[Kyle Henderson]

My father and I recently enjoyed the distinct privilege of staying and playing at Ballyneal. It is an absolutely tremendous course - one of the best I’ve ever seen. There isn’t a weak hole to be found, in my estimation.
Although Ran’s profile is both excellent and comprehensive, I’ll offer some of my own thoughts and images with the hope of spawning some discussion.

#1, approx. “382” yards (if you choose to tee it up at the tips, there are no tee markers)
A view from the back tee, taken from the Ballyneal website. It’s only a 210 yard carry over the left-hand bunker, but the appearance is fairly intimidating. Already, any sane golfer’s mouth begins to water. The absence of unsightly carts paths is greatly appreciated. The silence can be unsettling. This is no bustling municipal course.



This view is from a bit closer up. The “member” tees are to the right and offer a straightaway tee shot with virtually no forced carry.


100 yards from green at the left edge of the fairway. A drive down the left can result in a blind approach from the hollow behind that gorgeously penal  bunker.


A closer look at a left hand fairway bunker (one of many). The artistry of the course’s construction is apparent, as is the softness of the sand found in these hazards and the severity of punishment that can be levied upon the ill-conceived stroke.


Bunkers front and rear (not pictured) guard the left side of the putting surface; shaved collection areas allow run-up recoveries from the front, right and rear. Already, the variety of depth/severity of penalty from bunker-to- bunker is apparent.


A nice view of the putting contours from the second tee, right of the 1st green.

[RJ_Daley]

Wow!      it is incredibly green this season, from the times I've seen it.

[Kyle Henderson]

#2, Approx.  490 yards (“par 4”)
The view from the Tiger tees at the highest point on the course. Though downhill from tee to green, 4 is a very good score from here when playing into a headwind (northwest).


Photographs fail to show the true magnitude of fairway undulations at Ballyneal. 230 yards from the tips to carry the left bunker, 240 puts one in right bunker.


The left-to-right slope of the fairway is dramatically pronounced with 230 yards left to go.


The local wildlife. Toads were also plentiful.


Blooming flowers and yucca’s short and left of the green can make for interesting recovery shots, which I was thankful not to sample first-hand. A running approach shot can skirt the right side of the bunker in the foreground to reach the green


I tried my hand at the right-hand scrub instead, with a surprising degree of success.


From the right side of the 2nd green looking back to the fairway and the “dunescape” beyond. The green contours are evident, but restrained in comparison with the putting surfaces to come.

[Ash Towe]

Kyle,
Thanks for the sharing these great photos of what looks like an amazing course. 
Looking forward to the remaining holes.

[Mark Chaplin]

Does the course firm up and take bump and run?

[Jason Hines]

Other holes my game preferred from the tips:

#5 – Opened up the green
#9 – Opened up the landing area
#12 – Helps hit the landing area before the fairway bunker for a semi-blind tee shot to the green.

Kyle, when were you there?  I was there the second weekend in June and the terrain was starting to turn brown and speed up.  The wind was also out of the north and I would like to play again with the wind out of the south.

Jason

[Adam Clayman]

Does the course firm up and take bump and run?

Mark, Yes! One of the mind numbing aspects to Ballyneal is how firm it play when it looks lush. And, vice a versa. Built on all sand, rarely is it ever so soft that bounces and rolls cannot be had.

This season has been another unique one. Still cool at night and it's the frick'in third of July. What a country!

Jason, The fifth's back tee has to be one of the coolest and shortest walks in golf.

 On the other thread discussing #9, someone recommended not being too far back because the shot is more blind. Well, I've had my share of long approaches there and from my experience it is not the big penalty it would appear on the surface. i.e. My weak drive left me 163 to the hole. I pulled an extra club knowing I wasn't stripping it. To a rear hole position the back left kick plate is steep enough to stop a four iron dead in it's tracks and trickle back onto the putting surface. Or, in this case a weak low 5 iron will feed in from the left perfectly.

I catch myself, while showing many GCA'ers around, starting sentences with..."I hit the greatest shot from...(fill it in)" So many opportunities to be creative. Balanced perfectly with ample opportunity to be a goat with one's worst.

#12 has some real mojo working for it. Hugging the left is typically the high percentage route.  However, when the pin is back right, being right in the hollow, is not only one of the coolest looks over those bunkers, but, also affords a visual of the back right kick plate which is the aggressive creative way to get to that particular pin position. The other day, golfing with Ballyneal's first member,(first in our hearts and I believe deed) We played from a teeing ground few know about. Up ahead on the right it plays 240 from there. Everyone made par, each in their own unique way. The aforementioned member, must've missed hitting the pin by inches, off the drive, and was amply penalized finding the rear bunker.
If I have one idea for that hole it would be to expand the green so that it abruptly abuts that rear bunker. It would carry a motif forward as it would resemble the look of 7 green with it's green space hard against the bunker.

[Wyatt Halliday]

Adam,

Is the tee you speak of #13's back tee?

If so, it is also a marvelous way to finish a 4 hole loop of 10,11,12, & 9.

[Jim Johnson]

Kyle, thanks for posting, keep 'em coming.

[Adam Clayman]

Wyatt, The teeing ground I referenced is on 12. It requires taking the service road for about 90 yards. There's a small path to the service road, which juts into the main teeing ground, about midway on the right side.

13 back tee is daunting. After watching Joe Andriole play the hole from there I'm convinced it's only daunting on paper. It takes almost all the bunkers out of play (unless you're a big dog). The ample green and leftside work well with a sliding full 3 wood/driver. 

 I witnessed Bill Coore make a great par from an errant drive, way right, on 13. He missed his chipped by an inch for birdie. Tom was standing nearby the hole and did this sort of body english jig trying to encourage the shot to drop, as the chipped stayed above ground that close to the hole. But, my never to forget moment happened when that group arrived to the tee. Ben's face lit up with a huge grin as he gazed out at the fairway for the first time with it's randomly dotted centerline hazards, and, said "wow" in sort of a long drawn out big Texas way, only Ben Crenshaw can.

[Jon Spaulding]

good work KH.  The hands are quiet and looks like both you and your dad had free bowls of soup awaiting for dinner with those hats

you either have a for more colorful camera than me, or were out in better light. my photos came out much brighter.

[Wyatt Halliday]

Adam,

I misunderstood. We used the back tee of 13 to play into 9 one evening, which creates a very interesting angle to say the least.

Great story about Mr. Crenshaw, being a texan myself....and evuurythang!

[George Pazin]

Thanks for sharing the pics and thoughts.

Hope to join the big red head for a game there someday.

[Jim Colton]

.

[Adam Clayman]

All those pix and still played in 3:40. Pretty impressive Mr. Colton.

[Wyatt Halliday]

I had studied everything I could get my hands on about the course before heading out there, and was completely blown away within 5 minutes of walking off the 1st tee.

Jim,

I totally agree. It is virtually impossible to capture the sheer drama and scale of the place in a photograph.

[Jon Spaulding]

Unless your name is Dick Durrance or Larry Lambrecht........

Proper lighting, equipment......and talent can deliver some fine results.

I'm simply tickled to death to have my own photos shot with a cheap pocket camera while bleeding to death from the yucca plant wounds.

[Kyle Henderson]

good work KH.  The hands are quiet and looks like both you and your dad had free bowls of soup awaiting for dinner with those hats

you either have a for more colorful camera than me, or were out in better light. my photos came out much brighter.

Duff Man,

I used a little 7 megapixel Sony. Pop and I arrived in time for an early dinner, and then I jogged around the course to snap photos while the light was good (though I ran out of light after covering holes 1-8 and 12-16). I also boosted the color saturation a bit. That picture of me in the scrub was taken at 1pm, and you can tell the light is less optimal.

[TEPaul]

I have never seen a single photo of Ballyneal before this. In my opinion, golf course architecture, and in every imaginable way and sense, just doesn't get much better than that.

The only next step would be to insure as much as can be that it actually PLAYS as often as possible as it should!

[Kyle Henderson]

#3 . “145 yard” par 3
Despite the fact that this hole plays fairly short from the tips, the 3rd green is a very big target (30 yards deep from front left to back right). However, I have no doubt that in high winds this tee shot is more than enough challenge. The green features a variety of slopes that can be used to aid one’s tee or recovery shots but also play havoc with putts. Simply hitting the green does not guarantee par by any stretch.

From the 110 yards it is apparent that anything short is dead. A shot that just carries to the front edge of the putting surface will kick towards the rear of the green. In my first round, the wind was gently blowing from right to left (and I was playing from the tips, behind and left of this spot). This scenario presented the option of hooking a shot in off of the right to left slope found at the starboard side of the putting surface. Late in the day (pictured), the wind was from behind. Note: My caddie preferred not to shoot pictures on level with the horizon, thus creating the illusion of balance in my swing.

The foreground bunker is well short of the putting surface and it plays tricks with the player’s depth perception, as does the bunker which appears to be flush with the left front edge of the green -- there is quite a bit of fairway to be found behind it. Another useful slope is seen at the left rear portion of the putting surface.

Looking back towards the tee from behind reveals some of the green contours more clearly. The 2nd green is visible above and to the right of the 3rd.

[Kyle Henderson]

Unless your name is Dick Durrance or Larry Lambrecht........

Proper lighting, equipment......and talent can deliver some fine results.

I'm simply tickled to death to have my own photos shot with a cheap pocket camera while bleeding to death from the yucca plant wounds.

We'll have to see who's camera is cheaper. I actually got a chunk of cactus stuck in my leg while climbing the massive dune left of the 16th green. Ouch. At least I got some good shots from up there.

[Peter Pallotta]

"Note: My caddie preferred not to shoot pictures on level with the horizon, thus creating the illusion of balance in my swing."

You're being too hard on yourself, Kyle. You've just got a little of Vijay Singh's "post-shot-sway" thing going on there, nothing wrong with that.

Thanks very much for the pictures and comments.

Peter 

[TEPaul]

Again, I've never seen a single photo of Ballyneal and now I've seen photos of the first three holes. I think they all look so natural and beautiful the way they meld into the landscape but I'm now more curious than ever to see photos of the remaining holes, and here's why----the first three holes, as naturally beautiful as they are (beautiful natural flowing lines against the over all lines of the landscape), all have a very similar characteristic and feel as all three are essentially "dished" into their surrounding land. I hope after a while the routing and the holes get into some of those more "convex" natural land formations I see out there in the backgrounds of those photos. I hope that's the case both for variety of look and play.

[Jon Spaulding]

Unless your name is Dick Durrance or Larry Lambrecht........

Proper lighting, equipment......and talent can deliver some fine results.

I'm simply tickled to death to have my own photos shot with a cheap pocket camera while bleeding to death from the yucca plant wounds.

We'll have to see who's camera is cheaper. I actually got a chunk of cactus stuck in my leg while climbing the massive dune left of the 16th green. Ouch. At least I got some good shots from up there.

So we're both in pain...I sincerely appreciate you being the better man and putting this thread up. I trust that your ball was not up on that dune on 16.....I was so dysfunctional on Tuesday morning that I actually slammed the trunk of my rental car onto my camera, breaking the LCD display.

Tom Paul - I believe you'll be pleased with the 4th hole...convex would be an understatement for that greensite .

[John Kirk]

Kyle,

Thanks for the terrific photos.  The course has browned considerably in the last two weeks; it was playing hot and fast a few days ago.  Everyone concerned had a nice time.

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