[David Staebler]

It is rare to play a hole that has no bunkers, water hazards or course boundaries that come into play.  Even rarer for such a hole to be to be considered well designed, interesting and challenging.  Among par 4 holes, the best of this type I have ever played is #14 at Royal Dornoch (Foxy).  Where are others of this type?

[GeoffreyC]

Foxy at Royal Dornoch is certainly the greatest example of this type of hole in my opinion as well.  If you would allow a small pond just in front of the tee (and not in play much like #16 at Pinehurst #2), then I think that #17 at Yale is a great example of this type of hole.  The tee shot (over the pond) is slightly uphill, blind to the landing area and over a natural saddle. The approach is to a beautiful large green three level green (angled somewhat from front left to back right) set up on a slope a few feet above the fairway (somewhat like foxy). About 40 yards short of the green is a large mound with native grasses that both obscures part of the green and gives problems with depth perception.  It is a beautiful and especially natural looking hole that is challenging at 430 yards yet rewards good shots.

[Tom_Doak]

Foxy is the best, but a close second is the fourth hole at Rye, England -- a tightrope par-4 along the top of a dune ridge which falls off nastily on either side.The fifth at Portrush is a great one, too, although there is an ocean beyond the green.  And there are a couple of great holes at Royal Ashdown Forest, which has no bunkers at all -- but heather is a major part of them.The only hole of mine which would have merited a look is the 14th at High Pointe, which has a narrow bunker at the back of the green to keep approaches from bouncing into unplayable shrubbery.  I considered not putting the bunker in to make a statement, but decided it would be a fetish -- the hole needed the bunker.  I don't much like modern designers [like Weiskopf] putting in a "bunkerless hole" so they can point it out in the press releases.

[George_Bahto]

Geoffrey:  That grassy mound short of Yale's 17 green was once a Principal Nose bunker complex.

[RobertWalker]

Hole No 14 at the Auguta National Golf Club has no bunkers. Wtih the contouring of that green, it needs no bunkers.

[David Staebler]

I don't think the Pit at North Berwick or the 8th at Crudden Bay have any bunkers (but I could be wrong) and I know no water or boundaries come into play.  Everyone has named Par 4's so far.  Any 3's or 5's out there?  How about more 4's too.

[rkg]

How about a whole nine holes.  If my memory serves me, there is no sand or water on the whole William Langford designed Culver Military Academy nine hole course.  And a lot of neat holes with steep-faced grass bunkers as is described in The Confidential Guide.

[JohnV]

How about a course that has no out of bounds anywhere on it?  I know of one, which I will name later if nobody else does.

[Charles B. Macdonald]

They haven't gone against our agreement at Mid Ocean, have they?

[Ran Morrissett]

David:For a bunkerless, waterless, OBless par three, the 16th at Paraparaumu Beach in New Zealand is as good as it gets. It is around  150 yards to a narrow but long green that falls off sharply to the right. Finding the green on a windy day (you are with 1000 yards of the Tasman Sea) is a great relief. The 5th hole there is another bunkerless par three and gets all the attention. However, for my money, I'll take the 16th.Ran

[Tom Fazio]

Two of Brad Klein's favorite modern courses of mine don't yet have out of bounds.  They are in the Pinehurst area.  This might not last forever.  I sure hope they sell all the real estate around these courses so I can make even more money.

[tom meeks]

the 18th at oakmont

[Ran Morrissett]

John V.:The best course without OB surely must be Sand Hills? As far as the eye can see, there might not even be any OB.

[Lisa Luigs Morrissett]

Readers, don't be fooled - the only reason Mr. Staebler posts anything about "Foxy" is because he makes birdie everytime he plays it (and it really ticks me off because it is so damn hard).

[TEPaul]

Lisa:      And he is the best player I know who doesn't compete anymore!

[David Staebler]

The TPC at Sawgrass has no OB's though it probably could.The 5th hole at the remaining 9 holes of the Philadelphia Cricket Club's St Martin's course (site of the 1907 and 1910 US Opens) is a 125 yard par 3 accross a valley to a green notched into a hillside.  No bunkers, water or OB.  Miss short and you will be left with a steep uphill stance and probably no view of the flagstick.  Miss long, which is very easy to do, and you will be left with a most awkward pitch to a putting surface that runs away just enough to make getting the shot close difficult.Lisa, the next time I get to your club in Dornoch I'm going to sit on your commemorative bench and probably just walk "Foxy" without playing it to keep my record clean.

[JohnV]

TPC at Sawgrass is the one I was thinking of, but Sand Hills probably doesn't have any either.  At the TPC, all the holes are bounded with water rather than OB.  The entire course is almost an island.

[Matt_Cohn]

Bump!

Any new ones in the last 7 years?

[mike_malone]

 Let me just say that Dave Staebler should get back on this board. His contributions would be welcome.

    It may be hard to totally comprehend what he has done for our club (Rolling Green, Springfield, Pa.) but I will try to explain. He took the entire file of aerial photos from 7 time periods along with the original design and the master plan hole sketches and placed it on one cd. He chopped it up so that one page shows the original design , the master plan, and the chronology of photos for EACH hole. It is the most valuable tool I have ever seen to study a course.

   He graciously provides these cd's to all who ask. It is the best way for us to maintain the integrity of our classic club.

   Thank you, Dave.

[Tom_Doak]

Matt:  How many new holes have been built in the last ten years with no bunkers, water, or boundaries?  I'm sure we average less than one per course in our own designs.  

We do have two coming up at Rock Creek in Montana -- the par-4 seventh and the par-3 thirteenth.  But they might require an asterisk, because there are massive boulders in the rough on the former, and a 40-foot deep valley between tee and green at the latter.

[Padraig Dooley]

14th at Portrush (Calamity) I think is one of the most memorable.

[Kenny Lee Puckett]

17 at Winged Foot East

JWK

[Glenn Spencer]

These old threads are the best, I am going to dig up another one here soon. Springfield, Ohio has a bunkerless COURSE, it is called Reid South, could be Reid North, but I think it is the South. Reid Park though. They say it is pretty good. Pretty close to Ross at Springfield CC and Snyder Park which I thought had someone of note as designer, but I have no idea if that is true or not.

[D_Malley]

some great golf holes with no bunkers or hazards can be found at Pocono Manor East.  Lets see #2,3 (punchbowl par 3) #4, 6, 10, 11, 14, 15, 16.  All of those holes are bunkerless.  The course is a ross/Flynn combination.  which was originally designed without any bunkers.  some may have been added, but only recently.

[Brent Hutto]

The short Par 4 fourth hole at Huntercombe.

For that matter I could list several other holes at Huntercombe, although I guess a few of them have boundaries in play.

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