Sorry for the separate thread, but I thought John's post had some specific points that were worth talking about.
http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,56174.0.htmlI had the amazing opportunity to play the Red course two weekends ago for the 5th Major. I was also lucky enough to get to spend an entire day playing it on July, 1st, during my Hundred Hole Hike. I had seen the course under construction and was amazed at the difference a year makes in the evolution of a golf course.
First of all, it is one of my favorite courses I have played. The routing is fantastic. The Front 8 feels like a nice stroll even though you are on some pretty rugged property. I haven't played a ton of great golf courses, but to me the way a good chunk of the Red is routed on top of the dunes is genius and not something I have seen a lot of. This is where the small things come into play, at least for me. I loved the way the course felt "connected" in more ways than one. It, of course, feels connected to the property. It just fits. But better for me was the way the holes were connected. This is a hard one for me to explain, but I'll try. There is short grass everywhere. Big swaths, small paths, joined fairways, loops... no matter where you go, you feel like you are a part of the rest of the course. Rarely do you feel isolated down in a valley between dunes. There is a short grass area near 5 or 6 where a yucca plant was left to grow right in the middle of it. Most places would've torn it out, planted short grass and kept going. Instead, Dismal left it and for me it was a great "feature". Again, it was the small things. I know these aren't small things to the architect or the owners, but I often get so caught up with greens and fairways and routings that I miss this stuff. I did not at Dismal red.
I won't do a full photo tour, but I wanted to include a few pictures from the weekend.
#1 is a great handshake opener with a wide fairway and a great center line bunker to make you give thought to your second shot.
#3 with the giant bunker to the right. I wasn't in it at all, but after looking down there I am pretty sure it is not alot of fun.
#4 has some great deceptive bunkering off of the tee. To me, everything seemed to blend together and made it difficult to pick a line.
Flair one to the right, where there is plenty of room and you will be left with this shot from about 150.
#5 is my favorite par 3. So many options off of the tee. Do you try to carry the dune on the right and flirt with disaster or hit some kind of cut in from the left. So much room to miss and one of those "heroic" shots that I love.
#6 really grew on me after repeated plays. I don't think I really "got" this hole at first, but after seeing it at least 10 times, I really began to appreciate the strategy. Playing it at 326 yards gave plenty of options. Hit something short left in the fairway and avoid the small front bunker on your approach. Hit something out to the right and have to deal with that front bunker. Or just try to bomb one somewhere up near the green.
The approach to #13 was one of my favorites. I cannot wait to play this shot when the fairways are running.
The par 3 16th is really special. Trouble lurking everywhere and one of the most unique greens on the course with a fantastic backdrop.
#18 is a fantastic golf hole with one of the neatest features I have seen on a course. The area short of the green is full of trouble, but also plenty of options to recover. In one of our matches, there were three balls down there and three different shots were played to get the ball onto the green.
And finally, my favorite photo from the week. Looking down on 18 from near #10 green.
