The 10th Hole ... Are good ones in the minority?

[Mike Benham]

There is Riveria, Pasatiempo, TOC New, MPCC Dunes, Lehigh ... but what are the other great 10th holes?

Do architects favor a certain formula for the 10th?  Make it easy, hard, short par-4, long par-4?

Do architects design #10 with the same formula as #1 to favor a flip of the nines?

Is the design of the 10th compromised by the requirement of the routing away from the clubhouse (assuming #9 finishes at the clubhouse)?

[Sean Leary]

Pine Valley, Turnberry....

[Phil Benedict]

Winged Foot, Augusta National, Yale

[Glenn Spencer]

I don't know what the architect is thinking, but I have usually found 10 to be harder and a lot of times better than 1. 10 seems to be one of my favorite holes, plus I am on about a 20 tournament streak of starting on the 10th hole. It is a crazier streak than Ripken in my mind.

Moraine- I really, really like their 10th. 440
Camargo- One of my favorite holes in all of golf. 450
Inverness- I like this short par 4 and love the green.380ish
Canterbury- short par 4 and really pretty380ish
Bethpage- I love this brute 470
Muirfield Village- a lot of people like this hole, not my favorite 460 or so

[Chris Kane]

Royal Melbourne West, Royal Melbourne East, Kingston Heath, Newcastle.

[Andy Doyle]

... Augusta National ...

Example of a flip.

AD

[Dan Kelly]

Hazeltine 10 is one of my favorite holes on the course.

[Bill_McBride]

Black Mesa!  

Great green, with the ability to play way left and watch the ball feed down into center or right side pin placements.  

Great view of the eponymous Black Mesa off in the distance lined up in the centerline, very Stanley Thompson-like.

[Garry Cox]

Shinnecock
Wakonda Club in Des Moines

[Glenn Spencer]

Yes, yes , yes Garry!!! 10 at Wakonda is a very good hole. I really liked that one and 10 at The Harvester was cool as well.

[Paul_Turner]

Sunningdale Old
St George's Hill
St Germain
Kennemer
Sandwich
Ballybunion Old
West Sussex
Berkshire Red
Portrush Valley

[David Kelly]

Prairie Dunes and defintely not formulaic.

[Wayne Freeman]

I'm not a great fan of par 3's starting the back nine, and it certainly makes it hard to then flip the nines, but the 10th at Friars Head is really pretty fabulous.  Long par 3 over a huge mound, mostly blind-  it launches you into a continued journey on one of the very best courses in the country.

[Phil_the_Author]

Wayne, wouldn't Winged Foot West's be the ultimate par-3 10th?

[George Pazin]

Oakmont has an all world par 4 at the 10th.

I loved the approach to the 10th at Black Mesa, but not so much the tee shot, though I'm not sure why. Maybe if I played it again I'd like it more.

The Rawls Course has an Eden-like par 3 for the 10th that is pretty nice.

Gotta love Shinnecock's 10th.

I don't think anyone mentioned the 10th at Pebble, which is pretty great in my book.

[Phil Benedict]

Wayne, wouldn't Winged Foot West's be the ultimate par-3 10th?

Winged Foot's 10th is intriguing because its fame is based solely on architectural merit.  Other famous par threes often have some natural feature as well as architectural interest (eg Raes Creek in the case of the 12th at Augusta and the Pacific Ocean in the case of Cypress Point 16) or represent a type of hole (Redan, Biarritz).  The 10th at Winged Foot is a medium length par 3 on pretty flat ground that's been recognized as a great hole for as long as I can remember.  

[Tom Huckaby]

Time for some blasphemy - statements like this usually get my NY friends nice and riled up:

1. WF-W #10 is a wonderful golf hole, and if Hogan celebrated it as he did, well than that alone is enough to put it in a certain pantheon of greatness.  That also does go beyond architectural merit - not that this is a bad thing.    It does have an exceedingly cool green.

2. That being said, it's not the best par three on the course - I'd give that honor to #3.

3.  Therefore, I'm also not ready to call it the ultimate par 3 #10.  Immediately springing to mind are two that are better:  MPCC-Dunes and Bel-Air CC.

Discuss.

 

[Tom Huckaby]

Sean - you dare, and I am not au contraire.

 

I will say this though:  great hole when played at a distance where reaching the green is a viable choice: pedestrian hole when played farther back.

TH

[mark chalfant]

I can think of more good #9 or #11 but these tenths stick in my memory:

Oakland Hills
NCR
Myopia
Old  Sandwich
Wakonda

White  Bear Yacht
Burnham  & Berrow
New Haven
St Georges  (Thompson)
Prairie  Dunes

[tonyt]

Is the design of the 10th compromised by the requirement of the routing away from the clubhouse (assuming #9 finishes at the clubhouse)?

Unquestionably.

You'd find I guess on basic averages that 10th holes on courses without returning nines would have the freedom to be better than those that are locked in place. I'd be willing to bet that if I thought of a dozen courses without returning nines and then selected an equal number of courses of overall similar quality with returning nines, the former would likely have more high quality holes.

Around the clubhouse precinct, the foursome of #1, #9, #10 & #18 would rarely see #10 getting the highlights and holes like #18 and the desired starting point for #1 having to compromise for it. Particularly in instances where the clubhouse precinct is at or very near the boundary entrance and not further into the property where more options and space may be had.

All that said, given most courses don't have an extra hundred acres falling out of their back pocket, any #10 may be located where another hole or holes might need to be anyway, all or in part. So rather than bemoan the potential weakness, I guess I'd reason that as long as the best holes out there are able to be used, then those that occupy us gallantly in search of the high points have their place.

[Bill Shotzbarger]

Rolling Green GC

[Anthony Butler]

There is Riveria, Pasatiempo, TOC New, MPCC Dunes, Lehigh ... but what are the other great 10th holes?

Do architects favor a certain formula for the 10th?  Make it easy, hard, short par-4, long par-4?

Do architects design #10 with the same formula as #1 to favor a flip of the nines?

Is the design of the 10th compromised by the requirement of the routing away from the clubhouse (assuming #9 finishes at the clubhouse)?

Interesting question, Mike. Most of the ones I have played and liked have already been mentioned. I will say that in my current neck of the woods the 10th at Essex County Club is heck of a lot better than the 10th at TCC. The mound in front of that green... more rinky-dink than charming. Also the quasi-Crystal Downs green seems out of place with the rest of the course.

BTW is that your Vizsla in your avatar? I have one that is 10 months old... a handful. I guess that's why they call them the "Velcro Dog"

[Gene Greco]

The tenth hole at Sand Hills is RJ Daley's favorite there and is most assuredly a mighty golf hole.

The tenth at Friar's Head is a remarkable golf hole.

Also, NGLA's is a demanding par 4 with a green the size of the parking lot and numerous strategic options on the approach depending on pin placement and wind direction.

[Bill Gayne]

I think the 10th on the Golden Horseshoe Gold Course is one of the best holes on the course.

Also I like the 10th at Royal New Kent.

[Mike Benham]

BTW is that your Vizsla in your avatar? I have one that is 10 months old... a handful. I guess that's why they call them the "Velcro Dog"

Yep, Beamer the WonderDog ... 9-months old yesterday ... has your V licked you to death yet?

Check your email, I sent you a photo of a true V moment ...