Course Match-Up BPB vs BPR

[Michael Felton]

Hi all,

I mentioned this to my friend Mark and, since this is in everyone's minds right now, I thought it might be fun to have a match up between BP Black and BP Red. I think a lot of the holes compare quite well with each other (not all), but rather than doing each hole vs the same hole on the other course, I think it would be better to match holes up with each other. I suggest:

B1 vs. R3 (dogleg right par 4s)
B2 vs. R2 (dogleg left par 4s)
B3 vs. R4 (Redanish par 3s)
B4 vs. R5 (long winding uphill par 5s)
B5 vs. R1 (extremely difficult par 4s with uphill approaches)
B6 vs. R6 (short dogleg left par 4s)
B7 vs. R18 (dogleg right)
B8 vs. R17 (matching off the remaining par 3s)
B9 vs. R9 (long dogleg left par 4s)
B10 vs. R10 (long par 4s)
B11 vs. R11 (long par 4s)
B12 vs. R14 (long dogleg left par 4s with bunkers on the inside corner)
B13 vs. R16 (par 5s on the back)
B14 vs. R7 (par 3s with a similar feel played across a valley to a green with bunkers left and right)
B15 vs. R15 (farcically difficult dogleg par 4s with uphill approaches)
B16 vs. R8 (there were a couple of left overs that I couldn't figure out how to match)
B17 vs. R12 (remaining par 3s on the back)
B18 vs. R13 (this is the other left over one and is obviously unfair to Red, but I don't see any hole that Red 13 matches well with - it's pretty much unique on the property)

Feel free to change the order around if you like. Also feel free to judge based on current maintenance or on your ideal maintenance, or both.  Curious to see where this goes. I need to have a think about where I go myself with it. If anyone has better ideas on how to match up R13, I'll shift what I do too.

[Robert Mercer Deruntz]

I find it difficult to do hole to hole matchups, except for the 3rd and 4th holes because they are very similar.  Years past, I argued quite a bit with the thoroughly discredited author, who appointed himself the Tillie expert.  My contention, which I still stand by, is that the Red is a better course architecturally because it's greens and bunkering flow with the land better than the Black.  The Rees bunkering closed up several green entrances, and in the case of the left fairway bunkers on 13, fought the slope of the land. Pre-2005or6, the left miss ended up down the hillside, and the bunkers took away tee ball strategy on the hole.