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Noel Freeman

Sir Ernest Holderness's Ideal 18 Holes
« on: June 19, 2006, 10:45:31 AM »
From Golf Illustrated Jan 1928.. In order of how he would like them played.. Holderness was 2 time Amateur Champion..

1. #17 at Deal.. Vardon's Parlour.  "Played as a drive and mashie is an excellent first hole.  Tee overlooks roling ground, green is guarded by cross bunkers and rests in saddle made by rolling dunes..  Uh, Sean Arble, I told you this was a great hole! :)

2. 13th at Gleneagles
3. 5th at Burham and Berrow.  Hello Arble? ;)
4. 5th at Westward Ho.. "A hole that is world famous.  Most golfers are familiar at least with the picture of the sandy waste which stretches in front of the tee for 180 yards termnating into a big bunker which rises out of a plain.  The fairway for the drive is immense and there is no penalty provided one can carry the Sahara and the bunker.."
5. 11th at St. Enodoc.. Holderness has this as a two shotter and the current 11th is a par 3.. Braid revised this hole in the 30s. I need to look at my club history..
6th 2nd at Sandwich
7th 5th at St. Enodoc.. the one shotter that Tom Simpson put an extremely slippery tee on.  "A long green which lies at an angle to the tee b/t a steepened bunker on the left and stone wall on the right"
8th- 2nd at Princes (NLE)
9th 4th at Dornoch "The 4th at Dornoch is a hole which takes a tremendous amount of playing.  The drive is along a narrow plateau like a shelf with a steep hill on the left to catch a bad hook.  The feature of the hole is a green, a plateau with a runup b/t bunkers"
10th 15th at Sandwich
11th 13th at The Old Course.
12th 13th at Pennard
13th 12th at the Old Course
14th 17th at Prestwick
15th  17th at Pennard-- until they put in that flat landing area to try and hold a drive!!! Holderness says, "the 17th at Pennard commends itself to me for the second shot over the oblique range of bunkers rising tier on tier behind each other."
16th 8th at Rye-- when it was a par 3.. not sure if this is now the 7th..

17th 15th at Prestwick
18th 18 at Machrihanish

ForkaB

Re:Sir Ernest Holderness's Ideal 18 Holes
« Reply #1 on: June 19, 2006, 11:05:18 AM »
FAR too much Old Tom Morris and Braid.  Where's Colt?  Park, Jr.?  Fowler?  Simpson?  Mackenzie?

This was 1928!  Hadn't this Ernie guy ever heard of the Golden Age?  Of the Arts and Crafts movement?  Phew...... :o

ed_getka

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:Sir Ernest Holderness's Ideal 18 Holes
« Reply #2 on: June 19, 2006, 12:41:08 PM »
Ernie was pretty astute picking out #12 TOC. #13 isn't a cakewalk either. Most holes at Dornoch could make this list. Which is the 5th at B&B, is that the first par 3? Haven't seen any of the rest of his choices.
"Perimeter-weighted fairways", The best euphemism for containment mounding I've ever heard.

ForkaB

Re:Sir Ernest Holderness's Ideal 18 Holes
« Reply #3 on: June 19, 2006, 04:42:01 PM »
I agree, Ed with 12+13 at the Old course.  13 could be the best hole on the course--it's got everything (interest off the tee, challenges on the approaches, angles, great green complex....).  Ernie must have learned a thing or two in all those summers he spent up in Dronoch. ;)

Tony_Muldoon

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:Sir Ernest Holderness's Ideal 18 Holes
« Reply #4 on: June 19, 2006, 05:51:06 PM »
8th- 2nd at Princes (NLE)




Today's Dunes 7th features a similar approach to the same green site.  Today it's a straight hole but on the old course it was dogleg right with a blind tee shot accross the line of the dunes.



Our man Hutto is down at the British Amatuer following them round Princes tomorrow.

Good to see Pennard highly thought of.
Let's make GCA grate again!

Ed Tilley

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:Sir Ernest Holderness's Ideal 18 Holes
« Reply #5 on: June 23, 2006, 08:14:24 AM »
I'm very confused about his choice of holes at St. Enodoc. Neither of his choices are in the dunes where the pick of the holes are. Any of 1,2,3,4,6,7,16,17, & 18 are better than his choices IMO.

As Sean said, 18 at Machrihanish must have been a different hole. The current 18th is, to use a techical term, crap. I assume this means that the current 1st was not the opening hole in those days?