Peter,
RNK blew me away the first couple of times I played it...so much so that I am blind to the consensus on here (as repeated by Cabell) that the finish is horrid.
I think what the course does for/to me is demands a committment to the decision. It offers several scenarios for getting the ball in the hole as quick as possible, all of which may work out equally over the long run but you have to decide which one is best today...AND, these decisions are more varied than any other course I can think of having played.
Most every one of my other favorite courses offer a challenge more in hitting the shot than in choosing which one to hit...not that they don't offer choices, just that they are clearer and the nuts of the decision only shows up after I've hit the ball well or poorly.
#10 at Shinnecock is about 400 yards with a tremendous downslope (probably 80 feet) about 240 from the tee down into a valley from which the green sits up above by 30 or 40 feet. On the tee there are two distinct options, lay up a bit short of the crest for a nice view of the green or try to hit it over the crest to get it to run to the bottom for a much shorter approach. The challenge of the shorter approach is that it will likely still be on a very modest downslope hitting up 30 or 40 feet from the touchy distance of about 80 yards. Playing conditions of the day (wind direction, green and fairway firmness) will dictate most of what I need to know, and the state of my game will tell me the rest. After that I will hit a good or a bad shot but I pretty well know the problems, they are distinct.
#8 at Royal New Kent is comparable yardage, maybe a hair shorter and the key feature is a large dune which hides the green. The hole is a sharp dogleg right but as a final twist, the green is set behind a Dune on the left. If you were putting the ball it would be a double dogleg.
Maybe some can repost a picture from the yardage book or other aerial.The decisions seem to be; 220 or so off the tee into a narrow sliver of fairway to leave some view of the green and about 160 in, 240 or 250 off the tee into the widest part of the fairway that offers basically no view of the green and about 150 in, or Driver over the corner of some bunkers and other garbage that will leave just a short wedge in that is basically totally blind with a big dune right in front.
At Shinnecock, outside variables seem to give me the answer. At Royal New Kent, the decision seems 100% based on my judgement of being able to hit the sequence of shots that must follow the first one.
Overall, I prefer Shinnecock, and #10 is about my favorite hole there, but there is a real difference in the process for me.
It very well may have to do with the fact that my rounds at RNK were all in a tournament or the day or two before in preparation and that there was never really much in the way of "conditions" to deal with. Very little wind, pretty soft greens etc...
Found this from some time ago...
The 8th is a medium length par 4. The tee shot tempts you to hit driver, but a shot hit too far will leave a blind 2nd. Here is the view from the fairway for those who foolishly hit driver.
