[Adam Lawrence]

After my first two rounds, I concluded the tenth was the worst hole on the course: a split fairway that was completely pointless and a tee shot that was basically a forced layup, as the gap between the wetland on the right and the lost ball rough on the left narrowed to only 20 paces or so at the point a good drive would end up. Great green site for sure (not dissimilar to 10 at Chambers Bay for those who've been there) but the route there was very disappointing.

This trip I played the hole with a following breeze rather than one in my face.

Suddenly, it was a different hole.

From the blue tee (the blues are 6600 yards), it's only 220 yards to get past the bottleneck, and, although it doesn't show on the strokesaver diagram, the fairway does widen quite significantly once past that. With even a slight following breeze, it's far more sensible to hit driver and aim to get into the wide spaces beyond than layup off the tee. A decent tee shot past the bottleneck is likely to leave an approach of 200 yards or less, with the line to the flag being over the corner of the dune. Although it's uphill, it is definitely on, and it's a thrilling shot.

Mark P - the photos aren't doing the fairway justice. The first couple of hundreds yards are pretty flat, but beyond the bottleneck the land starts to rise, and has some lovely contour. Especially if you hug the left side from the tee, which will shorten the second if you're trying to get home, you will probably have a sloping stance.

So I have changed my opinion of the hole. It clearly doesn't work into any kind of headwind, but in calm conditions or with any wind at your back (and the prevailing direction is from the south and south west) it becomes a really exciting reachable par five with an interesting set of choices for the second shot if you decide you can't get home.

I would love to see some really good golfers tackle the hole with something on the line. From the very back tee (573 yards) it is 299 yards to the bottleneck: I think this might be slightly too far to induce the majority to be brave, unless there is a strong following wind.

Looking at the strokesaver now, I note there are yardages given for the distance from the tee to the end of the right fairway, but none for the distance to the green. If that doesn't prove it's pointless, I don't know what does!

[Sean_A]

Despite the odd split fairway, I thought 10 was the most interesting of the 5s.  The strategy made sense to me and the green was deceptively difficult.  The day I played it was no where near reachable, but on a big course that shouldn't be surprising.

Ciao

[Bryan Izatt]

Rich,

It's Toronto and it was well past midnight.  I am a creature of the night.  


Adam,

How does the 10th fit in your universal rating when played into the wind?  It may be the worst on the course, but still be pretty good compared to the universe of par 5's, or is it mediocre or a dog in the broader scheme of the things?  What do you think of a hole that plays so different in opposite winds?

Re your strategy for playing it downwind, I looked at Google Earth again and did some measurements because I don't recall it widening out too much until well after the bottleneck. From the blue/white tee box it is about 220 to the narrow part next to the bunker.  The fairway is 20 yards wide there.  At 300 yards it is still only 30 yards wide, not that I can hit it 300 yards even with a significant wind.  Thereafter it widens out to about 50 yards.  Too much risk for too little reward in my book.  For those capable of 300+ yard drives, I'd imagine that they are playing the gold or black tees and you'd have to add 40 and 80 yards respectively to the tee shot.  Even tour pros would be questioning the risk/rewards at those distances, in my opinion.

[Rich Goodale]

Agreed, Bryan, but I'll reserve final judgement until I play the course again and hopefully get an Adam "Lucky" Lawrence south to north wind....

[Bryan Izatt]

Hole 11





By this point in the round the weather was worsening into a heavier rain.  The rain dripping off the brim of my cap may well have clouded my analysis and feelings about the next few holes although it washed away the mist/fog for the most part.

The 11th continues in a northerly direction and into the wind on this day.  The hole struck me as a fairly typical dogleg right on first view.  From the white tees it is a mid-length par 4, while from the blue and further back tees it would definitely be a long par 4.  I guess they had to go a fair bit back to get tees up on dunes for the back tees.

From the tee, the drive looks innocuous to a fairly expansive fairway.  Turns out that the right side of the fairway provides a better angle to all the pin positions on the green.




From the fairway on the left side you can see some contouring ridges in the fairway leading up to another elevated green, this time with three pots guarding the approaches left and right.  Looks like the approach must be aerial, although I guess you could run a shot up the middle right of the green, although there are some deflector mounds in the way.




From near the right hand green side bunker you can see down the length of the green that is shallow and wide and angled a bit to the fairway.




From the right side of the green you can see yet more runoffs, some ridges in the runoff, and the contouring of the green with some shelves.  And, unless I was falling over as I took the picture, some slope to the green from back to front.




All in all, a fairly ho-hum hole to the waterlogged me.  Other more fair-weathered views would be welcomed.

[Ally Mcintosh]

11th – This one I might have been inclined to leave out the front right bunker and make more of the short grass run-off on the entire right side…

But it’s easy to see things differently. Happens on every course.

[Bryan Izatt]

A slight tangent before we move on to Hole 12.

As I'm sure most know there were three major moving dune areas on the TIGLS site, one down at the south end below what are now the 4th green and 5th tee.  This moving dune will disappear in the building of the new Macleod course.  The first picture below is of that dune as of 2010.  The second large moving dune was toward the north end of the property centred around where the 13th hole is now.  And, the third is slight further north and east near where the 15th is today.

In the second picture below is an aerial that shows the northern moving dunes pre-construction.  In the third picture is the course aerial.  In the fourth picture is the large moving dune overlaid on the course aerial.  The large moving dune is now gone with part of the 12th, all of the 13th, and most of the 17th and the marramed rough covering the former moving dune.  Looking at it today there is little sense of what was there just three years ago.  There is a tinge of sadness in change.

Clearly there was a lot of shaping and sand movement to create the 12th, 13th and 17th.

[Bryan Izatt]

Hole 12





As per the previous post, the 12th was mostly built on the moving dune and, consequently, I assume was largely a man made hole.  So, what do we get - a second dog leg right in a row about 30 yards shorter than the 11th hole.   The hole reverses direction and heads back south, so it was with the wind on this day.

From the tee, on a clear day, there is no doubt a nice view of the sea in the distance.  The fairway is pretty flat and generously wide.  The lack of flanking dunes on the left is probably the result of having to create a level fairway out of the moving dune.   There doesn't seem to be much strategic advantage being to one side of the fairway or the other.




From the left side of the fairway, the second to the green looks fairly straightforward although there is some doubt about the dead ground in front of the green - how wide is it and how deep?  The green appears to be and is built on the ground.




As you walk up it becomes evident that the dead ground is a fairly broad and deep swale.  It is evident that anything left and a little short will end up in a bunker or down the hill.  And, there are the usual undulations to deal with in the front slope.  The green itself has tiers and slopes from back right to front left.  The approach to the green makes this hole a little more interesting than the preceding hole.




From far to the left of the green you can see that the plantings to stabilize the moving dune is a work in progress.  The small dunes in the foreground are likely man made.  The pyramidal one in the foreground nicely matches the one above and right of it on the other side of the green.

[Jon Wiggett]

Greens sites are certainly very repetitive!!! Even though the 12th only has 3 bunkers it has always struck me as at least one too many. Looking at it now on Bryan's photos I still struggle to understand what the right hand side bunker is for.

Jon

[Paul Gray]

11th – This one I might have been inclined to leave out the front right bunker and make more of the short grass run-off on the entire right side…

But it’s easy to see things differently. Happens on every course.

Similarly Ally, the inclusion of the right bunker on the 11th puzzled me. Having advocated the inclusion of a bunker on a previous hole, my thinking here was exactly the same as yours. Quite possibly a popular view.

[Mark Pearce]

Greens sites are certainly very repetitive!!!

They certainly appear so from the photos.  Lots and lots of slightly awkward scalloping around the edges, mostly raised up.  I get the impression (and perhaps those with experience can comment) that however firm it may play, these greens aren't goibng to encourage running the ball up.

Again, before anyone says it, I know I haven't seen it in the flesh and I know I need to.

[Bryan Izatt]

Mark,

The only person who would say that is Mucci and you can ignore him on this thread.  I think your observation is correct. So far only the 2nd and the 8th and maybe the 10th (although most will be hitting a short iron in) would lend themselves to running shots.

[Bryan Izatt]

Hole 13





After two mundane dogleg right par 4's we turn east and into a crosswind.  This is the only hole that is outside of the general north south routing of the course.  Whereas the front nine is basically out and back, the back nine changes direction four times.  The routing on the back nine certainly provides more variety in dealing with the wind of the day.

The 12th is a medium long (to long to a back pin) par 3 across a broad valley.  As per the previous posting this hole was created on the moving dune - hard to imagine what it looked like before, but it is tied in nicely now.  On my day the wind was now more north-easterly so this hole played long into a lashing rain.  This is yet another very good par 3 - Hawtree is batting three for three on the par 3's so far.

From the tee you can see there are more round pots to avoid.  A running shot is possible but not likely to be attempted by anybody.  The green slopes significantly from back to front and should be receptive to an aerial shot.  This picture, being zoomed a bit makes the green appear closer than it does in person.  




From short left of the green it sure looks like anything short or spinning is going to come back down the slope.




Looking back from behind the green to the tees in the far dunes you can see that the green has a couple of tiers as well as being significantly sloped.

[Brian_Ewen]

As per the previous posting this hole was created on the moving dune - hard to imagine what it looked like before, but it is tied in nicely now.  

[Bryan Izatt]

Brian,

Are these pictures taken form the same perspective?  The shape of the background dunes is different.  Or, do you know where the first picture was taken from?  

[Matthew Essig]

Brian,

Are these pictures taken form the same perspective?  The shape of the background dunes is different.  Or, do you know where the first picture was taken from?  

I think if you draw a line up from the two men walking in the background in the before picture, it would go through the green left of 13 now.

As per the previous posting this hole was created on the moving dune - hard to imagine what it looked like before, but it is tied in nicely now.  

[Bryan Izatt]

Thanks Matthew.  It looks possible. 

[Bryan Izatt]

Hole 14





The 14th turns back to the North again and into the wind.  It is, on the card, a medium length par 4, but the second is uphill, and into the wind it played longer to me.  I had seen pictures from the tee previous to playing and was somewhat fearful of what looked in pictures like an impossibly narrow ribbon of fairway surrounded by imposing lost ball dunes.  The reality, in person, is that hole is relatively short and the fairway is about 45 yards wide.  On the other hand if you miss the fairway you are likely lost ball dead.

From the tee the carry looks intimidating, but is not all that great.  Missing side to side in the massive dunes is more of a concern, particularly into the wind which accentuates any hook or slice.  No doubt there are nice views from this tee on less rainy and misty days.




The fairway ascends to the green but has few undulations until you get near the green.  You can run a shot in as long as you avoid the one pot bunker right.  Although it looks level from here there is a bit of dead ground near the green and a bit of a rise to the green.  There are runoffs left back and right.




From closer in you can see the dead ground, some contouring in the approach and the rise to the green.  The green is significantly tilted with some ridges included.




From behind the green looking back, the fairway looks generous enough now that you've passed it.  The contouring and tilt of the green is more evident.  You can see some more cutting back of the marram grass on the side of the dune, presumably to increase the playability.  Oh, and it appears that they mow the greens in the afternoon and in the rain.

All in all this is a good golf hole in a spectacular setting.

[Rich Goodale]

Continued great stuff, Bryan, particularly those before and after photos of the lands of the shifting dunes.  I'm actually amazed that they were able to stabilise the dunes and create such interesting holes in their place.  I suppose that a pure minimalist (if he or she would even take on the job) could have made that area into a series of "Hell's one and a half Acres" horror shows, but nobody would ever finish the course and players like you who drew god's short straw and had to play in the wind and the rain might be wondering if Hell might not have been a better alternative choice for your holiday.  But getting back to the golf....

Having played it in dry (if windy) conditions, I found 11 to be a very good golf hole.  There is mystery off the tee, but it is clear that the closer you hug the right the better chance you have of reaching the green unscathed.  From our White tees, a good drive down the right into the 2 club wind was sufficient to find a spot where it was possible to reach the green in two, but a solid and straight strike was required and I proved that solid and slightly corrked (to the right) was just not good enough.  As it turned out, I ended up on short grass and the bottom of the deep swale on the right, parallel to a pin cut close to the right hand side at the top of the rise.  I wished I had cut the ball more and ended up in the front right hand bunker.  That's what that bunker is--a bailout.  I like "bailout" bunkers and I liked this hole.  Easily 2** for me, even though I took 4 shots from 30 feet away to finish with a 6...

12 reminds me a lot of the 13th at Castle Stuart.  A mid-length uppish hill tee shot with high dunes on the right, making you wonder how hard and how right you should hit it to carry the dunes to the hidden fairway.  I was told by my partners that if you hit a safe tee shot to the left you have a manageable but difficult and longer shot to a smallish and well-guarded green, but as I carved my tee shot high and right, I never had a chance to verify their observations.  One of my partners miraculously found my ball in a not completely unplayble tuft of marram grass and I clunked a choked down 9-iron straight but so low that I was sure I had another crap lie awaiting me in the dunes, but apparently I just cleared the gunged and trundled the ball to 25-feet from the pin.  My 3-stab was poetic justice.

13 is (as Bryan says) a really, really good short hole with what must be a spectacular view from the back and high black tees at 229 in the dunes looking straight out over the North Sea.  From the front it is not chopped liver either, and one of my playing partners hit short left and (as Bryan predicted) ended up about 50 yards short of the green as his ball took a classic John Kirk roll from near inertia to inevitable gravitational placement.  I hit my shot lefter and farther than him, but short of the sleft bunker and was rewarded with inertia and a shot for two with my putter.  One of my partners got his 3 and the marvelous variety of the other outcomes leads me to give this hole 3***.

14 (at least from the 370 or so Whites) is interesting rather than intimidating, but there are choices off the tee (the bold line left is the best), and the false front/dead ground adds uncertainty and spice to the 2nd shot.  A solid 2**.

Only 4 holes to go, Bryan--keep up the good work!

[Bryan Izatt]

Rhic,

Thanks for the continuing commentary.  I love your take on these holes, but, 2** for the 11th?!?  Oh well, different strokes for different folks.

I wonder if you played a different 12th than I did.  I could see the sea from the tee, so kind of thought it was a little downhill and, there didn't seem to me to be a hidden fairway to the right.  Perhaps your partner was having you on about cutting the right side.  Having bailed out left I can confirm that the angle was worse over there but the distance was not so great and the shot was downwind.  Did this hole not attract any Rhicelin *'s?  I thought it was more interesting than the previous hole.

  

[Bryan Izatt]

Hole 15





The 15th continues northerly to the furthest north point of the property.  It is a short par 4, but not drivable, at least for me and I suspect most all golfers.  I must admit that when I was thinking about the course over dinner that night that I couldn't conjure up images of the hole.  I had to look at the yardage guide and pictures to refresh my short term memory.  Not sure what this means.  

It took me a minute on the tee to locate the green in the mist and rain.  The fairway cut and and bunkering took my eye off to the right and the fairway lobe over there persuaded me that the green must be up to the right in the dunes.  After checking the yardage book to figure out how the bunkers came into play and peering through the misty gloom I figured out the green was really off slightly to the left.  

I am mystified about the first set of five pots.  Mucci would call them vestigial features given they were only 160 to 190 yards off the tee.  I can't imagine that very many players out there would not easily get over them off the tee, assuming they were on the proper tee and they didn't foozle the shot. Perhaps they are there just to provide some visual distraction in an otherwise very wide and flat fairway.

Hard to believe that the right side of this fairway was once a part of the northernmost small moving dune.

From the tee, the fairway looks very wide with what looks like a significant bail out area to the right, up into the dunes.  After figuring out the first set of pots are not in play there needs to be a decision about what line to play.  I think that right is probably the better angle to the green, although downwind I imagine the further pot on the right must be accounted for.  Anyone trying to get close to the green downwind will need to consider the single pot further down left on the direct line to the green although it is not visible from (at least the White) tee as you can see in the second zoomed photo.







From past the vestigial bunkers, the second shot is clearly better the further right you are.  The green is more on grade than most and will accept a running shot although most everyone will be playing a wedge of some sort in here.  For those attempting to drive the green, there is definitely room to run a drawing drive in but the fairway pot and the green side pot on the left could definitely come into play and look quite penal.




From behind the green, the hole and green look benign.  Perhaps others with a different experience can describe the challenge or interest of the hole.  To me it looks like a birdie hole (although I didn't) or certainly an easy par.

[Ally Mcintosh]

I like the 15th. Lots of width, more low profile, narrow green - smallest on the course.

[Jason Topp]

What are the X's on the yardage guide?

[jeffwarne]

When I look at the aeriel as well as the pictures, I see stunning pictures of dunescape and sandy patches.

Now I know it's a windy area (I'm pretty familiar with windy areas) but I'm stunned at how jarring those(many) round pot bunkers jump off the page.
Was there no other way via landforms, undulation (both natural and created) or more natural looking bunkers to creat playing strategy?

[Bryan Izatt]

Jason,

The X's are where I hit the ball.  You weren't supposed to notice those.    Needless to say I didn't seem to play as well as Rhic, although it sounds like I putted better.

__________________________


Jeff,

Just wait until you see the 18th.

Sure there must have been other ways via landforms, undulation (both natural and created) or more natural looking bunkers to create playing strategy.  The course was clearly manufactured, so they could have manufactured using the approaches you suggest.  I'd guess that Trump and Hawtree wanted revetted pot bunkers to imbue the course with what might be popularly seen as an archetypal Scottish links feature.  Certainly most American visitors will be stunned by the pot bunkers - they're so different from home.

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