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Tom_Doak

  • Karma: +2/-1
I ask because I think that's what is important in design, but I certainly recognize that a lot of design is derivative.

Garland Bayley

  • Karma: +0/-0
Gotta go with the tunnel holes at Astoria.
"I enjoy a course where the challenges are contained WITHIN it, and recovery is part of the game  not a course where the challenge is to stay ON it." Jeff Warne

Ryan Farrow

The fairways at Papago.

After reading the thread, I guess I was thinking of another version of original.
« Last Edit: December 13, 2007, 05:13:37 PM by Ryan Farrow »

Jay Flemma

Black Mesa and Tobacco Road.  Some of the greens at Ballyneal.

Doug Wright

  • Karma: +0/-0
Most recently, the kiln and rock pillars Jim Engh left in the middle of the fairways on the first and 12th holes, respectively, at Fossil Trace.
Twitter: @Deneuchre

Greg Krueger

  • Karma: +0/-0
I remember the first time I played Tobacco Road standing on
the 1st tee one of my buddies said, "Did we just land on the moon?" That whole course is like that, something I had never
seen before.

CHrisB

The 11th at Black Mesa, specifically the location of the green, right at the mouth of that mini-canyon running down from the sandstone formations behind. A daring and amazing place to put a golf hole. The wind gets swirling in all sorts of different directions there because of where the green sits. I stood there wondering "how does the drainage work?" imagining water running down toward the green from the canyon, but of course it does work. And, despite the daring site for the green, the walk to the next tee is still reasonable (quite a short walk to the back tee, actually).

The way the 2nd green at Erin Hills sits low between the different sets of elevated back tees for the 3rd hole is something I don't recall seeing before. And like it or not, the 7th at Erin Hills is a new twist on the Dell concept, with kind of a horizon effect where you hit blind down into something instead of blind over something.

TaylorA

I'd say Mike Young's interesting pseudo grass bunkers on the 12th at Long Shadow. And the "clay walls" on other holes - I'm thinking specifically of the 11th and 18th.

Mike_Cirba

1) Side-by-side short par threes going in opposite directions sqeezed into a space just big enough for eight golfers at Philly Cricket.
2) A barn located within 2 paces of a green at Philly Cricket.
3) A giant sandless bunker on the 3rd hole at Long Shadow.

Jim Thompson

  • Karma: +0/-0
Taylor,

I was just going to ask if anyone had any pics of Mike's "experiments" on the 12th at Long Shadow.  Those are very cool!  Sadly, those are only the second most original thing I saw at Long Shadow, as I have never seen anything like Mike Hendren's follow though ;D!

Cheers!

JT
Jim Thompson

Garland Bayley

  • Karma: +0/-0
Buried dynamite bunker at The Home Course.
"I enjoy a course where the challenges are contained WITHIN it, and recovery is part of the game  not a course where the challenge is to stay ON it." Jeff Warne

Jeff_Mingay

  • Karma: +0/-0
How about Pete Dye's island green 17th at Sawgrass?
jeffmingay.com

Tony_Muldoon

  • Karma: +0/-0
I ask because I think that's what is important in design, but I certainly recognize that a lot of design is derivative.

It is said that there are either only 7 original plots in all literature (an alternative has it there are 22 - or whatever the number of plays that Shakespeeere (whoever he was) wrote).

In music there are battalions of lawyers ready to sue if their client suggests that a new song is not really that original and bears a similarity to their own earlier work. There hasn't been that many high profile cases recently because behind the first army there's a whole new army of 'Toon Detectives' who will find you a defence by finding an earlier use of e.g. a certain chord sequence in Mozart, Bach, Palestrina, Hildegard, whoever, etc.

In conclusion it's not so important to try and come up with something original.  Just keep it fresh.
Let's make GCA grate again!

Joel_Stewart

  • Karma: +0/-0
This year the most original thing I saw was on TV and it was how amazing Oakmont was!   The squared off greens, the lack of trees, just about everything I like in golf and architecture was there.

It is by far the #1 course I would like to play in America.

Kalen Braley

  • Karma: +0/-0
I'll go with 14 and 17 at Redlands Mesa.  14 requires a short approach over a massive boulder that is at least a good 20-30 feet tall. And 17 is a longish par 3 set in a huge rock outcropping, one of the most unique holes I've ever seen.  

Quirk-o-licious!

JohnV


The second green at Morgan Creek that is like an upside down U with the front and back looking at least 4 feet lower than the center.

Jeff_Brauer

  • Karma: +0/-0
I'll go with Tobacco Road as a true original style I hadn't quite seen.  While there may be elements there that are common to other courses, he certainly put them together in a way that was totally different than anyone else, to a degree that it was a new style, at least to me.

There have been some unusual things - like Perry Dye's tunneled cart path under a tee at Desert Pines in LV, but those are one time creative solutions to a unique situation.
Jeff Brauer, ASGCA Director of Outreach

Adam Clayman

  • Karma: +0/-0
What a toughie.
 
I'll have to go with the conical spire(s) Pete put in at least one bunker on the Stadium course at PGA West.
"It's unbelievable how much you don't know about the game you've been playing your whole life." - Mickey Mantle

Tommy Williamsen

  • Karma: +0/-0
There were a couple of greens like this at Parada.  

Where there is no love, put love; there you will find love.
St. John of the Cross

"Deep within your soul-space is a magnificent cathedral where you are sweet beyond telling." Rumi

Jeff Doerr

  • Karma: +0/-0
I know this is Tom's thread, but I have to go with #9 at Pacific Dunes. It is super rare to see two totally different, yet great green settings. #5 at Chambers Bay also had this option.

#12 at Chambers Bay also was a new (old?), outside the box feeling par 3.5 hole.
"And so," (concluded the Oldest Member), "you see that golf can be of
the greatest practical assistance to a man in Life's struggle.”

Tim Pitner

  • Karma: +0/-0
Most recently, the kiln and rock pillars Jim Engh left in the middle of the fairways on the first and 12th holes, respectively, at Fossil Trace.

My thoughts exactly (although I experienced them as the 12th and 1st holes, in that order).  

Andy Troeger

There were a couple of greens like this at Parada.  



Tommy,
If you didn't see it, Jim gave an explanation of the origin of that style of green on the "Answers" thread.


Most recent would be the island green at Sawgrass. Kalen's mention of #14 at Redlands Mesa is a good one, although in style its not all different from #9 at Tullymore as a short par four that requires distance to have a look at the green.

Black Mesa as mentioned previously, also the 4th green at Lost Dunes, the 4th green at Paa-Ko Ridge (100 yards long) and the 15th at Shoreacres.

jeffwarne

  • Karma: +0/-0
The dune on #10 at Friar's Head.

The 4th hole at St. Enodoc -"busy" tee shot -great green and greensite.

The 2nd, 3rd, 18th fairway at Sebonack

The Pit at North Berwick.

Everything at Perranporth
"Let's slow the damned greens down a bit, not take the character out of them." Tom Doak
"Take their focus off the grass and put it squarely on interesting golf." Don Mahaffey

bstark

  • Karma: +0/-0
"The dune on #10 at Friar's Head."

 When I saw the title of the thread #10 immediately came to mind. So many guys get up on the tee and say 'oh man".  Then when they get to the green and look back it's usually something like "wow".......then you know it's an original.....

John Kirk

  • Karma: +0/-0
Building up the lowlands of Two Mile Creek to build the 5th and 14th greens at Bandon Crossings.  The course had to traverse the creek, and the decision to put a couple greens down there was thoughtful.  I had never see this done before.

 

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