Best Finishing Hole

« **Reply #25 on:** May 04, 2006, 01:01:00 PM »

Quote from: Tom Huckaby on May 04, 2006, 12:08:32 PM

Quote from: Paul T on May 04, 2006, 12:06:36 PM
Huck: 20 years ago I would have said PB hands down...but with now how far the damn ball goes I'm not so sure

Au contraire, mon frer (sp?)....

18PB is a rare hole that has BENEFITED from increase in how far the ball goes... because now reaching in two is a possibility for SO many more people... while still not being an absolute given for the longest of the long. In fact before it was too easily played cautiously... Now if you do that, you may be throwing away strokes to the field...

TH

as much as I hate to admit this in public

, you may be right about this Huck!

another good one: 18 at Blackwolf Run River

« **Reply #26 on:** May 04, 2006, 01:05:10 PM »

Paul - confession is good for the soul.

BW-R sounds very cool - I recall that from TV also - another fine addition for the list.

And Eric - yes! Great addition re Falsterbo and that can go on my "holes I've played list." Bad omission by me, please forgive me. But anyway your fine taste in football squads extends to finishing golf holes, so life is good.

« **Reply #27 on:** May 04, 2006, 01:05:29 PM »

One of my favorites that I rarely hear mentioned is Yeaman's Hall. I am also partial to Mountain Lake as a tough par 4 with a wild green. However, neither is better than NGLA.

« **Reply #28 on:** May 04, 2006, 01:06:45 PM »

Memorable 18th Holes I've Played

Favorites

Forest Lake Club
M. McCarthy/J. LaFoy
Columbia, SC

Granville Golf Club (originally #17)
D. Ross
Granville, OH

Palmetto Golf Club
H. Leeds/A. Mackenzie
Aiken, SC

Tobacco Road
M. Strantz
Sanford, NC

Honorable Mentions

Caledonia Fish Club
M. Strantz
Pawley's Island, SC

Pine Needles
D. Ross
Pinehurst, NC

Timberlake Plantation
W. Byrd
Chapin, SC

« **Reply #29 on:** May 04, 2006, 01:08:13 PM »

Eric,

I figured you were kidding. So what course is it so I can be sure to avoid

« **Reply #30 on:** May 04, 2006, 01:08:56 PM »

Brent and Dan - great additions.

Question: does Cuscowilla belong on this list?

I'm tending toward no... but not 100% sure.

TH

« **Reply #31 on:** May 04, 2006, 01:26:20 PM »

Huck,

In my memory, Cuscowilla darned near ends on the seventeenth hole. The eighteenth is one of the least memorable holes on that course while the seventeenth is outstanding. All IMHO of course. It takes more than playing uphill and having a severe green to make a memorable finishing hole.

Personally, I think a short but tricky Par 4 is the ideal finishing hole at least for mortal golfers. You stand on the tee making the kinds of decisions that a Tour pro faces in the fairway having hit a long, straight drive on a reachable Par 5 eighteenth at some place like Pebble Beach. At that juncture it's appropriate to the club golfer's game to make a decision whose execution takes place with the ball on a peg instead of sitting on a variable lie. That's a realistic analog in difficulty and uncertainty to the stereotypical Par 5 finisher for an elite golfer.

Then again, I think the answer to every question ought to be "a short but tricky Par 4". Hell just give me a course with fifteen of those plus a 600-yard Par 5, a 200-yard Par 3 and one "Postage Stamp" where I can hit a wedge to a miniscule green. That pretty much covers the waterfront for my game.

« **Reply #32 on:** May 04, 2006, 01:28:32 PM »

Brent - good stuff - sold.

I recall 18 Cuscowilla being a very tough golf hole, so it stood out... but I'll go with you in that it doesn't rise to greatness level.

I'm not sure if I favor any one way to do a finisher... short and tricky, long and tough, whatever, all CAN be great. But the concept of a driveable par 4 finisher does intrigue me. Are there many of those?

TH

« **Reply #33 on:** May 04, 2006, 01:36:11 PM »

Haven't played it, but it appeals to me (even beyond that wonderful-looking clubhouse/amphitheater setting): Olympic 18.

Hit a good tee shot. Hit a precise approach. Hit a possibly nasty putt.

Possible glory.

Same for Interlachen 18, which Glenn Spencer mentioned earlier.

If you forced me to devise a "formula" for my ideal course:

My finishing hole would not be nasty, brutish and long -- though I have loved such finishing holes, too (viz., Sand Hills 18).

P.S. And where is Riviera 18 in this discussion? Did I miss it?

« **Reply #34 on:** May 04, 2006, 01:37:06 PM »

Quote from: Wayne Morrison on May 04, 2006, 01:08:13 PM

So what course is it so I can be sure to avoid

« **Reply #35 on:** May 04, 2006, 01:38:43 PM »

The eighteenth at Palmetto is just over 300 yards from the back tees. I think I played it from 275-280 or so. It is an obvious case where you want to lay up to a good lie, good angle, good wedge distance. Going for it is not really the smart option since it plays a good bit uphill and doglegs left a little. The land slopes slightly to the right and if the right fairway bunker doesn't catch you there are woods over there.

The green is reasonably flattish and the bunkering is not penal but a way off-line shot could end up near the clubhouse or rattling around in some pine trees if you miss left or it could go down the hill goodness knows where if you miss right. A decent player can put a wedge shot anywhere on the green accurately if they lay up to a good sand wedge distance, hitting off a slight upslope.

« **Reply #36 on:** May 04, 2006, 01:43:27 PM »

I wonder if that's the most expensive plaque ever erected.

It certainly ranks among the crassest!

« **Reply #37 on:** May 04, 2006, 01:48:22 PM »

Dan - please note that I listed each of Olympic and Riviera in my initial "honorable mention" list. Oh, you can (and should) surely agree... But you asked where the discussion of the latter was....

I don't really know why, maybe it's the chutzpah, but The Donald cracks me up. Who else would have the balls to post a plaque like that?

TH

« **Reply #38 on:** May 04, 2006, 01:54:12 PM »

I am puzzled why more people here dont choose Pebble #18 as their choice for best finishing hole or at least have it on their short list.

I am really curious as to why?
Is it too much of a cliche? Is it no longer cool

to like Pebble? $:-\$

In my opinion (as Tom Huckaby said as well) technology making it a legitimately reachable hole improves its strategic value rather than the other way around.

« **Reply #39 on:** May 04, 2006, 01:54:52 PM »

Mr. Trump may really believe Trump National is the greatest golf course in California . . . if not the world. It's the most expensive, ergo, it must be the best. What a buffoon.

« **Reply #40 on:** May 04, 2006, 02:00:54 PM »

A few others I can think of immediately would be the 18th at the Ocean Course with the new green - beautiful setting, really good hole.

I also think that the 18th on the Lower Course at Baltusrol is very special as you approach that incredible clubhouse.

The now 17th which is to become the 18th at Congressional is a great hole with a wonderful setting although even from the tips the really long players can overpower it.

I do think that the 18th at NGLA has an unfair advantage in this discussion as the experience of playing the previous 17 holes is so positive that you have to love the 18th. I do agree that it is a great finishing hole.

The 18th at Sebonack looked to me as though it will be one wonderful finishing hole as you play along a cliff overlooking the bay with the clubhouse at NGLA sitting behind the green.

« **Reply #41 on:** May 04, 2006, 02:02:04 PM »

Jay, If it's all about a summation, Pinon Hills original finishers is the best at that, I have ever seen.

One that came to my mind was the 18th at the Rawls. A Doak misfit, if ever there was one, but somehow it works well. If for no other reason than variety. I don't ever remember taking so long to figure out a hole, standing on the tee, yardage book in hand, as Don Mahaffey and I tried on our first time around her. Usually, there isnt a yardage book or another gca geek nearby, and I try to use my nose.

BWR original (Now the Meadow-Valley) is a contender. Using the river, the stand of trees and the double green is a real treat to experience, repeatedly.
Imo, The River's current finisher, the original ninth, might be the weakest hole on property. Here they are next to eachother.

« **Reply #42 on:** May 04, 2006, 02:06:38 PM »

I honestly can't imagine anything much better than the finisher at the Pete Dye golf club.

« **Reply #43 on:** May 04, 2006, 02:54:44 PM »

Adam: nice pickup on switching the 9s at Pinon. Yes those two closing par-5s are a nice bit of routing...until they did the switch...still, great fun there...I remember making 6 pars out of the gate and shooting a tidy 85 40-45...collapse!

« **Reply #44 on:** May 04, 2006, 03:26:30 PM »

Quote from: Tom Huckaby on May 04, 2006, 12:08:32 PM

Quote from: Paul T on May 04, 2006, 12:06:36 PM
Huck: 20 years ago I would have said PB hands down...but with now how far the damn ball goes I'm not so sure

Au contraire, mon frer (sp?)....

18PB is a rare hole that has BENEFITED from increase in how far the ball goes... because now reaching in two is a possibility for SO many more people... while still not being an absolute given for the longest of the long. In fact before it was too easily played cautiously... Now if you do that, you may be throwing away strokes to the field...

TH

VERY astute observation here, Huckster.

« **Reply #45 on:** May 04, 2006, 03:37:06 PM »

Quote from: Eric Franzen on May 04, 2006, 12:15:01 PM

64 million dollars spent... 'nuff said.

It lookslike it could take $64 million a week for a fleet of immigrant workers to maintain that hole. WOW!

« **Reply #46 on:** May 04, 2006, 03:52:09 PM »

Quote from: Gene Greco on May 04, 2006, 03:26:30 PM

Quote from: Tom Huckaby on May 04, 2006, 12:08:32 PM
Quote from: Paul T on May 04, 2006, 12:06:36 PM
Huck: 20 years ago I would have said PB hands down...but with now how far the damn ball goes I'm not so sure

Au contraire, mon frer (sp?)....

18PB is a rare hole that has BENEFITED from increase in how far the ball goes... because now reaching in two is a possibility for SO many more people... while still not being an absolute given for the longest of the long. In fact before it was too easily played cautiously... Now if you do that, you may be throwing away strokes to the field...

TH

VERY astute observation here, Huckster.

ah, Gene, even that blind squirrel finds a nut once in awhile....

« **Reply #47 on:** May 04, 2006, 03:52:58 PM »

Huntingdon Valley's 18th Hole (17th green in the foreground, tee shot is from the right side of the photo):

« **Reply #48 on:** May 04, 2006, 03:56:51 PM »

Quote from: Kyle Harris on May 04, 2006, 03:52:58 PM

Huntingdon Valley's 18th Hole (17th green in the foreground, tee shot is from the right side of the photo):

After recent studying of HVGC, I have noticed the tee boxes have been looking very good, very nicely mowed...

I love the look of pure tee-boxes that are groomed really well.

Say Kyle, do you know who mows the tee boxes??

« **Reply #49 on:** May 04, 2006, 03:56:52 PM »

Quote from: Evan_Green on May 04, 2006, 01:54:12 PM

I am puzzled why more people here dont choose Pebble #18 as their choice for best finishing hole or at least have it on their short list.I am really curious as to why?
Is it too much of a cliche? Is it no longer cool to like Pebble? $:-\$
In my opinion (as Tom Huckaby said as well) technology making it a legitimately reachable hole improves its strategic value rather than the other way around.

18th at Pebble is my choice also, and if you search you'll find several other threads that debate this in detail. I would also like to add 18 at Bay Hill. I have never played there but for great finishing holes on the PGA it is the best of the tour courses as well as the hardest, I think.

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