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Bill_McBride

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Re: Wolf Point Club: A pictorial!!! (16th hole posted)
« Reply #150 on: August 17, 2013, 12:28:50 PM »
One of the coolest thing about Wolf Point is how Mike used the creek on so many holes, starting with 5 and 6, and down the stretch at 14-18.  It's reminiscent of the barranca at Pasatiempo that is always in play on the back nine.   

Sam Morrow

Re: Wolf Point Club: A pictorial!!! (16th hole posted)
« Reply #151 on: August 17, 2013, 09:13:58 PM »
16 Is awesome and possibly my favorite hole on the course. Though you feel like you have all the room in the world to drive it you in actuality need to hit it up the left side. If you go down the right or right center and have to contend with the bunker you'd might as well grab your ankles.

The green is amazing the way it naturally flows down towards the creek, first time I played it I watched Little Mahaffey putt it over the green and into the hazard long.

Kyle Henderson

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Re: Wolf Point Club: A pictorial!!! (17th hole posted)
« Reply #152 on: August 18, 2013, 12:32:22 PM »

The 17th, a par 4 of 440 yards(ish) with wind quartering in from the left, continues the superb closing sequence. Multiple teeing options are available, with two noted by arrows on the map below.


Sir Nuckles elected to tee us up in the 16th fairway, creating a left-bending cape for the group.


The creek and trees guard the inside edge from the “Cape” tee.


…But a the lack of a pedestrian bridge meant we were graced with an opportunity to stroll around and see the hole from the alternate teeing grounds – it’s a much straighter affair from here, with a bit less reward for well-executed aggression.


Once again, a steady combination of central hazards and wind (and teeing options) ensures that the hole will never play the same way twice. This trap protects the starboard margin of the landing zone from the “Cape” tee, but it must be carried or skirted from the “Straight” tees.


The cape tee shot bends around this tree and trap, but these obstacles may impede second shots from any tee for those that struggle off the peg. It really is a lovely hole when Morrow keeps his hind quarters out of frame.


Spectacle (?) bunkers will crowd lay-ups and low trajectory approaches .


The green is raised a tad, like its siblings, to shrug away rain and indifferent approaches.


More delectable Nuckles are on tap, and the easiest recovery shots will come from the front/right side for most pin positions. Left and long are always wrong.


Looking back from behind, one sees the folly of attacking left/rear hole locations.

« Last Edit: August 18, 2013, 01:54:24 PM by Kyle Henderson »
"I always knew terrorists hated us for our freedom. Now they love us for our bondage." -- Stephen T. Colbert discusses the popularity of '50 Shades of Grey' at Gitmo

Sam Morrow

Re: Wolf Point Club: A pictorial!!! (17th hole posted)
« Reply #153 on: August 18, 2013, 09:17:50 PM »
My finish looks really good there, I'm kind of happy right now! As for the hole this is one I admit I didn't get just how good it was at first. The big left turn sets up well for my snapper but the green is another very cool one. Lots of movement and at first I didn't realize just how much the creek comes into play on the second shot. This hole is a real ball buster.

Kyle Henderson

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Re: Wolf Point Club: A pictorial!!! (18th hole posted)
« Reply #154 on: August 20, 2013, 10:10:09 AM »
#18, our last walk through this private patch of nirvana, ultimately ends at the double green shared with #8.


One can follow two distinct routes in traversing the creek.


A fade off the creek may feel more comfortable for slicers, but approaches must carry the tree line from there.


Hitting into a hurricane, it will take some courage to aim left over the stream bed, but the approach from beyond is very straightforward.


Once more into the breach…


Once across, a short iron from an uneven lie could bring last-minute glory.


Make sure you play to the near flag, and hope steady nerves are still in the bag.



Wolf Point Club is a triumph of golf design. I am incredibly thankful to have experienced it first-hand in such fine company.
"I always knew terrorists hated us for our freedom. Now they love us for our bondage." -- Stephen T. Colbert discusses the popularity of '50 Shades of Grey' at Gitmo

Steve Kline

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Re: Wolf Point Club: A pictorial!!! (18th hole posted)
« Reply #155 on: August 20, 2013, 11:20:33 AM »
After watching this thread there is not a course I more want to play than Wolf Point.

Rees Milikin

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Re: Wolf Point Club: A pictorial!!! (18th hole posted)
« Reply #156 on: August 20, 2013, 11:26:55 AM »
After watching this thread there is not a course I more want to play than Wolf Point.

Couldn't agree more.  I feel like I could walk around the course and never get tired of playing.

Paul Jones

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Re: Wolf Point Club: A pictorial!!! (18th hole posted)
« Reply #157 on: August 20, 2013, 11:32:34 AM »
Sam,

You and Don made a great pair on finishing 16 the first time we played  ;D.  I think that secured the win for me and Nuzzo that day.

I should have tee off with a 3 wood, but thought I could bite off more with the driver and little draw.  Come to think of it, I made the same mistake the 2nd time also  ???.

That is probably my favorite hole, but I will have to play the course at least another time or 10 (hint, hint - Don and Nuzzo) to come to my final conclusion.
Paul Jones
pauljones@live.com

Charlie Gallagher

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Re: Wolf Point Club: A pictorial!!! (18th hole posted)
« Reply #158 on: August 20, 2013, 01:42:14 PM »
One point about the approach on 18. I remember hitting a terrible drive there, but my partner drilled one into the quartering wind putting us in a very fine spot for the shot number two. Rob established the yardage at about 155 dead into the breeze. I hit a knock down trap shot 6 iron and blistered it... into the hanging bunker behind and above the green. When it left I thought it might be my best shot of the day. Rob was left with a high risk splash shot to a hole location with slope away in two directions, or a more immaginative recovery. He showed his superior creativity by stepping into the bunker with a putter and calmly applying just enough force for the ball to escape and tumble down the hill to about 7 feet. I managed to miss the putt after his superb effort, but I won't ever forget what a penalty is exacted by long and left with a left side hole location on 18. That bunker is a very bad place to be trying a recovery from.
   Hanging bunkers are penal as hell and I don't know why they aren't featured more in hole defense. The 10th hole at Worcester CC has two of them along the right side of that par 3's green. You almost never see a par recovery, I think primarily because the green is almost always sloping away and the player in the bunker has ussually short sided himself.

Eric Smith

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Re: Wolf Point Club: A pictorial!!! (18th hole posted)
« Reply #159 on: August 20, 2013, 02:04:59 PM »
My favorite pic from our visit to Wolf Point:



Also, here are a couple of short videos from our match deciding "cross-country" hole, which was great fun. I think the idea on this first shot was to lay up short of a creek about 225 out. Note how long it takes both Don and I to get our tees in the ground.  A good indication of how firm the golf course was.

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_z4VjdtCLbQ

Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWiWJ8Ox6tM *Warning - May contain salty language. ;)


Paul Jones

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Re: Wolf Point Club: A pictorial!!! (18th hole posted)
« Reply #160 on: August 20, 2013, 02:05:59 PM »
Charlie, that bunker reminds me of the 8th Hole at St Georges.
Paul Jones
pauljones@live.com

Garland Bayley

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Re: Wolf Point Club: A pictorial!!! (18th hole posted)
« Reply #161 on: August 20, 2013, 02:28:47 PM »
Thanks for the tour Kyle.
"I enjoy a course where the challenges are contained WITHIN it, and recovery is part of the game  not a course where the challenge is to stay ON it." Jeff Warne

Charlie Gallagher

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Re: Wolf Point Club: A pictorial!!! (18th hole posted)
« Reply #162 on: August 20, 2013, 02:44:02 PM »
Paul,
    You are correct, that's a great example of the perils of a hanging bunker and that one is substantially above the greens surface.  That ones a little unusual because it is actually short of the green. Yeah, and I short sided myself in that one too, didn't I?

RJ_Daley

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Re: Wolf Point Club: A pictorial!!! (18th hole posted)
« Reply #163 on: August 20, 2013, 09:28:37 PM »
I'm trying to figure out where you gents are playing from and to with the cross country playoff?  Could you explain please?
No actual golf rounds were ruined or delayed, nor golf rules broken, in the taking of any photographs that may be displayed by the above forum user.

Sam Morrow

Re: Wolf Point Club: A pictorial!!! (18th hole posted)
« Reply #164 on: August 20, 2013, 10:24:30 PM »
I didn't know we were being taped, I could listen to Mahaffey slur about sauteing and such for hours.

As for the 18th hole I think it's the perfect ending to one of the most unique courses on Earth. The split fairway is very cool and I've gone that way once but don't think I would do it unless we were playing into a gale. The shot from the right fairway has the backboards over the green but you must hit over the trees from what will more than likely be a gradual downhill lie.

If you go down the left you have a great look at the hole and you can hit it out to the left and feed it down. It really embodies all the strategy and interest that is Wolf Point. I've been accused of drinking the Wolf Point kool-aid and some people have snickered at me but I think that Wolf Point is as pure as it gets. Mike and Don are both brilliant men who you can't applaud enough. a GCA'er once told me that he didn't get Wolf Point, I don't think it's Wolf Point he doesn't get, I think it's golf that he doesn't get. I've been to Wolf Point 4 times and been told that I will go many more times but I already know my life as a golfer has been greatly enriched by seeing this place. There are few things better than spending a day on an amazing golf course with great friends and drinking more beer than we should.

Sean_A

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Re: Wolf Point Club: A pictorial!!! (18th hole posted)
« Reply #165 on: August 21, 2013, 04:23:12 AM »
Kyle

Yer a star.  Thanks for the effort - the best tour I have seen since The Bourgeois did Royal Melbourne.

Ciao
New plays planned for 2024: Nothing

Charlie Gallagher

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Re: Wolf Point Club: A pictorial!!! (18th hole posted)
« Reply #166 on: August 21, 2013, 07:54:40 AM »
Sam,
   All I can say is fill the cup and pass that glass of kool aid over here. If one can't see the cornucopia of options and challenges at the "Wolf" I guess I just can't understand. It is the opposite of "Bunker Left, Bunker right, hit it down the middle" course design. I have heard a couple of proclamations that the greens are too radical for competitive play. That's  crap. Learn how to putt and learn how to be precise with irons.
   I would LOVE to see a competition on a course like this. I expect  that the pros would grumble about it being "unfair",  what ever that means. How is it unfair if everyone is playing the same course that presents multiple options for problem solving, what is unfair about that? I would also bet that the tour players would figure Wolf Point out and they would be able to score on it.
   If this great course were reconstructed on a piece of flat land somewhere in the US, I would want to play it as often as I could afford to get to it.
   It is one of the worlds greatest golfing venues, simple as that.
   Kyle, thanks for your superlative photos and well guided tour, your camera captured the course about as well as that medium can. And thank's to the other commentators who took the time to lay out additional information about Wolf Point.

RJ_Daley

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Re: Wolf Point Club: A pictorial!!! (18th hole posted)
« Reply #167 on: August 21, 2013, 08:05:28 AM »
I'm still trying to figure out where the guys in the video were playing that shot from and to.  

Can someone say if any elite tour player has played the course once or better a few times, and what that result was in terms of "figuring out the course options"?  What is the best known score by someone teeing it up from the longest possible starting area?  From considering the photos, particularly the amazing green contours, I just can't imagine anyone, even of great playing skill,  'figuring out' the intricacies of this course to be able to consistently go low.  

With Don being a good player and all the knowledge he has of the course, what is Don's best round?  ;D

Of course, I can see not even approaching these rare rounds by invitee's as the scorecard mentality, and maybe looking at it more as fun match play.  
No actual golf rounds were ruined or delayed, nor golf rules broken, in the taking of any photographs that may be displayed by the above forum user.

David Davis

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Re: Wolf Point Club: A pictorial!!! (18th hole posted)
« Reply #168 on: August 21, 2013, 08:12:58 AM »
Kyle, first of all. Awesome tour and lesson to me to never again attempt to post a photo tour, too difficult an act to follow for a photo hack like myself. Great stuff.

RJ, yes I played it (crowd laughs). I did shoot an honest 75 (with maybe the best up and down of my young life) en route to Eric and myself's victory ha ha, however, the real victory of having the amazing experience of playing was had by all in the group.

Finally as great as the photo tour is, I'm sure everyone who's played will agree it just don't do it justice.

If Wolf Point is your home course and you've already seen what else is out there. I'm guessing you just don't need to venture out anymore, perhaps to go skiing or something.

Sharing the greatest experiences in golf.

IG: @top100golftraveler
www.lockharttravelclub.com

Eric Smith

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Re: Wolf Point Club: A pictorial!!! (18th hole posted)
« Reply #169 on: August 21, 2013, 09:24:07 AM »
I'm still trying to figure out where the guys in the video were playing that shot from and to.  


Dick,

Hopefully the guys will confirm, but I'm thinking we're starting next to the two trees in 11 fairway and playing backwards, laying up short of 1 and 4 greens, then playing up the 5th, finishing at 5 green.

Kyle,

Your tour is one for the ages. Thank you for sharing with us.
« Last Edit: August 21, 2013, 09:46:39 AM by Eric Smith »

Charlie Gallagher

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Re: Wolf Point Club: A pictorial!!! (18th hole posted)
« Reply #170 on: August 21, 2013, 09:43:09 AM »
David,
    I was told that a very solid college player shot 69 and played it long. It would be interesting to see what a tour player could do. I would imagine a feast on the shorter 4's. But 2,5, 13, and 17 all have to be negotiated with very precise iron shots hit from longer distances and the par 3's require high accuracy off the tee in order to properly place the ball for realistic birdie opportunities. 3 and 9 are probably birdie holes for touring pros, but 14 is only going to give up birdies if the approach is damn close to the hole. I would bet that touring pros would be able to shoot low scores, but that isn't what Wolf Point is all about. It's about interest, fun, beauty, and match play.
Oh, and make sure you bring your short game.

Thomas Dai

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Re: Wolf Point Club: A pictorial!!! (18th hole posted)
« Reply #171 on: August 21, 2013, 12:33:01 PM »
This is a terrific and highly detailed photo tour so thank you Kyle for the considerable time and effort you must have put in to share it with us. The course looks terrific too. There appears from the photos to be a great deal of visual deception and subtlety. Very nice indeed given what seems to be a generally pretty flattish piece of property. Well done to all involved.

All the best.

George Pazin

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Re: Wolf Point Club: A pictorial!!! (18th hole posted)
« Reply #172 on: August 21, 2013, 01:03:44 PM »
Haven't actually looked at any of the pics - waiting to see it in person - but I look forward to reading this thread someday. Thanks Kyle.
Big drivers and hot balls are the product of golf course design that rewards the hit one far then hit one high strategy.  Shinny showed everyone how to take care of this whole technology dilemma. - Pat Brockwell, 6/24/04

Mike Nuzzo

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Re: Wolf Point Club: A pictorial!!! (18th hole posted)
« Reply #173 on: August 22, 2013, 10:16:21 AM »
Kyle
Thank you very much for sharing with everyone.
I'm very glad you got a chance to visit and soak it all in as well ad you did.
Your pictures are fantastic, some angles I've never seen before.
Thank you everyone for your comments - they are very meaningful to me.
Cheers
Thinking of Bob, Rihc, Bill, George, Neil, Dr. Childs, & Tiger.

Bill_McBride

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Re: Wolf Point Club: A pictorial!!! (18th hole posted)
« Reply #174 on: August 22, 2013, 11:32:58 AM »
Kyle
Thank you very much for sharing with everyone.
I'm very glad you got a chance to visit and soak it all in as well ad you did.
Your pictures are fantastic, some angles I've never seen before.
Thank you everyone for your comments - they are very meaningful to me.
Cheers

Mike, you are a gracious host, Don too.  Thank you both for sharing this great course with us.  I hope your owner knows how much his guests love the course.