[Patrick_Mucci]

Where'd they go.

I always enjoyed playing into greens with kick plates.

Obviously the Redan stands out, as do the 5th at Newport and the 1st at Streamsong Blue.

But, other than those kick plates, off the top of my head I can't recall even a modest number of greens with that feature.

Has the kick plate in the green become too quirky for modern day architecture ?

Has it lost it's appeal as the aerial game replaced the ground game ?

[Matt Kardash]

16th at Cabot Links has a pretty good one short right of the green. I heard a caddie tell the person I was playing with to land it short right and have it feed onto the green. The man pulled it off perfectly. It was a beautiful thing to see.

[Jason Way]

You'll see them at Chambers Bay. Obviously, Richard Choi can tell you where every kick plate on the course is.

[Jon Cavalier]

As Jason noted, Chambers Bay has several - both within and near greens. Pacific Dunes and Old Mac also have more than a handful each. Same for Bayonne. I think I remember at least a couple at Kinloch. Ferry Point had one or two, as best I can recall, but seemed like it could have used even more.

[Colin Shellard]

Sorry Patrick - for a relative Newbie, could you clarify what you mean by "Kick Plate" as it's not a term I've come across before?
Is it simply a steepish slope on or around greens that throws the ball in another direction (or hold the ball up if hit directly into it)?

Sorry for my ignorance.

[Jeff_Brauer]

Colin, it normally means a FW height slope that kicks balls on to the green, whether behind or on the sides or front corners.  Like the Redan, they can provide an interesting shot other than "155 to pin, airmail the 8 iron."

Pat,

You seem to forget that CC have a few of these on every course they design and according to many they do them as well as anyone ever has.

I can name numerous architects (myself included) who also include them on at least a semi regular basis in their designs.

I will agree that not too many golfers understand the idea, preferring the aerial approach. I guess they figure less stuff can go wrong aerially, except perhaps on a windy day.  Or, with typically less practice time, they just aren't confident in how they would play it. 

Or, maybe, the TV generation has simply lost its creativity and problem solving skills.  Maybe the next generation will use their smart phones to help calc the proper angles?

[Bill_McBride]

Jeff, why would the pros subject themselves to the vagaries of a ground game shot when even very good amateurs are dialed into the distance and direction so precisely?

I think you can make courses playable for all by putting contour in the greens to make those dialed-in shots more difficult, while designing ground game options such as kick plates for the lesser player.   I play shots on links courses no self respecting scratch player would consider.

[Jim Franklin]

Rock Creek Cattle has a few. They certainly add to the fun of your round.

[Carl Nichols]

Here in DC, Four Streams has several, while RTJ has none (I believe).

[Colin Shellard]

Thanks for the Clarification Jeff.

Not modern courses, but plenty of slope to run / bank the ball off here in Aberdeenshire. At RAGC 3rd (less so with the new green tho), 6th, & 13th, as with most links courses a running approach is often much more suitable than the aerial approach. Cruden Bay has quite a lot of them too, I can remember at least three at Nairn.

From the top of my head I can't recall if there are any at Trump International...

[MCirba]

Allow me to present the 16th green (par four) at Arrowhead Golf Course near Reading, PA.  Photos courtesy of the Bausch Collection.

Take away the gawdawful cart path and you have one very cool bunkerless hole that uses the existing landforms terrifically, including an "In-green kickplate" on steroids.

[Alex Miller]

Where'd they go? Arcadia, CA 

[Ed Brzezowski]

The one at Mid Ocean , either 4 or 5 senior moment, is a great feature. Gives the player a nice bailout away from the water and a reasonably played shot had a good chance at par. Plus it really is a fun feature, watching the ball roll on the green is different.

[Nate Oxman]

No. 5 at Merion? Is this just a slope right of the green or is it considered a kick plate? Not sure.

[David Stamm]

The kick plate to the right of the 2nd green at Pasatiempo is a blast to play off of.

[Ed Brzezowski]

No. 5 at Merion? Is this just a slope right of the green or is it considered a kick plate? Not sur
Whatever it is it was freakin nasty last Thursday Nate. Always nice seeing a well struck shot go way down that green to the creek.
Great hole, great event.

ed

[SteveOgulukian]

3 that come to mind....

5th and Mid Ocean
8th at Yale
6th at The Creek (my favorite of the bunch)

[Tom_Doak]

3 that come to mind....

5th and Mid Ocean
8th at Yale
6th at The Creek (my favorite of the bunch)

All of these are fine examples.

I must have built 100 of them by now, on 35 courses. 

Our latest course at Tara Iti has them on the 1st, 3rd, 5th, 6th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, and 13th holes.  So maybe my estimate was low!

[Patrick_Mucci]

Steve,

I rmembered the 8th at Yale this morning.

I don't recall a kick plate in the green on # 6 at The Creek

Jeff Brauer, et. al,

I was referencing kick plates IN the green, not outside the boundaries of the putting surface.

Tom Doak,

What's your intent behind introducing them ?

[Ryan Hillenbrand]

Here's one I played yesterday at Norwood Hills in St. Louis. I believe this would qualify. The photo doesn't do it justice but the right hand peak is the height of the flagstick.

[Tom_Doak]

Tom Doak,

What's your intent behind introducing them ?

Patrick:

Some of the kick plates I referred to are inside the greens, some on the approach.  Most are more subtle than the ones pictured, but a few, like the 7th green at Ballyneal or the 9th at Tara Iti, are not subtle at all.

My interest in them is that they make it easier for the golfer who has left himself a certain angle of approach, and harder for the golfer who comes in from a different angle.  Ditto for their effect on recovery shots around the green.

They're also cool to look at.

[Patrick_Mucci]

Tom,

Does the location and degree of the slope in the kick plate relate back to the features you create in the DZ ?

Risk/Reward on the tee shot ?

I liked the fact that flirting with the left fairway bunker on # 1 at Blue has you playing into the kick plate.

[Tom_Doak]

Tom,

Does the location and degree of the slope in the kick plate relate back to the features you create in the DZ ?

Often, yes, but not always.  The kick plate on the 7th green at Ballyneal is there to help the player who can't carry the fairway bunker, recognizes his limitation, and plays well out to the right.  The guys who can carry the bunker are trying to drive to within chipping distance, so they don't need the additional reward of the kick plate.  In fact, if they drive it too far left, the kick plate will hurt them.

[Ben Sims]

What is a DZ?

[Bill Brightly]

Hackensack's 18th, our Road Hole, has a really cool one:


What makes it really interesting is that if you've hit an average drive or worse and don't think you can cary the Road Hole bunker on the left, you have the option of running it up the right side and letting the kick mound feed it to the middle of the green:

[Tags:]

Tags:

[Tags:]

Tags:

Call to undefined function theme_linktree()