The most disappointing opening tee shot on a great course?

[Cory Brown]

What about the 1st at Bandon, not the entire hole, but the tee shot.  If you didn't know where you were you might think it was a local goat ranch.  My friend hit a high 3-wood off the tee and my brother outdrove him with a topped 3-iron. 

However you get to the approach shot and everything in your life changes from there.

[Mike Benham]

Mike,

I don't see how TOC, Riv, Pac Dunes are comprable to CPC.  There is no hedge, they aren't blind, and your not hitting over an "actively used" road.

I wasn’t comparing TOC, Riveria, PD and CPC for their hedges.  But if Rich’s rational of disappointing is based on the frugal nature of the CPC membership and his assumption that the CCC would allow a tunnel, then his definition is not applicable to many places.  The first tee shot at CPC is not easy, with or without the hedges nor is it a bomb and gouge hole.   There is a line of charm on the tee shot that is not impacted by the hedges.

If Pasatiempo is disappointing, then Riveria, a similar style elevated tee shot, must also be considered.

And TOC, a fairway 100 yards wide, no rough, no bumps or dunes or bunkers, you can bunt a driver, spray a driver, top a driver … this first and 18th tee shots are unlike any other at TOC …

Oops, Michael Benham, hush and go and wash your mouth out, Riviera's' 1st disappointing? How could you? Trees to the right of you, out of bounds left, a barranca threatening you if too long. This can be a sphincter  tightening drive in the third flight of the club championship let alone a Tour event.

Bob

As noted, I was only suggesting to Rihc that if he thought the hedges at CPC were causing the disappointment at #1, then he might want to throw Riveria into the mix. 

Whether it is in the 3rd Flight of the club championship or a casual late afternoon round, the 1st at Riveria is not an easy tee shot.  But I have to subtract points from the greatness of the course because it is the only shot of its kind at the course and an alternate tee box at a lower level might be more consistent with the original design and context of the course.

But the truth is, that elevated tee shot, from next to the clubhouse, is a staple of many municipal courses, including the NLE 1st hole at Huckaby’s home course of Santa Teresa.

[ANTHONYPIOPPI]

Ken:

I was not disappointed at all. I was at Dornoch! I don't need to get my head beaten in the first swing of the day. A simple opening par-4 is just fine with me. Can you imagine having to hit the tee ball off the first at Machrihanish every day? Yikes.

Richard: For your information, funny man, I was using a titanium driver. Connected to that was graphite shaft. Connected to that was a pair of hands that would make one of the worst first swing in the history of Scottish Highland golf.

Anthony

[Tom Huckaby]

Mike's right.  The NLE 1st tee shot at Santa Teresa did rival that at Riviera in everything except tradition/context.  It was very cool - very raised, high against old clubhouse.  We mourn it often.  The course was re-done and re-routed in mid-80s and this shot was lost.

His reasoing is pretty darn good about the rest of this, too.  Wisdom must come with age.

 

[Sean Leary]

What about the 1st at Bandon, not the entire hole, but the tee shot.  If you didn't know where you were you might think it was a local goat ranch.  My friend hit a high 3-wood off the tee and my brother outdrove him with a topped 3-iron. 

However you get to the approach shot and everything in your life changes from there.

I disagree, especially from the back tee..

[Dan_Callahan]

Taconic Golf Club has a very bland opening tee shot. A straight, slightly downhill 475-yard par 5 with no real trouble anywhere. The only thing that makes the first shot interesting is the fact that you are only a few feet from the clubhouse. Makes it very easy to hit a big slice over to the 18th fairway. Otherwise, pretty uninspired.

[Doug Wright]

Royal Troon.... OK, some may quibble about whether it''s a "great course" but the opener is a real yawner.

[Phil McDade]

Ken:

I was not disappointed at all. I was at Dornoch! I don't need to get my head beaten in the first swing of the day. A simple opening par-4 is just fine with me. Can you imagine having to hit the tee ball off the first at Machrihanish every day? Yikes.

Anthony:

After driving more than an hour to get there, I parked my car at the local B&B, pulled the clubs out of the trunk, checked in at the clubhouse, walked to the opening tee at Machrihanish, and absolutely killed a drive, with just enough to cross the big pond but not far enough to roll into the four little pot bunkers littering the right side of the fairway.

In two weeks of golfing in Scotland, it was the best shot I hit; I think it's probably the best shot I've ever hit (alas, the next day I dumped one on the beach...)

[Bill_McBride]

I would include Pasatiempo.  I know that the bowling alley feel of #1 is due to the driving range and some other changes over time, but I did not like it when I first stepped up to the tee.  I loved it from there on, though.

I'd agree Art, the course to me really started on the 2nd hole...it was disappointing.

It was really a lot more fun when #1 was a par 5, with the tee box on the level above the golf shop.  It was really a fun hole to have a chance to make a birdie out of the box.

Today the first three holes are brutal.......when the course opened, the first two were MacKenzie par 5 openers.

[Tom Huckaby]

Bill:  did you ever play from that tee above what is now the cart barn?  In my 27 years playing the course, it was rarely used... typically only for tournaments.  It would have been an interesting shot from there. But man it was also never an easy birdie as a par five, even with the tee where it is now (as it always has been in my time).  Until very recently the trees were thicker and there was another large tree in front of the bunker 50 yards short... Jeez as a par five I never thought of it in any terms other than "hope to make par."  Yes there was a larger chance to make birdie then there is today, with thinner trees, no greenside tree and calling it a par 4... but it's actually an easier hole today than it ever has been.  I don't see it as more fun as it was before, whatever the par was... I think it's the most fun today with the trees thinned.

And re the first two holes being par fives, that goes back to the 30s, doesn't it?  I don't disagree... I just wonder if we are pining away for things that are far from reality.

TH

[Tim Bert]

I'm confused by some of these answers. At Pinehurst II the course opens with a relatively easy par-4, a Ross trait and trait of many other architects of that area to get the golfer going into the round with relative ease. These courses were designed in the days before practice ranges.

I think a course that has a cart path running though the landing area might be disappointing but simple or wide open first landing area, to me, is not disappointing... other than Merion. Macdonald did an awful job on that hole.


Anthony

Anthony - I find disappointing to be a highly personal emotion.  I'm not saying the tee shot is bad.  I am describing my personal feeling in relation to the rest of the course.  I was overwhelmed with the course and thought it was great.  I found the first tee shot to be a real ho-hummer in relation to the rest of the course.  I understand Ross's rationale for doing it.  I was just providing my opinion, and I was focused on "in relation to the rest of the course."  So sorry if I confused you.

Tim,
Banff can't be included because it isn't the real (or old) #1.
Unless you are referring to the elevated tee shot into the valley...

I'm talking about the current #1.  What made it so disappointing was later standing on the 15th tee (while they were piping on the lawn in the front of the hotel), seeing what the 1st tee should have been.

 

[Kyle Harris]

Golf courses with extremely amazing opening tee shots have no where to go but down...

...I like simple and straightforward off the first tee.

[Gerry B]

i agree re: Maidstone

i respectfully disagree re: Cypress Point, Pine Valley and Merion

opening hole at Fishers Island is pretty bland - especially when comparing it to the next 4 holes

opening hole at Shoreacres is average at best

[Mark_F]

Royal Melbourne West hands down. 

Fairway wide enough for a zeppelin convention, no hazards unless you hit it over 280 metres, doesn't matter where you hit it if you don't .

[George Blunt]

Mark,

Have to agree with your description of the hole, but I am not sure the membership would allow a zeppelin convention on the first fairway.

What I don't agree with is that it is a "disappointing" tee shot.  Au contraire, I think it fits into McKenzie's design philosophy of an easy start.  There is also a bit of camouflage re the exact distance into the green, unless you take a strategic line down the RHS.  Yardage makers have hurt the strategy here.

There is also a risk reward element in going down the RHS – you will get a better angle of attack into all but the far most RH pin positions, and you will be able to make use of the slope to check your ball from the RHS, whereas from the LHS it kicks the ball right, but going down the RHS brings all the trouble into play.

I agree it appears to be a bland shot, but it does have some subtlety.

Regards,

George

[Matt_Cohn]

Royal Melbourne West hands down. 

Fairway wide enough for a zeppelin convention, no hazards unless you hit it over 280 metres, doesn't matter where you hit it if you don't .

The fairway narrows down significantly, *way* before 280 meters.

[Wayne_Freedman]

The 1st at Stanford...off a hill, across a road, over electrical lines.

Love the rest of that course, however.

[rchesnut]

Pasatiempo #1 in its original form was recently included in an article about the Best 18 holes that MacKenzie ever designed.  Even today, it has some great qualities that put it out of the "disappointing" category...a terrific view of Monterey Bay, a challenging 460 yard par 4 with a tough approach shot from an uneven lie, a strategically placed tree short and left, and an excellent two tiered green complex that has a lot of pin locations. 

Still, it's not a great hole today...I wouldn't call it a bowling alley (I reserve that distinction for #7) especially with the trees on the right being thinned out.  The trees on the left make sense because they hide the netting a bit.  The driving range is awful there, it does detract from the hole and I wish that it could be moved...there's not another good spot for it though.  Maybe one day.

It's a disappointing hole only in that, with the tee moved back to its original location in the hillside and the driving range removed, it could be a monster 490 yard downhill par 4 and in the discussion as one of the greatest opening holes in golf.  I'd say that its lost past and unfulfilled potential makes it frustrating, but it's still a pretty strong hole. 

[Chuck Brown]

My own two odd nominations are Riviera, and Prestwick.  Two of the great courses, with two oprning holes that thrill a lot of golfers.

For me, the thing about Prestwick is heavily colored by the fact that on my first visit, I hit my tee shot off the reservation, never to be found, probably never even seen again.  That hole is sort of indecipherable as you stand on the tee; a tremendously cramped, narrow landing area.  It is probalby not the worst opening tee shot in golf, but it is one of the oddest.

As for Riviera, it is the one hole that might get nominations for the best as well as the worst opening hole in golf.  It has a lot going for it; view, strategy, drama.  But it is also one of the more perfect demonstration holes for what length in the Pro V1 era has done to holes where the tee cannot be moved.  No doubt about it; If Riviera had the room, they'd have moved their 1st tee back by about 50 yards by now.  But to do so, it would be 40 yards inside the clubhouse.  So I am nominating Riviera just to call attention to my favorite regulatory issue in the game.

[Mark_F]

Have to agree with your description of the hole, but I am not sure the membership would allow a zeppelin convention on the first fairway.

It could only improve the grass that is there at the moment...

What I don't agree with is that it is a "disappointing" tee shot.  Au contraire, I think it fits into McKenzie's design philosophy of an easy start.  There is also a bit of camouflage re the exact distance into the green, unless you take a strategic line down the RHS.  Yardage makers have hurt the strategy here.

There is also a risk reward element in going down the RHS – you will get a better angle of attack into all but the far most RH pin positions, and you will be able to make use of the slope to check your ball from the RHS, whereas from the LHS it kicks the ball right, but going down the RHS brings all the trouble into play.

George,

Thanks for the information.  Perhaps the tee shot on RMW 1 would best be described as quietly intriguing but unspectacular, as disappointing is somewhat subjective.

Hope you are well.

[Rick Shefchik]

I haven't played it, but somehow the opening tee shot at Augusta National seems underwhelming from TV, especially considering the character of the course to follow. When they reversed the nines, they were obviously trying to pack the wow factor into the ending, rather than the beginning.

[tlavin]

The 1st at Stanford...off a hill, across a road, over electrical lines.

Love the rest of that course, however.

This is a very strong contender, right up there with Pebble and Cypress.

[Anthony Butler]

The first at Winged Foot West. The whole hole is long and flat until you get to the green.

[Patrick_Mucci]

I haven't played it, but somehow the opening tee shot at Augusta National seems underwhelming from TV, especially considering the character of the course to follow. When they reversed the nines, they were obviously trying to pack the wow factor into the ending, rather than the beginning.

Rick,

The opening tee shot at ANGC is NOT underwhelming, unless you like windmills and fountains adorning the bordering rough.

It's a great opening hole and introduction to the golf course.[/color]

[Patrick_Mucci]

The first at Winged Foot West. The whole hole is long and flat until you get to the green.

See the "windmill & fountain" comment above.

The tee shot on # 1 at WFW is extremely demanding, unless, you don't keep score.[/color]