Ulrich,
Here I am! Sorry, haven't been online for almost 24 hours now, that happens when a mate's parents are on holidays.......
So, I don't really know where to start.
A couple of general things:
The trees: There are way too many trees on the course which are way too encroaching in parts. Not only the course, but the condition would improve if some trees were removed. Sadly, the club keeps planting trees
. The thick undergrowth combined with the narrow playing corridors are too penal, it is forest in parts, deep German FOREST only a few yards from the center of the fairway!
The greens: Some have interesting contours, but all in all they are very repetitive since Staedler's redesign. Most just have waves on the outside and little variety in pin positions. They roll fast and true, though. Staedler introduced heavy, unnatural mounding around the greens which really doesn't fit to the course.
The bunkers: A shame Staedler built such unnatural-looking bunkers in his own, american style rather than what Colt intended.
The condition: Too lush and way too soft, but true and fast greens.
The routing: Exactly what Colt and Morrison left behind, and IMO the course's biggest strength. The varied use of the land (first three holes and last 4 especially), make it a great walk across, along up and down ridges and a plateau.
Another stength is the great set of par-3s and par-5s (see below)
The course features little strategy for average players as all of the hazards are placed for long hitters. This makes it boring for average and shorter hitters. But even for long-hitters, strategy is reduced dramatically by the narrow fairways and soft conditions.
Hole-by-hole:
Holes 1-3: They might be all long, but I disagree that they are similar. Colt's use of the ground on the three starters is fantastic: The first plays to a flat fairway and a punchbowl-style sheltered green, while the 2nd plays from the top of a ridge to a green which sits on another ridge, and the 3rd uses the contour for strategy off the tee and the greensite is flat. That IS variety.
Hole 1: As you say it is pretty stern and boring off the tee, but I love how the green lies in its own little amphitheatre and I think that is an interesting feature for an opener. If conditions were firm, the better angle and view woud be had from the right side of the fairway, which is where the O.O.B is. Sadly, the soft conditions and encroaching trees eliminate any strategic element.
Hole 2: Very difficult and too narrow 2-shotter (although a par-5 when the course opened), and devoid of strategy, but a as the first, a great greensite. The fairway bunker on the right doesn't make sense at all.
Hole 3: My favourite par-4 on the course with (IMO) strategy on the tee shot due to the ridge which runs along the left side of the fairway. The shorter drive A risks bouncing into the fairway bunkers (if conditions were f&f) plus the hole will play longer and you may stand above the ball. For this drive, a buker 20 yards short-right of the green is in play. The longer hitter may clear the ridge with a perfect drive, get extra bounce and and a chance of getting it close to the pin.
Hole 4: is a great par-3 and no respite from the tough beginning. It may be the most interesting green complex on the course with the green wrapping around the fronting bunker and a lot of ways to get close to the hole.
Hole 5: Nice par-5 with a wide, inviting fairway and some strategy on the lay-up. I really find it hard to get my Wedge close to a front-right (upper) pin position from the safe right side of the fairway after lay-up (and I hit it high), so there is strategy.
Hole 6: Not a standout, but a tricky, short par 4. I belive the green is a bit hard to hit for the average player because it's small and fronted by bunkers. The long hitter has to think about whether it is worth playing a driver or long wood around the dogleg with a tricky the pitch or playing an iron down the fairway and a better chance of hittting the green with a full wedge.
Hole 7: Good, demanding par-3 with a chance of lay-up or going for it. The green is quite interesting and the accomplished player should try to hit a high fade.
Hole 8: As the 6th, bunkered on the outside of the dogleg but less interesting to play. The 7th green in 8 holes with waves on the outside and a flat middle
.
Hole 9: Narrow and long par-4, the only interesting feature is a natural mound 50 yards short-right of the green which hides that there is an entrance to the green. That entrance to the green is actually visible from the bunkered left side of the fairway, but seriously, not even the straightest hitter would choose a special line of play on a farway as tight as this one.
Hole 10: My 2nd favourite par 4, a strategic hole. The fairway is divided by a bunker at about 230 yards. The front part is wide, but a tee-shot that goes too far safe right is stymied by trees, so the ball should be kept left for a better angle and view. Long hitters can try to carry the bunker and be left with only a pitch, but the penalty for missing the fairway is severe. The green is another one of those wavy at the outside and flat in the middle.
Hole 11: This demanding par-3 introduces the upper plateau as its backdrop. The green is raised and bunkered on both sides, so anything left, right and short will have little chance of getting up&down.
Hole 12: plays from the top of the plateau to a fairway at least 30 feet lower. It's a beautiful hole, but the task is once again to hit the fairway, hit the green and try to make 2 putts.
Hole 13: A crime. The only fairway Staedler had control of, and he built unnatural mounds completely out of character with the rest of the course. All the other fairways have natural, subtle, micro-undulations which present interesting shotmaking-decisions. I wonder how any architect could do that.
Hole 14: Good 2-shotter, divided by a ridge at ´250 yards. The best option is playing as close to the top of the ridge as possible as anything short is left with a blind 2nd shot, and anything that carries the ridge will be left with a tricky pitch to a wide but short green fronted by bunkers.
Hole 15: Best hole on the course. Standing on the tee, the long hitters have to decide whether to carry a ridge with a bunker built into it at about 260 yards or lay-up to the wide, front part of the fairway. Option A is tempting because the corridor is quite wide and brings the green into reach, but the 2nd is played from a tricky downhill lie. Option B leaves a blind 2nd. The green is sort of a mini-version of a biaritz, making for a dificult 3rd if you lay up and is framed by the upper plateau.
Hole 16: I have no evidence, but I'm sure this 1-shotter was once a version of a redan. The land slopes starkly from right to left (tee is elevated) and the green is set at an angle and bunkered front-left. Sounds like a redan, hey? Sadly, the green is built up at the left and the area short-right of the green is maintained as soft rough. One day!
Hole 17: Interesting tee shot and strategy on the lay-up make this a good par-5, and a last chance for a birdie. The green is quite interesting and the lay-up must be placed according to pin positions, but again the fairway is to narrow to really choose a line.
Hole 18: Spectacular finishing hole, with a tee high above the fairway. The green is angled front-left to back-right so if conditions were f&f, the line would be down the left of the fairway. Also, too far right and you might not get a shot at the green. It's a good and tough finisher and you need to play 2 very good shots if you want to get away with a par.
Frankfurter GC is a faded classic. It was once a great course but too many trees, bad redesign and soft playing conditions have reduced its quality over the years.
I'm not saying it's not fun to play, I love going out there because its a beautiful walk and still a very solid course, it's just that the course has so much potential that waits to be restored.
One day
