For those who aren't offended by a guest taking photos... and with all due respect to Mike McGuire our host at West Bend CC:

Brad Swanson and friends attacking the first hole, something of the uphill fortress, knolltop affair.

second shot on the first


approach to 2nd


L&M typical diagonal grass bunker and gullwing mound

approach to par 5 3rd

the raised green with many contours and pinnable areas


The long par 3, 4th.  I think I hit a 5metal, and missed front-left and short and two chunked chips from the heavy grass bunkering there

Ted Morreau hit a beautiful 3metal draw, which unfortunately he didn't get to see into the sun.


second shot following the natural kettle and morraine contours on the par 5, 6th?

6approach green


Tee on 7, short dogleg, par 4, with gullwing grass bunkandmounds, OB deep right, deep ravine low left, and plenty of FW contour for the odd and varied stance for second shot..

Lz on 7, looking dramatically uphill.  The photo unfortunately doesn't give enough definition to severity uphill, nor the steepness of the green complex face as it is obscured by the tree shadow on the left face up to green.


the lovely par 3 8th.  I mean I really liked it:


beatuful second shot from LZ of the 9th.  typical L&M on eschelon gullwing bunkering and green platform.  A great hole...


Sorry for dark frame, but the elegant dinner Mike McQuire set up. (back of Brad Swanson's head )

Dan the L&M man, a relaxed and conversant dinner companion...


West Bend Country Club only has 9 holes by Langford and Morreau.  Yet, they may be some of the best examples of their style.  BTW, they had some of the best greens conditions for speed and trueness of roll that I have played.  Perhaps a little soft due to the recent weather.  But, a treat to put.   Mike McGuire shared much research and old aerials, articles and a neat overlay of the original proposed L&M second 9 superimposed over the actual aerial of the existing 9 done by Gill and redone by Hills.  It is very instructive to see and wonder if they would have done the originally planned routing and look of L&Ms original intent.  All made for a dream evening for us GCA.com enthusiasts.

Maybe some Lawsonia pix later...

Great photos, Dick.

A few observations about West Bend:

-- I would agree with Dick -- the nine West Bend holes are in some ways even more dramatic than the holes at Lawsonia, in terms of demonstrating the unique L/M look. The severity of the pushed-up greens, the boldness of the bunkering and contouring on some greens, and the absolute guts and willingness to route holes over terrain that most might think unplayable is pretty astonishing. West Bend's terrain is much more rugged in parts than Lawsonia, and yet L/M found playable and interesting holes on it.

-- The volcano par 4 opener is really a treat, because that green complex just stares you in the face the entire trip up the fairway. I think it adds to the intimidation of the hole, as opposed to a lot of volcano holes, which tend to be par 3s.

-- The backside of the green on No. 2 is just incredible -- you feel like you're on top of a two-story building up there. You can catch a glimpse of the road leading to the clubhouse just to the left of the greensite -- from the entry road, it looks even more impressive. Twenty feet pushed up in the back? It might be that high...

-- The 3rd green has an internal contour that's just enormous -- 3 or 4 feet of drop. It's just to the right of the two golfballs on the green, and it's why you can only see half the flagstick in Dick's picture.

-- The par 3 4th reminded me a bit of the 17th at Lawsonia -- a hole of merit built on ordinary land. The hole's length dictates a long iron/wood play, but is all carry because of the severity of the green complex.

-- The ornamental, newly planted trees on the extreme left of the picture on hole no. 6 discourage play over one of the more interesting parts of the terrain on that hole; our host Mike McGuire said the routing of the hole has been changed over the years, and that L/M originally wanted the hole's fairway to include that route on this roller-coaster of a par 5. The green is tucked into the woods right-center of the picture.

-- The 7th may be the boldest hole I've ever seen, anywhere. What's neat is that L/M used their signature partial blindness -- hiding some of what's to come from the player on the tee -- on the most dramatic piece of property on the front nine. To turn that dogleg corner and see what confronts you -- an iron to the top of some building, essentially -- is to wonder how Langford had the imagination and courage, really, to route a hole over such terrain (which was basically all dense hardwood forest when the course was built). An amazing hole, and one in which the picture really doesn't capture the terrain.

-- The par 5 9th again is over some really dramatic property, and the long approach shot to a green framed by the attractice clubhouse is both beautiful and challenging.

Three days of L/M was a real treat, but in terms of just golf architecture, West Bend was the highlight (for me, anyway) -- nine truly brilliant holes of boldness and imagination.

Phil, I'd say that the back of that 2nd is about as steep and high as the front of the "boxcar" hole at Lawsonia, maybe a fraction higher on the back left portion as you approach the green.  

I'm sorry I didn't get a good photo of the tee on 9 and the rockin n rollin LZ.  But, I was trying to restrain myself in taking too many pix so as not to offend the guardian's of decorum regarding a guest taking photos...  

BTW, did I cause anyone to be waiting to hit a shot, or slow down play?  

I don't know how to share such a great experience of playing a wonderful club like WBCC with as interested of a group as GCA.com readers,  without a bit of a photo essay.  I'm sorry...

Yours truly,

Dick "Wang" Daley

Tyler, I don't have a card, but I'm guessing 7 is about 350ish yards.  I hit driver about 225-30 into a decent place in LZ.  (that is my ball on far left of photo with my shadow in frame) I had about 120ish to the green.  I hit 9 iron up into the green and came up about 3 ft short of putting surface.  It is really hard to figure what to hit up there due to knowing you should take a little more club up so high.  But, then you worry you will go long, with is no bargain either.  

These steep sloped green sites often catch your approaches on the severe side hill of the green surrounds.  A person doesn't ever practice such a billygoat stance to hit a SW or such at such an severe stance.  You have to almost balance at 45degree or more shoulders even with ground angle and close your club and be brave enough to really follow through after contact /ball.  

My favorite term for the L&M grass or sand bunkers with concave long diagonal sweeping adjacent mound is "gullwing" bunkers.  They are sometimes hollowed out in the fat leading edge of the mound and sweep to generally slighter face as the wing sweeps back on the diagonal.  Raynor has similar, but they are artful and more gracefull in the Langford and Morreau versions.  They are everywhere to be found on their courses, that I have played.  L&M often present them on-escheleon in sets of two or three.  I am somewhat emotionally attached to their look.  They are alluring, particularly in the long shadow hours.

Tyler:

No. 7 at West Bend goes 361 from the tips, 349 from the blues, and 322 from the whites. Certainly not long by today's standards, and really a medium-length par 4 when built back in 1931.

The tee shot is to a pretty broad fairway, but one with very uneven lies. You can't cut off the dogleg, because of the forest left off the tee. Hugging the dogleg shortens it, but the fairway is lower over there, making the approach shot that much more uphill, and too far left (as Brad mentioned) is dead. There is actually room over the large mound to the right, and while there are some level lies over there, it does lengthen the second shot and it is still considerably uphill. Among those I was playing with, we figured it was at least a club extra, perhaps two.

I think the really amazing thing about this hole is how Langford and Co. found it. This area of the course (the last 1/3 of 6, all of 7 and 8, and the first 1/3 of 9) is carved from a very dense forest, and seeing that ground for this hole is really the mark of inspiration, in my view.

Yardages, just to add some perspective (yardages are in order of black tees, blue tees, and white tees). The L/M nine plays 3477 from the blacks, 3406 from the blues, and 2815 from the whites.

1 -- 420, 405, 304 (and uphill the entire way, and straight north, which can be into the prevailing wind in Wisconsin on cool, humidity-free day).

2 -- 406, 395, 342 (not sharply downhill, more slightly downhill).

3 -- 520, 510, 438 (slightly uphill? There is sort of a downhill turbo boost in the LZ, if I recall, but then slightly uphill after that).

4 -- 217, 201, 154 (over dead-level ground, from a typical flat -- not raised in any way -- L/M tee. Heads almost due west, and thus usually into the wind. A tougher tee shot than 10 at Lawsonia?).

5 -- 392, 386, 312 (parallels some of the same terrain as 2).

6 -- 557, 551, 403 (a real roller coaster, with the last portion uphill on this man-sized hole).

7 -- 361, 349, 322 (but plays much longer re. the second shot).

8 -- 159, 138, 130 (a very nice short par 3 nestled into the woods, and perhaps a club longer than usual, as it plays slightly uphill).

9 -- 445, 471, 410 (plays as a par 4 from the tips, and as a par 5 from the blues and whites, leading to an unconventional par of 37 on the front nine).

One of the really interesting things about this L/M nine is that Langord, in his writing, really did stress providing golfers with a variety of yardages for their approach shots into greens, and the WBend nine really does fulfill that. For example, holes 1 and 2 differ by only 10 yards (all examples from the blue tees), but I can see using a two or three-club difference in the approach shots, because of the varied terrain upon which they sit. Hole 5 plays nearly 40 yards longer than 7, but I can see using a longer club for the approach on 7, again tied to terrain and also the more demanding tee shot on 7 requiring less than driver off the tee there. And the par 5s vary by quite a bit -- 6 requires two good whacks to be in position for a mid-to-low iron approach, 3 could have a wedge into the green with two well-played shots, and 9 played as a par 5 would require perhaps even a fairway wood for the player going for the green in two on this shortish par 5. The two par 3s also demand very different shots -- but the greensites (4 is 40 yards deep, the deepest on the front nine; 8 is only 24 yards deep, the smallest) reflect that.

Jim:

Langford/Moreau are pretty much known for their manufactured greensites -- it's probably their most visible signature element (though they have others). In particular, L/M greensites often provide some sort of corridor for a low or even ground-based approach into a green -- some widers than others, obviously, but they usually have some kind of opening. But then the rest of the typical greensite is what you might call heavily engineered -- steep falloffs on the sides and esp. the backs, with very deep bunkers (sand ones or grassed-in ones) flanking the sides and sometimes the backsides of greens). RJ Daley's pictures of the approaches on 1, 3 and 9 are very good examples of the kind of things you'd seen playing a L/M course.

That's not to say that they didn't use the lay of the land for the courses. For instance, no. 1 at West Bend really does climb a pretty decent hill, and then has a large greensite on top of it. Hole no. 7 is an extreme example of this -- a pushed-up green on top of a small mountain. Hole No. 2 (depicted very well in the picture) flows through a valley very near the greensite, but the manufactured green is "pushed up" from the surrounding contours of the land (and on 2, I really mean pushed up....)

I think the course looks pretty cool.  It is strange how many of the greens seem to be trying hopelessy to remain in balance with the surrounding land.  I have not seen quite so many greens like this in succession before.  I know it sounds bizarre, but this look reminds me a ton of Kington.  The difference being that the terrain at Kington dictated the greens look askew to the land - just sort of popped up.  WCC seems to have the greens popped up for effect.  Its almost like there are little roads leading to the greens, but some of these roads in effect are too narrow to follow (because they often twist just short of the green) or appear so narrow that guys may want to fly the ball.  I wonder how hard it is to properly shape the shots to bounce onto the green?  Either way, its a neat bit of deceptive confusion.  Did the site originally have trees or were they pretty much cleared to allow wind to do its thing?  

The one possible problem I see with a course like this is because of the design of popped greens and narrow bouncing in areas, the course can't get too firm or its recovery city over the back and wings all day.  

Thanks for posting Dick.

Ciao

Great looking course. you must have had a ball!  If those pyramids posing as spruce trees could just go away.

Slow but sure some are going away.....




on other holes we are limbing them up so you can go around them easier.

Quote from: Sean Arble on September 12, 2007, 02:09:49 AM

 Its almost like there are little roads leading to the greens, but some of these roads in effect are too narrow to follow (because they often twist just short of the green) or appear so narrow that guys may want to fly the ball.  I wonder how hard it is to properly shape the shots to bounce onto the green?  

Ciao

Sean

Those twisty roads into the greens are a recent design change. The area in front of the greens were designed to be all bent grass. Then you would have a chance to bounce it in.

Mike

Are you saying the cut, the grass and/or the actual road width is different from the original design?  Also, are you saying it isn't feasible to kick balls in on some of those greens?

Ciao

Sean

On the first and second holes the area in front of the green was planted with bluegrass to keep balls from rolling back toward the player. It is possible on these holes to bump it in but only from 30 yards or so as it is quite steep.

On other holes 3,5,6 and 9 the front of the green is more level with the fairway and you are able to bump it in from the LZ.

The original design has fairway all the way across the front of the greens.