David
It could be the case that the double plateaux green was created after CBM's visit, but I think it entirely possible (especially reading Hutchinson's account published in 1897) that the double plateax existed with only one cut as a green when CBM saw it. It may well be that the ditch was drained and the second plateau cut as a green after CBM came up with the template (which is where I think the concept as we know it originated) as we think of the Biarritz. Still, I would like to know more about Naccer's quote. Do you have the exact quote of Whigham, when and where it was written?
The quote in blue above is from Whigham, from Town and Country, 1913, describing Piping Rock. Here it is again, with my bolds:
"There is a Biarritz hole of about 220 yards which is new to this country and is one of the best one-shot holes in existence. There is a hog's back extending to within thirty yards of the green and a dip between the hog's back and the green. Under normal conditions the hole has to be played with what is now known as the push shot, a low ball with plenty of run, which will land short of the dip and run through it on to the green. A drive with a longer carry is apt to land in the dip and stay there. But the push shot must be very straight, otherwise it will land on one side or the other of the hog's back and break off into a bunker. This is the ninth hole at Piping Rock."Here is how CBM described the hole for Outing Magazine after returning from his 1906 trip abroad:
210 yards. Suggested by the 12th Biarritz, making sharp hog back in the middle of the course. Stop 30 yards from the hole bunkered to the right of green and good low ground to the left of plateau green.[Note: The version of this article in Scotland's Gift stated that the "hog back" stopped "80 yards from the hole" but this was a misprint. The original article stated "30 yards."]
So while Whigham's description is more detailed than CBM's, the two descriptions are very similar. And neither mentions anything about a chasm or the "Chasm Hole."
There was a hole at Biarritz that I suspect might better have fit the description, but I haven't yet found a good photograph.
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Jim Nugent,
As I said, I think it may have been a different hole at Biarritz. I suspect I know the hole, but I am still hoping to find more information at some point. Also, this hole often seems to have been combined with a Chasm concept (Yale for example.)
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George, From what I can tell they switched the hole numbers (and the course) around quite a bit at Biarritz, so while CBM's reference to the 12th might mean the 3rd with the nines reversed, I am not entirely convinced. I'll let you know if I find anything.
By the way, is my Scotland's Gift different than yours? In mine the hole is described on page 155 as number 15. Weird.