Alternative Merion Routing - Holes 2-12

[Kyle Harris]

Kyle,

I'm not saying that you can't get some north/south holes in the routing below Ardmore Avenue.

I'm simply stating that you had better be judicious with them or you'll very quickly run out of room if you try to build a 6200 yard course on what was available..

I also know that David Elvins had the benefit of knowing the existing routing before proceeding, but this took him...what...a week?   Probably much of that time was spent in photoshop.   I'm sure the original committee had much more time to tromp around, survey, put together different iterations, etc., but my point remains the same;   an amateur can do a very credible routing, especially on a site without many options.

I definitely agree with your last statement, especially in this era of housing development courses.

I think the most important part of the routing is the direction of the 2nd hole. It pretty well has to follow the path it does or it will block the routing or make for a tight cross over somewhere. Maybe a long par 3 toward the 9th green would work, but not much else.

[Mike_Cirba]

Kyle,

I'd love to see others try here.

Even if they never went to study courses in Europe for 6-7 months! 


David Elvins,

Have you been abroad for an extended period recently??   

Otherwise, I think you know way too much and I may have to take away your amateur status! 

[David_Elvins]

Did you keep 8 for any particular reason, or did it just work out that way?  I think if I tried it would be difficult to give up 3, 5, 6, and 7 but that might have made changing the rest of the routing a bit more difficult.

 
It just worked out that way.  Ironically 8 was my 'least favourite' hole on the course.  I wouldn't want to give up 3 or 5 either.

[DMoriarty]

Did you keep 8 for any particular reason, or did it just work out that way?  I think if I tried it would be difficult to give up 3, 5, 6, and 7 but that might have made changing the rest of the routing a bit more difficult.

 
It just worked out that way.  Ironically 8 was my 'least favourite' hole on the course.  I wouldn't want to give up 3 or 5 either.

That is why I asked.  It was my least favorite hole as well, and seemed like a strange hole to preserve purposefully. 

Incidentally, the eighth green was one of the greens that had already been replaced by the 1916 US Open.  My understanding is that the original green was to the left of the existing one and was not as built up, and was thus difficult to hold from straight on.   

[David_Elvins]

The existing routing of those holes has one and it's in the middle of the 4th hole. I believe they are worthwhile if the green site that follows is exceptional and the blind shot manages to make the rest of the routing work.

Merion actually has quite a few blind tee shots when you think about it.  4, 11, 18.  The landing area on 6, 7 and 8 can also be blind or partially obscured, depending on where exactly you hit it. 

4 and 18 were two of my favorite tee shots on the course.  Blind tee shots have a number of good points imo:
- there is the thrill of hitting over something.
- the shots are played closer to the ground with more roll.  I see little thrill in repeatedly watching drives from elevated tees drop softly to earth.
- they accentuate the contours or a property.  Especially on flat sites they can make a site seem more undulating.

Of course, they work best on sites with wide fairways and thin rough, which isn't Merion. 

[Mike_Cirba]

David,

Your description of the value of blind tee shots should be in some sort of "Principles of Classic Design" section of this website, should Ran ever see fit to create such. 

[James Bennett]

David Elvins,

Have you been abroad for an extended period recently??   

Otherwise, I think you know way too much and I may have to take away your amateur status! 

Mike

I recall a quote about David from the Mike Clayton Design website, from the time when Dave was working with them.  The gist of the quote was the comprehensive nature of the study/visits of British (I think) golf courses that David had undertook and loved.

Too funny, in a tragic sort of way.

James B

[SPDB]

Impressive work. I like it how some of the existing bunkers are preserved in the exercise. Some of the ideas are particularly thought provoking. For example, on David's 11th, if you shifted his fairway to the right of the creek and shift his green left across the creek to where it splits, that approach would resemble in some respects the approach to the existing 11th.

I've always tried to imagine the clubhouse being sited at the location of the current range, and renumbering the holes such that 16 would become 1 and 15 would become 18, although it is hard to imagine starting out your round on the existing 16, 17, 18.