Most underwhelming 'great' hole

[Tom Jefferson]

Tim Pitner.........

Troy Russell described the weather at Bandon as having two seasons...............
....... WINDY and wet, or WINDY and dry.

Either way it will be good for you!

Tom

[Tim Pitner]

Yeah, we got the windy and wet last time (in September of all months), so I'm really hoping for the dry.  Of course, I know it's a crapshoot.

[Mike Hendren]

The 18th at Pebble Beach.  Shoot me.

Mike

[Tom Huckaby]

Consider yourself shot.

Anyone who finds that hole underwhelming either (a) has no soul; or (b) played it in some odd condition, like when work was going on or something like that.  

And since I know you well enough to know that it can't be (a), my logic professor will be proud of me when I surmise it must be (b).

 

[redanman]

Huck

Shoot me too.  

[Tom Huckaby]

Well I know you have no soul.

And we don't shoot the soul-less.  We pity them.

 

[redanman]

TH - Just piling on ya. (and you know it)

Any truly great hole is great to more people than not and if it's not my favorite or is one of the ones that least impressed me, so what?  so, I'd have to say that this is a relative non-topic for me.  

The original "Redan" probably disappointed me the most, but that's obviously pretty personal, it's still a brilliant hole, just that several of the copies are better and I had played them first.  Perhaps more importantly, "Alpsman" didn't work very well.    I do remember the short-lived "capelady" and I thought that was clever.

[Tom Huckaby]

BV - understood completely re Pebble, and the rest.

And you know, I haven't given an answer to this topic so far for pretty much the same reason you just stated - that is, great holes get that distinction by being special to someone, so what does it matter if I don't get the same feeling?  I also just don't like to stress the negative, as I'm sure you know.

 

But, if I have to move beyond my wuss-hood, I'd say I'd agree about the redan at North Berwick.  Oh it is great, and I absolutely love the course as a whole... but that hole... well I walked off it thinking "what's the big fuss."  And at that point I hadn't played any of the great copies here in the US, either.

TH

[redanman]

Who can deny that perhaps the PIT is the most wonderful hole at NBWL?  OR is it Perfection? GATE!!?  (Now there's a wild green!) or perhaps it is SEA with its wonderful tee shot. Eli Burn?

Given at the very least these other holes the original Redan lives in very fast company.

[Tom Huckaby]

Who can deny that perhaps the PIT is the most wonderful hole at NBWL?  OR is it Perfection? GATE!!?  (Now there's a wild green!) or perhaps it is SEA with its wonderful tee shot.

Given at the very least these other holes the original Redan lives in very fast company.

EXACTLY!

Redan is in fast company for sure... which leads to the underwhelm-ment.

TH

[Sean Leary]

Who can deny that perhaps the PIT is the most wonderful hole at NBWL?  OR is it Perfection? GATE!!?  (Now there's a wild green!) or perhaps it is SEA with its wonderful tee shot.

Given at the very least these other holes the original Redan lives in very fast company.

EXACTLY!

Redan is in fast company for sure... which leads to the underwhelm-ment.

TH

TH,

This is the same way I felt about 16 at Pasa.  Since I had heard it was the good doctor's favorite par he ever built, I was surprised that it was (tops) my third favorite par 4 on the back 9 there...

[Tom Huckaby]

Sean - you're not alone re 16 Pasa - and darn right, it's for the same reason!  I've always ranked the par 4s at Pasa like this:

11
10
14
16
12
17

And that's just the back nine!

I know it's the Good Doctor's favorite - and a great hole it is indeed - but yep, it too is in some very fast company.

TH

ps - 14 has exceed 16 in my mind only recently.  That swale is powerful!

[Tony_Chapman]

Huck, you wouldn't slide #1 or #2 ahead of #17? I don't mind how you ranked the others though.

[Tom Huckaby]

Tony - just did the back nine.  For the whole course, here's how I'd put it, off the top of my head.

11
2
10
14
16
1
12
4
7

I doubt many will agree with me putting 2 that high, but man I do love that golf hole and all the tricks it holds.

TH

[Sean Leary]

I think you may have 2 one spot too high ( I love 10) but maybe not if you could play it from the new tournament tee.

[Tom Huckaby]

Sean - I can't argue with that.  And yes, the new tournament tee tips the scales.  Observe:

[Tony_Chapman]

Huck - Holy crap. I looooooooooooove the second! I remember standing on that tee and thinking I had about a 15 yard area to hit the ball and lo and behold I get up there and you could hit a full wedge across that thing. Wow.

[Tom Huckaby]

Tony - you and me both bruthah.  And that's
just one of the tricks... the others are the
turbo-boost mounds along the right side
of the fairway, and the mounding near the green that
seems to kick the ball left into the green but
inexplicably somehow kicks the ball uphill lots of
the time.

Then we get to the green....

Don't get me started.  It is one GREAT golf hole.

TH

[Marty Bonnar]

Pasa #2! Woohoo!
Mind-alteringly great golf hole.
The greensite is one of the finest it has ever been my pleasure to experience.

FBD.

PS What is that strange lighting effect in the photo? Oh, wait a minute - it's the SUN, isn't it? And there was me thinking it never shines at Pasa...

[Tom Huckaby]

 
Oh man, I still cringe at the weather
you faced at Pasa, Martin... I got
soaked walking the 50 feet from my car
to my office that day....

Just another reason to come back.  Pasa
is rather pretty in the sunshine.

TH

[Bob Jenkins]

I would say the "Redan" at North Berwick. Seemed almost artificial and manufactured and did not inspire at all. But then it followed a hole (13th I think) which called for an approach over a stone wall into a bowl shaped green.

[Tom Huckaby]

Hi Bob - welcome!

Read a few prior posts on this thread and you'll see
the inimitable "redanman" and I agree with you re
the hole at NB, and for pretty much the same
reasons.

One other tip for newbies, and I only say this
because I see it's your first post:  when
posting in a thread in which a large
picture appears, do it with hard returns at
about the 2/3 mark of the Message box, as
I am doing here.  It makes it a lot easier to read,
taking up only one part of the screen as it were.

Cheers!

[ForkaB]

Surprised
nobody
has
mentioned
the
17th
at
CPC
.
.
.
.
.
.

[Tom Huckaby]

Surprised
nobody
has
mentioned
the
17th
at
CPC
.
.
.
.
.
.

I'm not.  It's another great golf hole that only
the soul-less fail to appreciate.  What does
surprise me is that YOU have failed to
mention 16... it is after all a "simple
driver to the right side" in your world, no?

 

[Bill_McBride]

My ire is raised.

Anybody who fails to appreciate the original Redan at North Berwick doesn't get it.  Here's why:

I played there last summer with my wife and another couple.  My wife, a short but straight hitter, hit a 3 wood just right of the deep Redan bunker and left of the fronting bunkers, and bounced the ball onto the surface and it ran down to 15'.

I hit a well struck 6 iron that carried just onto the front right of the green and ran down to 15'.

Our male fellow player hit a 9 wood with a cut on it that landed left of the hole and wound up just off the back for an easy up and down.

Our female fellow player foozled one into the Redan bunker.

From what I've seen of other Redan holes (Yale, Creek, MidOcean, Chicago), I don't think that variety of shots could be played.  Purely by accident the original Redan offers great variety and amusing, fun play.

Maybe it just gets lost and doesn't stand out in the overall excitement of playing #13 Pit, #14 Perfection and #16 Gate.

****

Re Pasatiempo - that list of back nine par 4s solidifies the point that this is the best back nine in golf.

And isn't that back tee on #2 the original par 5 tee?