Island Greens

[Gerry B]

re; the creek - the par 3 11th  Biarritz at the Creek is in fact an island green and one of the earlier ones - one of my favorite holes on the planet - the green isapprox  106 yds deep - can play 130 or 230 dependig on the pin.

[Rich Goodale]

I know there's a Ross in NE Florida that has an island green.

Bill

Are you possibly thinking of the Ponte Vedra Club, which was designed by Herbert Strong?  Their island hole was supposedly the inspiration for Pete Dye's 17th at TPC Sawgrass.

Rich

[Bill_McBride]

"Are there any real 100% island greens -- i.e. ones totally surrounded by water, so you have to take a boat to get to and from them?"

How quickly we have forgotten Cour De Lane... (Sorry for the misspelling and for missing that it has ALREADY been mentioned!) 

See the initial post - it's "Coeur d'Alene"

[Bill_McBride]

I know there's a Ross in NE Florida that has an island green.

Bill

Are you possibly thinking of the Ponte Vedra Club, which was designed by Herbert Strong?  Their island hole was supposedly the inspiration for Pete Dye's 17th at TPC Sawgrass.

Rich

I guess so, I was thinking it was Ross.   He designed a number of courses there in the 1920's and I was thinking Ponte Vedra was one of them.

[Steve_ Shaffer]

Here is the famous island green at Ponte Vedra INN:

[Joe Bausch]

A solid public course by Jim Blaukovitch outside of Philly added an island green hole a few years after the original course was complete.  It took the place of a cruddy little par 3.  It is situated on land that used to have a big sewer treatment waste facility that was shuddered.  I guess if you feel island greens are a crappy idea, then you're really right at this course. 

Here is a view from the back tees, about 150 yards total to a very wide and big green:



Here is a view from the back of the two-tiered green that is sloped to help stop hot shots:

[Greg Tallman]

The only true island green i know of is at the Four Seasons Punta MIta Resort just outside Puerto Vallarta and is the hole Bill ask about when referencing Cabo I am sure.

[Frank Sullivan]

Another island green we will see a lot of come Ryder Cup is N. 13 at Valhalla...I know it is not a Par 5 (Par 4), but it is a different look for an island green...elevated by boulders...when I was caddying there in high school (1990), they would dye the water blue (VERY BLUE) in the mote around the green...anyway, the pros should be hitting anywhere from a 9 iron to a SW, so it shouldn't be that difficult...

http://www.rydercup.com/2008/usa/course/hole_13.html

Frank

[Steve_ Shaffer]

Here's an article in today's NY Times on island greens that is not as extensive as our discussion above:

www.nytimes.com/2008/05/05/sports/golf/05pennington.html?_r=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&oref=slogin

[Roger Tufts]

The 4th hole at Thistle Golf Club in North Carolina is an island green with 2 waste bunkers fronting it... measures 183 from the back tees, 156 from the blues.

Layout Picture:

[Roger Tufts]

Also the 12th at Kings North:



EDIT: Sorry for double post.

[JeffTodd]

Just noted a thread about a Tillie course closing, meaning it was designed and built I guess before 1930, that featured an island green on a par 5.

Bill, here is #7 from Old Orchard, the soon to be NLE course you mentioned:

[Mike_Cirba]

Jeff,

 

[John Moore II]

The Pit in Pinehurst also has an island green, #12. From the back tee it is 198 yards. Hmmm....how about unfair, hitting a 4 or 5 iron into a firm, smallish green. Yeah, if ever something should be defined as stupid, that is it.

[JeffTodd]

Jeff,

 

I concur, Mike. I last played there in August '07 (when the pic was taken). It was a fun, sporty little course, and I think we paid $48 to play it on a Saturday; possibly the best deal in Monmouth County.

It's always sad to see a course go, but especially sad when it has a legitimate pedigree.

[John_Conley]

I didn't see it mentioned.  The obvious one is Muirhead's at Stone Harbor.

[Steve_ Shaffer]

Good article by Bill Fields of GD on the aftermath of 17 at TPC Sawgrass with some history with a good picture of Tillie's 15 at Galen Hall:

www.golfdigest.com/golfworld/columnists/2008/05/gw20080516fields?printable=true

[Patrick_Mucci]

True Island Green,

AWT

Shackamaxon

1917

[Steve_ Shaffer]

Pat,



9 at Shackamaxon?

[Michael Mimran]

#11 @ Silo Ridge, Amenia, NY  Totally ruined the flow of the course, what a mistake.  Hopefully they fix it during renovations.

. 

[Doug Ralston]

#17 at Eagle Eye in Michigan was intended to be an exact replica of TPC. In fact, the undulations and bunker are indeed the same, I recognized my own shot while watching the Players.

#9 at Stonelick Hills in Cincinnati is a par-5 with island green. It is reachable for long hitters, but would be tough to hold, though it is very large, because the green is two tiered with the lower tier in the back. Fun hole.

The Briar Patch in WV has a long par-4, #18, with a large island green that is tough as nails.

Those are the only island greens I have played. Fun idea. And I am admittedly clueless about 'flow', so I cannot say how they 'fit' the rest of these courses.

Doug

[Michael Mimran]

I was specifically referring to this course (Silo Ridge).  When the course was originally built it didn’t have this hole.  After a few years ownership changed and they wanted to put in a island green.  By doing this, they removed a great par 3 and combined it with the next hole, making it a stupid par 5.  The hole goes in the opposite direction of the rest and totally doesn't fit.

[Patrick_Mucci]

Mark Fine, Wayne Morrisson, et., al.,

Don't you think that the 17th at Cherry Hills would be a superior hole if they removed all of the trees surrounding the 17th green.

"Framing" has dumbed down the hole.

[Matt_Cohn]

Two other island green par 5s that I know of are the 13th at the old TPC Woodlands course and the 18th at the Kingwood Island course. 

18 at Mission Hills Dinah Shore Course:

[Patrick_Mucci]

Wouldn't this hole/green be better without those trees ?