The inverse layup(??)

[Brad Swanson]

Reflecting back on my last weekend of golf (all the way back to the Nebraska Golfapalooza get together in early October) I keep thinking of one of my favorite holes at Wild Horse, the very short par 4 15th.  We played in a one man scramble (2 kicks at the cat) format tournament, and I hit my first tee shot in the greenside bunker, but in a virtually unplayable lie.  My second tee shot was a lay-up past the fairway traps that you must carry to take a more left-ward angle off of the tee for a better angle into the green.  



I executed this iron shot as planned, but the unexpected extra roll yielded an approach for me in the terribly uncomfortable range of around 70 yards.  Had I known better (it was my first go around at Wild Horse), I may have taken a bit less off of the tee to get a more full shot into the tiny, well-guarded green, as was done by my wise playing partner Doug Wright.  Doug layed-up farther back off of the tee (and a bit more to the right) and had a full wedge/SW shot that he could spin and stop on the small/firm green, and stuck one tight.  If I had taken the preferred leftward angle off of the tee, but attempted to lay farther back, I would've flirted with winding-up in a fairway trap I believe, so the challenge to that tee shot is sort-of an inverse lay-up.  The typical lay-up you try to hit just short of a hazard as close as you can, but in this case you would try to hit over the trouble, but keeping it as close to it as possible to have an approach of the desired length for many golfers (around 100 yds).  I don't recall ever playing a hole with this type of strategy off of the tee.
   BTW, Doug made a nice birdie, but I hit two pretty poor pitches and managed to walk alay in shame with a par.  Bogeyed the shortest par 4 on the course with 2 cracks at every shot (to eventually lose the tournament by a shot to boot).  I think that's a testimony to the quality of this 300yd-ish par 4.
   Are there any other noteable examples of this design strategy?

Brad Swanson
  

[Tom Doak]

Brad:  When I was working for Pete Dye on the Stadium course at PGA West, one of the goals was to make it difficult for the pros to lay up to their favorite 100-yard distance.  On all of the short par-4's, we did something right at that distance -- deep bunkers, forcing the player out to the wrong angle, making the green blind from 100 yards, whatever we could think of.

The very next year the L-wedge came onto the scene, and it didn't matter very much anymore!

[Doug Wright]

Brad,

I'm blushing Brains win over brawn once again...

This was my favourite hole at WH not just because I made birdie. It's loaded with strategy as you describe--the closer you get (unless you're just short left) the tougher it gets. This hole also demonstrates the value of the "maintenance meld" at Wild Horse--the greens were firm, and you needed to be far enough away to spin itd, or have an unobstructed angle to the green. If this green were soft, you could hit it anywhere off the tee and still stop it.

Isn't #10 at Riviera a similar hole?

All The Best,

[RJ_Daley]

Doug, comparing #10 Riviera to 15 WH is very perceptive and although I never got to play Riviera 10, I walked it and I see exactly what you are saying.  As for Mr. Swanson and his inverse lay-up stategy,  I am in shock that he can also utilise that strategy on #12, yet that hole was played that day at 393 yards and the big galoot didn't get his inverse lay-up just right and flirt close to that left side fairway bunker that is about 340 out, and get his preferred angle and layup from the left into another green that is guarded front right and side left.  It seems the over nourished lad hit his tee ball a tad left and pin high, left of the left greenside bunker.  He should have layed up to 340!  

My only regret that weekend was that I was not looking back down from 13 tee to see that feat.

[Buck Wolter]

#10 at Gateway Nat'l in St. Louis fits this description (Keith Foster). A driveable par 4, 250-325 depending on tees with a creek that runs down the left hand side of the fairway and fronts the green. The fairway runs parallel to the creek all the way to  the green but there's a huge pot bunker in the middle of the fairway right where you'd like to land your drive.

If you hit a 5-6 iron down the left side short of the bunker you have a straight shot into the long narrow green, If you fly the bunker you're left with a 50 yard shot right at the narrowest part of the green and right over the water which  is a very tough shot. I think it's a terrific short par 4 where brains can beat brawn -- though brawn can walk away with a eagle.

[Doug Wright]

Buck,

That hole sounds like Foster's #10 at Sunridge Canyon in Fountain Hills, AZ, another short/driveable par 4 with a bunker right in the middle of the fairway at about 100 yards out.

Hey, wouldn't these types of holes make good candidates for run-away greens?

All the Best,

[Matt Kardash]

Tom Doak

This is going off on a tagent a bit.

Since you worked with Pete on the Stadium course and you've made it well known that you didn't like the last two holes because they are copies of tpc sawgrass, do you actually tell the designer (pete in this case) that you think the last two holes suck(to put it bluntly)...does the designer care what you think, i mean do you try to talk him out of it?

I've always been very curious over things like this.