the walkers, maybe look for those holes...

...or have them snooping around the rattlesnake nests for lost balls!

...or load them up on high-fat burritos, etc. in town and then have them searching for "relief" or a "drop area" out there in the rocks somewhere...

In summary, I'm not thinking walking or not walking will be a monster advantage or disadvantage out there, even if it's very hot.  You are 800-1100 feet above the desert floor in some areas, too---so it's a dry heat...

Hydrate, and sunblock, liberally and often--that's my doctorly advice...

Peter - darn it - I was really hoping you'd tell me they'd absolutely die walking.  Of course you know you that by this post you just encouraged them.  

I any case, I appreciate the advice.  It's going to be very fun for sure.

And GREAT pics - these really do give a great feel for what to expect.

So any thoughts as to the wisdom, or lack thereof, regarding using hickories?  I'll likely do one round modern, one round hickory - curious how you think this will go at Stone Eagle.

TH

Scott:

You seem to have softened your stance over the years.  I shall take some credit for that - my campaign of constant shit-giving has finally paid off.

 

TH

Huck, if they walk they are insane.  Not only will the heat be a health issue, but the course is really not set up for wlaking.  Is it walkable? Sure, anything can technically be walked, but in my opinion, in June, it owuld be unhealthy.  Not to mention all the snakes in the areas that cut off some of the distances!

Huck, if they walk they are insane.  Not only will the heat be a health issue, but the course is really not set up for wlaking.  Is it walkable? Sure, anything can technically be walked, but in my opinion, in June, it owuld be unhealthy.  Not to mention all the snakes in the areas that cut off some of the distances!

Dan - of course you know this, and I know this, but note what I said to Peter about encouraging them... and note what Scott said about our Monday am round, on which the first group goes off at 8am, last group then after 9am... meaning some serious heat....

These guys do tend to want to walk.  Tommy normally wouldn't have to decree mandatory carts - as he did in the instructions he sent out - but he knows what type of group this is.

 

Dan...count me in as one of the insane then!!!  

Huckster...never have I said that "it's not golf if it's played out of a cart".  I'm all for allowing people to ride, to each his own I always say.  But like Scott I feel that just about ANYTHING played is walkable and am willing to give it a go.  I also agree that for a second round of the day we may very well in fact ride, then walk the morning round on Monday...but we shall see!

Remember...I did 90 holes of walking (and carrying my bag) here last summer in the dead of the heat on hilly courses in 36 hours, just for fun and to see if I could do it.  Other than my feet being tired it was really no big deal.

Since there seems to have been a "challenge" of sorts put up, I'm sure there are a few crazies like myself who will take y'all up on it.

With only a few exceptions, there are run-up avenues at almost every hole at Stone Eagle, and the carries are not overly vicious.  As it should be, to get to a few of the preferred areas the carries can be much longer...

I don't know how the conditioning is done down there, and whether or not they will have to water the heck out of it this first full year, but I wouldn't say I was getting phenomenal amounts of roll the last weekend of April, and my natural trajectory is low and pretty penetrating (mostly when going hard low left!), so I do tend to get lots of run-out...

I wasn't playing anything 30-40 yrds short or anything, which I regularly try to do at Bandon, Pacific, etc...

Maybe you're so precise you won't go in any bunkers or anything, but I know I had at least 3 bunker shots where my back foot was hanging off some rock, or the takeaway/follow-through had to barely clear a stabilizing rock on the edge of a bunker, and I would hate to have to envision at Steve Yeager-like fragment of hickory embedding itself in my neck.

Just enjoy the course for what it is the first time (or two) around, and let that determine whether you bring out the matchsticks next time!

Peter:  great stuff, thanks again.  Just note:

1.  Hickory shafts are FAR from weak - they're not liable to break in two from hitting a rock.  But I get that point.. If they do break, it's not just the shaft that breaks but one's heart, as they are irreplaceable... Oh, one can get another hickory shaft, but the point isn't to play replicas but the real thing.  So that is sage counsel.  Discretion may be the better part of valor.  Of course there always is the unplayable lie drop...

2. I appreciate the thought that you assume I'll get a "next time" there, but oh would that such were my life.  I can't see a future that includes a return trip to play Stone Eagle - and that's at least 50/50 due to my life realities plus access realities.  So this is it, man....

I guess I'll play moderns in the Sun pm round, let that dictate things for the Mon am.  But a lot depends on how Tommy sets up the matches as well... We shall see.  In any case, it does sound like Stone Eagle does set up Ok for hickory use outside of the rock issue.

TH

 
The Putter has spent far too long in SoCal.  As you see, I am not above anything to get it back to its rightful home.

Who knows though... you chaps might end up being team-mates instead of opponents... in which case I shall be quite persuasive about the joys of cart-riding come Monday morning.

Huck,

Tommy knows I am SoCal by marriage, so that's the team I'll be on.  According to his bio under his posts, Evan grew up in Florida, so he could be considered "So", unless the SoCal team has too many players.....

Oh, I know, I know.  But having organized these teams 3 out of the prior 4 events, I also know that sometimes balancing needs to occur and the non-Californians tend to fall as needed more than where they feel they should go.  So one does never know what team one will be on - who knows how Tommy will set things up this time?  And although I shall have nothing to do with it this time, well... I am however definitely taking note of your allegiances... so in the horrendous event that we (NorCal) fail to take back the putter... and either of you were put on our squad... well, I have a "they threw it on purpose" ready-made excuse to fall back on.