A Fan's Photo Tribute to Old Macdonald - Hole #16 Commentary in progress

[Andy Gray]

Bryan, I seem to recall someone saying (maybe in the Old Mac documentary??? I really hope I'm not making this up) that the swale in the green is somewhat natural, and was one of the reasons for the positioning of the green (after the revision of the original routing).

With the talk of the true playing characteristics of the 'template', I managed to play Old Mac 4 times, twice each in the different winds. I hit 8 iron from the middle tee one day with the summer breeze, landing it on the front of the green, and it only just stayed in the swale. The next day I hit a 3/4 6 iron and that landed on the front and ran through the swale to the rear of the green.

In the winter wind (strong right to left and a little hurting) I hit a fading 3 iron from the back which ballooned a little bit and rolled off the right of the green near the right bunkers. I also seem to recall hitting a hooking 5 iron which just stayed in the swale. One of my playing partners (4 handicap) hit a half power driver which landed short of the green and rolled to about 10 ft. Right after him was a scratch golfer who hit a 4 iron to about 15 ft.

I guess I'm trying to demonstrate that there multiple ways to play the hole in different conditions. You can both fly it to the back, or run it through the swale.

[Sven Nilsen]

One feature of this hole that has not been highlighted is the right greenside bunker.  With the prevailing summer wind coming from the left and the way the swale feeds right into it, this bunker plays much larger than its actual size.  Any slightly pushed shot has the chance of feeding its way, and if the pin is on the left of the green, the recovery shot is no picnic.

[William_G]

Bryan, I seem to recall someone saying (maybe in the Old Mac documentary??? I really hope I'm not making this up) that the swale in the green is somewhat natural, and was one of the reasons for the positioning of the green (after the revision of the original routing).

With the talk of the true playing characteristics of the 'template', I managed to play Old Mac 4 times, twice each in the different winds. I hit 8 iron from the middle tee one day with the summer breeze, landing it on the front of the green, and it only just stayed in the swale. The next day I hit a 3/4 6 iron and that landed on the front and ran through the swale to the rear of the green.

In the winter wind (strong right to left and a little hurting) I hit a fading 3 iron from the back which ballooned a little bit and rolled off the right of the green near the right bunkers. I also seem to recall hitting a hooking 5 iron which just stayed in the swale. One of my playing partners (4 handicap) hit a half power driver which landed short of the green and rolled to about 10 ft. Right after him was a scratch golfer who hit a 4 iron to about 15 ft.

I guess I'm trying to demonstrate that there multiple ways to play the hole in different conditions. You can both fly it to the back, or run it through the swale.

+1

It can be anywhere from a 9 iron to a 4 iron depending on tee chosen, wind, weather, and the bounce you are playing for. Or any club in your bag for that matter, LOL.

[Anthony Gray]

  The hump on the left protects the green and makes it difficult to hit a runner down the hill.I bunted a driver that carried the mound and rolled off the back of the green.

   Anthony

[Tom_Doak]

Bryan,

The front part of the green, the falloff into the swale, and the ridge at the back of the green (with the bunker to the right into it) are all natural.  I did not want to try and move all of that in order to gain 15 or 20 yards, as I don't think the length of the hole is paramount to it's quality as long as you face the choice of flying the ball to the back tier or running it through the swale.  And of course there is nothing but ocean in back of the tee.

I do not recall Mike saying anything about not wanting to use the front part of the green until the hole was complete and it had quite a bit of preview play.  I don't really know who turned him off to the idea of the front pin.  They did use it some in the preview rounds. 

[Bryan Izatt]

Tom,

Thanks for the explanation. 

Seems a shame to waste so many options for alternate challenges on the hole, although I'd guess that the vast majority of players there wouldn't know or care if the pin was never front.  I imagine most play it once or twice and are done for the visit. If they even think about pin location, they would probably just think that it is luck of the draw that the pin was back that day.

Was there any concern that a front pin would slow down play?

Do you suppose Mr. Keiser would be susceptible to a small write-in campaign to allow front (or swale) pins sometimes?  I'm thinking for the next KP in March, when I'll be playing OM 3 or 4 times, that one up front pin would be interesting.  Sort of like an Old Course in reverse day.

 

[JC Urbina]

Andy,

 You are right.

The swale was part of a large blowout that went up to the north west from the green as you see in the picture.  It continued up the hill towards the 15th green,  It was actually an access area that you could walk up to the top of the hill when the place was full of gorse.  The swale started just below the bunker on the right and went up the hill.   In Tom's original routing the 7th green was actually in the general location of what now is the 8th green.

I may have mentioned this before but the back half of the green was mostly flat sloping from back to front  but on one of George's visits he asked if I could put a small thumb print in the middle of the back half of the green and from then on  I always referred to it as Bahto's pin.

When Mike the Caddie Master did the caddies yardage book I asked him to put the notation into the caddie book about Bahto's inspiration, Mike calls it Bahto's swale.   A nice addition to the whole green complex.

 When Bryan Slawnik was putting the final touches on the green surrounds he added a small bump in the center of the back ridge line which added a nice touch to the ridge.  The bump was such a pleasant surprise and I knew instantly it was the perfect touch which I thought Brian always added to everything he shaped.    Because this green took a long time to plant it had the luxury of many small refinements during the process and each time it got a little better. Sometimes refinements come in small intervals.  In almost every case  every green got small touch ups until the day we seeded it.

[Andy Gray]

Jim, I'm glad I didn't make that up, I thought I read/heard about the swale. In the original routing, where exactly was the 'knoll' green going to sit? I would hazard a guess that it would be around the front portion of the current 8th green (slightly raised)?

I didn't really know what to expect when seeing the swale for the first time, I guess I was kind of expecting a uniform slope ala CB Mac/Raynor swales. But the rumpled slopes add such a cool effect to the playing characteristics, adding to the randomness that is so often a joy when playing golf. I have to state I don't much mind what score I make, and while in Bandon quite enjoyed getting into all the wrong places, like left of the huge bunker on PD 6.

I loved the way the green sat on the ground too, like from the tee it almost looked as if the whole thing was quite flat - apart from the swale. On the green, you then realise how much the front portion is sloping away from the ocean, and how many subtle and not so subtle slopes are built into the back section. It was a very pleasant hole to play - and one I never managed to play all that well.

[Tim Bert]

Hole #9 - par 4 - Cape
Back tee - 416 yards
Middle tee - 352 yards

The 9th at Old Macdonald might be the first hole that I have played advertised as a Cape that did not present a hazard or immediate threat of a lost ball.  In the winter wind that we faced, this trait was appreciated.  Despite the fact that the middle tee is listed as only 352, the hole played forever long on Opening Day.  In fact, I did a double take as I typed the yardage here.  Surely, I thought, the tee must have been pushed back further than the yardage on the card.  I would have sworn that this hole was playing closer to 400 yards.

Of course the route that many of us played from the tee, the hole may well have been playing 400+ yards.  It is so very easy to bail left here off the tee to avoid the land mine bunkers waiting on the right.  The first few bunkers are placed just far enough to present the feeling of a carry issue in the winter wind, which forces the weak bail out.  

One final severe bunker looms on the right side of the green, with plenty of slope to catch slightly offline balls running toward the green.  At risk of sounding like a broken record 9 holes into this journey, the green is a real beauty with plenty of movement.    

The hole played very difficult for everyone but the best golfer in our group.  He played the hole to par twice and no one else did better than bogey.  Would be very interested to see this hole play out in the summer, as I think a lot of players would give it a real go with a helping wind which could end up making it play even harder for some.  There's a good bit of trouble looming on the right side.  

A look from the tee


Zoomed a little closer


From the fairway - a view of some of the ball-eating bunkers


Another look at some of the fairway bunkering and the approach from the right side


The really nasty bunker guarding the green


Raise your hand if you think any balls will roll into this!


Looking back at the green

[Jim Adkisson]

The first time I played the Cape (into winter wind)...I was severely dissapointed to hit a bit of a draw off the tee, going what seemed to be WAY short and left...but ended up with only a shot of apx. 140 in...I was expecting a minimum of 170-180...I was suprised at how forgiving a bailout shot ended up on this hole.

For the deep-pocketed summer golfers there will be a number of attempts to drive up close to this green...some big rewards...and a lot of disappointment when they find their balls in nasty lies on the right side.

[jonathan_becker]

Tim,

My mind isn't processing your third picture down as being #9.  Help me out here if I'm wrong.

[Tim Bert]

Tim,

My mind isn't processing your third picture down as being #9.  Help me out here if I'm wrong.

That was a very polite way of saying, "you inserted the wrong photo, dumba$$."

Thanks for pointing that out.  I've inserted the correct photo in its place.

[Tim Bert]

We are halfway done with the tour.  Not to kill any discussion on #9 - please continue - but I wanted to share a few more photos (that you've already seen) from a different perspective.  Old Macdonald is VERY easy on the eyes in black and white, in my opinion.  The course has a rugged classic look, and the shades of the grass and the contours in the fairways and greens really stand out nicely.  I want to share one photo from each hole, presented in black and white.  These weren't B&W originals mind you, they are simply edited from their color versions, but I think the effect still works nicely.

Here's the front nine -

Hole #1


Hole #2


Hole #3


Hole #4


Hole #5


Hole #6


OK - I couldn't settle on just one for #6!


Hole #7


Hole #8


Hole #9

[jonathan_becker]

From the back tee on 9 and even with all the room to the left, the other three guys in my group found the exact same fw bunker on the right.  The two close balls had to lay up but the other ball was hit right on the center of the green with an 8 iron.  You can see the blast mark in front of the shadow.  A few paces made all the difference!



This was taken from about 30 yards short left.  Multiple recovery options exist.
 

[Bryan Izatt]

This is one of those holes that's hard to appreciate from photos.  No dramatic features.  Sort of like trying to photo TOC.  Having said that, it looks fairly bland on a bland piece of topography.  What is the "Cape" feature?  The bite off what you can chew drive?  It doesn't look from the pictures like a cape-type green projecting into a hazard.

[Tom_Doak]

Bryan,

When we started building the course, the approach and green were down a narrow gauntlet between two big banks of gorse ... That was the "Cape" part.  But, we couldn't really leave the gorse in play to that degree, and we wound up removing so much of it that the genesis of the hole is no longer obvious.

The other reason we laid out the hole as it is, was that there was a very natural plateau green site in between the gorse bushes.  We tried to dig out a well and backfill it with sand to keep those contours (especially on the approach) exactly as they were, but I think the green wound up about a foot higher in the end.

I was startled when we finished the first ten holes that three or four people told me this was their favorite so far.  Haven't heard any more of that since the full 18 holes were opened.

[Bryan Izatt]

Perhaps there's a subtlety to it that doesn't lend itself to photography, but appeals to some people.  I'll try to remember to provide some feedback when I see it in person in March.

[Sven Nilsen]

Tim:

Wish you could have played this one down wind, its a real risk reward hole when you have the option of trying to hit to the green off the tee.  There's also a lot going on around the green, which makes judging your approach paramount.  Just another of the long list of holes at OM where being in the right quadrant of the green is the key.

Sven

[Jim Adkisson]

Eleven days since the last post...and only 8 replies regarding the ninth hole...is the cape hole one of the less exciting holes at OM?  Does it generate less interest/controversy than other holes?

In the 2 rounds I played in November, in torrential rain, I was playing survival golf by this point in the round.  I look forward to my January visit for hopefully better weather and a chance to appreciate the course and all of it subtleties instead of being hunkered down and only being blown away by the more obvious features.

[Tim Bert]

Jim - I will get us back on track shortly. #10 will not be posted before Friday but will be up by Monday.

[Tom Jefferson]

In my 12-15 plays of the ninth hole, I have developed two overriding strategies; On the drive, regardless of the wind direction, or the tee location, I ignore all thoughts of playing on the right edge of the hole.  I just get it out to the left......out to the left!  Leaking a drive off line right offers bad lies, difficult bunkers that appear shorter than they actually are, and no advantage on the angle into the green.  It's comfy and roomy, open and with a great line into any portion of the green from the left. 

The second shot into the green, particularly with the wind but also against it, is demanding; balls trickle easily off the back, or else are held short by the severe slopes at the front.......It's exciting to play, and satisfying to play a shot well.  I have hit anywhere from 3 wood to 9 iron, and while runup shots are fun and challenging, on this hole, with a shorter iron, a ball with maximum spin is the play.
It's one of Old Mac's most interesting, fair, and fun greens to play into.

An approach in the center of the green is a good, smart play.......4 always feels like a job well done.

[Tim Bert]

Hole #10 - par 4 - Bottle
Back tee - 465 yards
Middle tee - 440 yards

Welcome to the back nine at Old Macdonald.  The par on the back nine is 37 compared to the front nine par of 34.  In addition to par being 3 strokes higher on the back nine, it may well be harder relative to par.

The tenth is a long par 4 that most golfers will play as a par 5 in the winter wind due to the length of the hole and a hurting wind.  In the summer, the hole will become more reachable in two shots for many players, but a few complications arise.  First, the fairway bunkers that create the bottle effect will be more in play.  The bunkers, while perhaps not the most fierce on the course, are steep enough in spots be worth a full shot penalty when the length of the approach is considered.  Second, when the approach is played downwind, as has previously been discussed, the shot must land short of the green to prevent a potential disaster long.  Landing short introduces uncertainty as there is a good deal of movement in the land short of the green.

Most players would walk away pretty satisfied with a 5 on this hole, which becomes one of the compounding issues for the moderately skilled golfer on the back nine.  There are at least 5 holes on the back nine where bogey will satisfy you.  That doesn't leave much margin for error for the player counting beans.  You are better off just enjoying your match here.  When that ends prematurely, then just enjoy the remarkably fun array of shots you get to play.

I don't have a good photo of this green, so if you have one please post it!

The 10th tee


The fairway - Here you get a look at the bunkers as well as the uneven lies in the fairway that will confront you


Here's the approach from a good distance


Another look at the approach and the many wrinkles in the land


The green and the area just short of the green as seen from the 6th


From left of the green looking at the 10th and the expansive 5th behind it


 



 

[Sven Nilsen]

Had a caddy in our group at OM that said TD had personally given him the key to playing the hole.  Hoping that info will be shared here, especially the preferred line off of the tee.

[Ed Oden]

Whatever you do, don't go long on #10.  This may be the nastiest bunker on any of the courses at the resort...

[John Kirk]

In my 12-15 plays of the ninth hole, I have developed two overriding strategies; On the drive, regardless of the wind direction, or the tee location, I ignore all thoughts of playing on the right edge of the hole.  I just get it out to the left......out to the left!  Leaking a drive off line right offers bad lies, difficult bunkers that appear shorter than they actually are, and no advantage on the angle into the green.  It's comfy and roomy, open and with a great line into any portion of the green from the left. 

The second shot into the green, particularly with the wind but also against it, is demanding; balls trickle easily off the back, or else are held short by the severe slopes at the front.......It's exciting to play, and satisfying to play a shot well.  I have hit anywhere from 3 wood to 9 iron, and while runup shots are fun and challenging, on this hole, with a shorter iron, a ball with maximum spin is the play.
It's one of Old Mac's most interesting, fair, and fun greens to play into.

An approach in the center of the green is a good, smart play.......4 always feels like a job well done.

Two reasons why I copied this post:

1.  I agree completely with your analysis.
2.  Hi Tom.  Happy New Year.  Maybe we can have dinner sometime again.