4. White #10. So many options, so little time. I'm starting to like the back pin and have only hit in the bunker in the middle of the green once. The time I played when there wasn't a hole cut in the green. It's Dismal White at it's finest.
Totally fits Dismal White. The fact it is on a Nicklaus course just makes it better, because it breaks any remaining preconceptions people may have left after seeing the front nine.
5. Red #16. The view of the ball cascading down the Buffalo Run is an iconic moment in every Dismalites day. Love the odd ball bunker long left. Can't wait to find it someday. Also one of very few examples of a Doak backstop, they never disappoint.
You mean that damn bunker I seem to find every other time I play the hole? Nothing like playing from a plugged lie with 40 feet of room until you hit jungle!!
7. White #15. I play it like some idiot who thinks it's a redan.
Well there's your problem. Take it from me, you aim it straight at the hole, and it goes in, or at least that's how it worked for me once. Easiest hole on the course.
My ranking would be:
White 5 - especially from the back tees, now that's a scary shot when the wind is blowing!
Red 16 - I'd rank it high for the backdrop alone, but it is also the perfect hole for that particular point in the round
White 10 - I don't care if Doak doesn't like it, I think I love it more the more I hear people hating on it. Still think we need to go back to having three flags on the hole for the 5th Major - c'mon Eric, don't give in the purists who think having three holes is somehow against the rules of golf. It's your tournament, you make the rules! Hell, go all the way and make the rule that your opponent chooses the hole you play to after you've hit your tee shot and make it really interesting...
Red 11 - if only I could not hit it in the hollow when the pin is back, and hit it over the back of the green when the pin is in the hollow...
White 15 - while I did ace it, so you'd think I'd rank it higher, I guess I don't think it is Redan enough. Maybe cut the rough further up the hill to 1) make it more tempting to play it that way and 2) laugh as people who hit it too high up on the hill go all the way across the green and down the hill on the left
Red 3 - if the tee was further right I'd rank it higher
Red 5 - normally I love long par 3s, but this one is just a little plain...not sure what it needs, but it needs something.
White 3 - meh
As for the honorable mention 8th on the White, am I the only one who sees that as kind of a Redan? I always play short right of the green off that little mound - you can't really play a draw off the hillside unless you want to end up in the bunker but you damn well can play one off the mound (though its blind, so you have to play it enough to trust it is there) Less chance of hitting somewhere terrible if you're playing short - the bunkers short left are manageable and the green slopes leave you with lots of options to get close to just about any pin. The bunkers pin high or long left, on the other hand, are significantly more difficult.