Kennemer (Colt) in The Netherlands on TV this week-Euro PGA Venue

[Steve_ Shaffer]

Looks good:

http://www.golfclubatlas.com/courses-by-country/netherlands/kennemer1/

[David Davis]

Relevant post for me Steve. Calling everyone that joined us there. What do you think of the set up if your watching?

Have to say what I'm remembering most at this moment is for the first time in my life hitting Steve Wilsons hickory on the 3rd hole, up hill par 3. I hit the damn thing 6 ft from the flag, then laughed and gave it back to Steve and said, "no wonder you are so damn good!"

The course looks great but they are in for some bad wet weather the coming days. hopefully it will blow over.

[Steve_ Shaffer]

David,

TV coverage on Golf Channel started about a half hour ago. I'll wait until later for my impressions.

[Will Lozier]

Played Kennemer during my year overseas...one of my favorites!  Will be watching!  Are they still using the new nine?

Cheers

[Diederik Visser]

Will,

They are using a composite routing, which uses the complete new nine.

[Will Lozier]

Will,

They are using a composite routing, which uses the complete new nine.

Diederik,

I can't remember the exact routing - is it front 9, then new 9?  I seem to recall the wonderful 9th being used.

Cheers

[Dónal Ó Ceallaigh]

David: it obviously has had rain and so is quite green but it appears to have lost all of its firmness with balls stopping like darts and spinning back - is it prone to being a bit soft? It is classified as links in Peper's book isn't it?

This would be my one and only criticism on the conditioning at Kennemer. When we played the course in a very hot July it was quite obvious that the approaches to the greens were over-watered. My brain is hardwired to hit pitch-and-run shots, and I got a bit frustrated with balls not bouncing forward onto the greens. This was particularly noticable on the Colt (C-nine).
 

Hole 9 on the Pennink (B) nine. Notice how green it is 30-40 yards down the fairway.


Looking back down the par five 7th (A-Van Hengel). Same story here; the transition from brownish and firm to green and not-so-firm is obvious.

[David Davis]

Donal/Brian,

You know we are fighting with this as well. I can't seem to make any headway here in terms of my complaining. The run-ups to the greens are really really soft and yes you see the greens being really receptive. We have links courses where it seems like we are maintaining them like parkland courses.

I do know that Noordwijk when built put down a layer of dirt above the sand in order to get the fairways/greens to grow faster. This was because they didn't know better I'm afraid. Now they tend to sand quite and perhaps this to a certain extent is to make up for that mistake during the construction process.

Royal Hague does not have this problem. If Frank chimes in here he knows the exact answer although I suspect I'm not far off.

It could just come down to over watering and nothing more. This thought that the greens have to be GREEN.

[Diederik Visser]

Will,

The new nine is considered to be (far) worse than the original loops. It's a pity that they use half of the Colt holes available.
I believe they use the new nine because of logistical issues.

[John Mayhugh]

I haven't had a chance to watch yet but I will.  Thanks for the reminder.

I'm really hoping the par 3 6th on the Colt 9 is part of the tournament, but don't expect it to be.

[Dónal Ó Ceallaigh]

I haven't had a chance to watch yet but I will.  Thanks for the reminder.

I'm really hoping the par 3 6th on the Colt 9 is part of the tournament, but don't expect it to be.

John,

Yes, the 6th (C6) is included, it's the 15th on the composite course.

The composite course used for the tournament is:

First 9: A1-A9
Second 9: B1-B3, C4-C9

As Ran noted in his profile, it's a pity they don't play holes like B7 and B9.

Here's a link the the venue details:

http://www.europeantour.com/europeantour/season=2013/tournamentid=2013072/venue/index.html

[Adam Lawrence]

I'm on the train from Zandvoort to Amsterdam having spent the afternoon at Kennemer. It is a bit soft, but they have had 70-odd mm of rain in the last week, so it isn't totally surprising. David is right that the two Colt-designed nines, B and C, were capped with clay when they were built, in the belief they needed to retain moisture; this makes it tough to get them really firm.

The tournament routing comprises the Pennink-designed A nine in its entirety - primarily because it's the longest - and then some holes from B and C. Logistically, they use some of the flatter parts of C for the practice range, tented village etc.

Course looks good. I'd like it firmer, but it's still a cool place.

[Ulrich Mayring]

This was absolutely my favorite course in the Netherlands. It doesn't look the part like Royal Hague and Noordwijkse do, but it's an absolute joy to play. Especially the Colt holes are so restrained and yet so interesting that it is very easy to get into a dreamy flow. I put it up there with Saunton East as the best unassuming course I have played.

Whether the approaches have the right degree of firmness is a point probably lost on a guy like me, who in some years gets to play no links golf at all

Ulrich

[Frank Pont]

Kennemer is probably the softest of the 3 Dutch links courses, partly because in Colts days the fairways were capped with clay, partly because they do not have enough links grasses (there is a lot of bent and poa) and partly because they are probably scared to dry them out too much.

The course has no defense against the pro's if there is no wind and soft conditions. Bunkers are hardly ever in play. The short grass run off areas we introduced over the last 5 years (greens 2,3,5,8,9,11,12,13, 17,18) do not play a big role either with wet weather because the greens are so soft the recovery chips are easy for the pro's.

The new A holes are used because they are longer, and because they need the area around b4, b5 and c12 for the entrance, driving range and tented village.



The routing of the A holes is quite poor, with a lot of walking back, and the famously bad 6th hole. Its spectacular terrain, but you would need to blow the A routing up to bring it up to par with B and C. (exception are holes A1 and A9 which are Colt originals).

[Ulrich Mayring]

I don't see the A course as that bad. The only really bad hole IMHO is #2, which is straight and boring, there is absolutely nothing going on. #3 is a good par 3, #4 has a quirky tee shot, #5 has a quirky green location and #6 is at least spectacular and has a pretty cool single tree blocking many approach angles into the green. Good players should be ok with a long iron off the tee, mere mortals can get away with driver. I liked the hole. #7 has little interest at first, but then there's the berm near the green - ok, it could be a better hole. #8 is a great par 3.

I'd introduce some cross bunkers or whatnot to make #2 more interesting and also spice up the first part of #7. Then the A loop would be on par with the other two, I think. What's the problem with #6 except that it's visually out of character with the rest of the course?



Ulrich

[Thomas Dai]

............ because in Colts days the fairways were capped with clay.....

Sandy fairways capped with clay. How common was this practice?
All the best.

[Dónal Ó Ceallaigh]

............ because in Colts days the fairways were capped with clay.....

Sandy fairways capped with clay. How common was this practice?
All the best.

I believe they committed this mistake at Waterville when it was built in the 1970s. I read about them bringing in trucks loaded with clay. 

[Frank Pont]

Great win by Dutchman Joost Luiten yesterday on Kennemer before large home crowds, will be a boost for golf in Holland.

Ulrich, in my view the A holes are 1-2 notches below the BC holes for two reasons, first the routing does not use the terrain as smartly as it could, second the detailing of the greens, greensurrounds and bunkers does not match that of the Colt BC holes.

In the past I have studied the A holes in great detail and walked it with Tom Doak, Mike Clayton, Brian Schneider, Tony Ristola and many others. It is a tough design question how to create the best routing, but two years ago I did have a crack at it and feel I came up with what I think would solve all of the routing issues and at the same time create some very interesting holes on the same terrain:



https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/10772736/GolfClubAtlas/Kennemer%20A%20rerouting%201.jpg

In this routing holes 1,2,8 and 9 stay the same, and hole 7 only has a slight change to its tee positions.
The big change is with holes 3-6. Here we play the new 3rd hole through the corridor that in the last few years has been cleared, and through which Colt had routed his 4th and 5th holes. We play the new 3rd hole to the existing green of the 5th. From there the new 4th hole plays reverse over the fairway of the current 5th hole up to a new green to be built where the current tees of the 5th hole are. Then follows a short postage stamp par 3 on top of the ridge, playing with the wind in most situations, probably the most exciting and maybe hardest par 3 on the course even though its short length. Then the new sixth hole plays as a dog leg left from the ridge through the valley to the new raised green to be built on the wide dune top behind the current 6th green. Given that the hole is 275 m (250 m carry) with the prevailing wind will make this a very exciting short par 4.

The advantage of this routing is that the holes follow the existing landforms much better, and rather than crossing the ridge in a direct fashion it weaves its way sideways over it. Also it introduces a par 3 in a direction no other par 3 on Kennemer yet plays, and a drievable short par 4.

Will this ever be considered by the club? Probably not, the change is too big, they do not perceive there to be a real problem and the costs might be to high (3 new greens, several new tees and 3 new fairways).

[Ulrich Mayring]

Frank,

I definitely agree with your assessment of the A course being a few notches below B and C. My point is just that it is not more than a few notches - it is still a very good loop that would benefit most other courses out there.

I'm sure that your alternative routing would bring the loop up a few notches, but you avoided to improve the two holes that I personally think are the most boring: #2 and #7. Perhaps there's a way to route the course from the existing tee #2 over to #7 and take it from there?

Ulrich

[Frank Pont]

Ulrich,

its quite easy to make hole 2 better without changing the routing, by improving the strategy of the bunkering, especially around the green (we drew up plans for that already). Hole 7's biggest issue is the green complex which is a bit artificial and penal to play into, especially fro weaker players. One alternative I looked at was to play it over the WWII tank wall to the current green of hole 3.....

[Ulrich Mayring]

I'd have thought that Kennemer is a rich club and would easily be able to pay for those course improvements. Maybe they need to find a slot where there is no big tournament for a few years.

Ulrich

[Frank Pont]

Kennemer is not that wealthy, last time I checked they had less than 800 members each paying less than 1k euro per year. Thats not a lot to maintain 27 holes.....

[Ulrich Mayring]

But how can they hold a European Tour event and not be wealthy??

Besides, doesn't the Tour pay for changes to the course they like to see? So perhaps convince them?

Ulrich

[Frank Pont]

Ulrich,

they do not organize the event, this is done by an outside organisation, and Kennemer just gets a fee for the expenses made. This fee is nice, but does not make the club rich.

The last thing I want to do is have the E Tour directly pay and direct changes on classic courses. I think the B Open courses are a good example what happens if you follow that line.....

[Ulrich Mayring]

Frank,

anyway the expatriate membership runs at 4K Euro / year, so they should make some money off that as well. And if regular memberships run much lower, they probably come with a hefty initiation fee. Whichever way we turn this, just 800 members for 27 world-class holes is ... well, something between a crime and a luxury

Ulrich