News:

Welcome to the Golf Club Atlas Discussion Group!

Each user is approved by the Golf Club Atlas editorial staff. For any new inquiries, please contact us.


Brian Laurent

  • Karma: +0/-0
Spectacles vs PN
« on: September 20, 2007, 11:22:05 PM »
Was just looking at the Double Eagle photos and noticed the spectacles on #9...it reminded me of the Principles Nose photos in a previous thread.  

While I can certainly see some major differences in the two, there still seems to be a thin line between them.  Can someone please explain the what differentiates the two?

Spectacles @ Double Eagle


PN @ St. Andrews
"You know the two easiest jobs in the world? College basketball coach or golf course superintendent, because everybody knows how to do your job better than you do." - Roy Williams | @brianjlaurent | @OHSuperNetwork

Adam Clayman

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:Spectacles vs PN
« Reply #1 on: September 21, 2007, 12:04:41 AM »
Brian, I've never been to Scotland but I'm willing to put my foot in my mouth and state...if that's the principles nose at St. Andrews, I'll eat my septic chicken.
"It's unbelievable how much you don't know about the game you've been playing your whole life." - Mickey Mantle

Phil McDade

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:Spectacles vs PN
« Reply #2 on: September 21, 2007, 12:18:23 AM »
Brian:

The Principal's Nose at TOC is really a series of three bunkers (one fronting, two side-by-side) that play a significant factor in the strategy of the tee shot at the shortish par 4 16th.

Spectacles are two bunkers side-by-side on the shortish par 5 14th at Carnoustie, and come into play on the second shot there.

At The Old Course (like many tee shots there) the decision off the tee is: play safely left and leave yourself with a tougher approach, or play the riskier shot right, and be left with an easier approach. This feature of TOC, repeated often there, is perhaps most pronounced at 16, because of the small (tiny, really) and narrow strip of fairway between the Principal's Nose and the OB right, and width of the available fairway left off the tee there. The bunkers, like many at TOC, are somewhat subdued in their appearance, and are of a gathering nature -- get a ball on a roll toward them, and they stand a good chance of going in. With today's technology, the Principal's Nose bunkers can probably be flown, but Deacon Sime -- a nasty little pot bunker -- lies hidden 30 yards beyond to catch the bold player. The Principal's Nose bunkers sit about 145 yards from the middle of the green (I don't have yardages from the tee to the bunkers from the latest Open set-up.)

Spectacles are two very large, pushed-up bunkers with high lips that sit about 65 yards from the green on the par 5 14th at Carnoustie. When re-designed by Braid, they probably played a significant factor in strategy -- take a chance of flying them with a second shot, or risk losing a stroke by putting your shot in them. They are visually intimidating, but for today's players, their chief strategy is that they make the landing area of the 2nd shot blind, but the green opening there is pretty wide and the green is quite deep, making for a fairly routine second shot for most players (in Open conditions).

« Last Edit: September 21, 2007, 09:01:22 AM by Phil McDade »

Ally Mcintosh

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:Spectacles vs PN
« Reply #3 on: September 21, 2007, 05:22:15 AM »
Brian, I've never been to Scotland but I'm willing to put my foot in my mouth and state...if that's the principles nose at St. Andrews, I'll eat my septic chicken.

have you got the chicken in the oven yet, adam?

Brian Laurent

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:Spectacles vs PN
« Reply #4 on: September 21, 2007, 08:19:28 AM »
Thanks for the explanation, Phil!  
"You know the two easiest jobs in the world? College basketball coach or golf course superintendent, because everybody knows how to do your job better than you do." - Roy Williams | @brianjlaurent | @OHSuperNetwork

Adam Clayman

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:Spectacles vs PN
« Reply #5 on: September 21, 2007, 08:54:20 AM »
Ally, Yup. And I will be sending portions to whomever is responsible for such a travisty.
"It's unbelievable how much you don't know about the game you've been playing your whole life." - Mickey Mantle

Tags:
Tags:

An Error Has Occurred!

Call to undefined function theme_linktree()
Back