Now that we're solidly entrenched in December - albeit with less snow than normal here on the Canadian Prairies - I like to think back to the courses my wife and I enjoyed on our trips last summer, out to Montana and Washington. In particular, we really enjoyed Wine Valley, and I want to thank Mark for his wonderful photo tour of the course. It helped bring back some great memories of the course.
Mark, it looks like you had a great day - weather-wise - at Wine Valley, as did we. It was +33 with a light wind that day in mid-August, the day after golfing Chambers Bay with Richard Choi. The course played beautifully, firm and fast. The greens putted really true, and at just the right speed.
One thing I want to mention is the 17th green. The green has two distinct levels, front and back, with a slope right in the middle of the green. On each side of that slope, on the left side and the right side of that green, are subtle banks which can aid you in getting the ball close to the hole if you're on the wrong level. I won't come close to the great job Mark did on showing off the course, but hopefully the two photos below aid in my description.
Walking back onto the green, photo taken from behind the hole.
We finished the hole and I grabbed my camera and took this quick picture to show the contours in the green. My approach shot had finished near the back edge of the green, on the back shelf. The pin was in the front middle, lower shelf. I figured that if I putted right at the hole, my ball wouldn't stop on the green (assuming I would miss - likely from 25 feet) and could conceivably roll down the fairway dozens of yards. I kept looking at the bank over to my right, and finally decided to give it a try. My wife and I watched as the ball rolled some 20 feet over to the right in a huge arc, around the middle slope, and came to rest some 2 feet away for a "holiday trip gimmie".
It may have been the most fun I've had in a putt that I didn't sink.