How do you like your opener?

[Greg Smith]

You don't see it embraced often, but I have to vote for a par-3 first.  It's an easy solution for spacing.   And if a wait is happening, better that wait be at the starter's shack and not out on the course.  There should be no forced carry hazards on the hole in case of tops.  If it's a long par-3, the green should be wide open to the ground game, like for a nice 5-wood or hybrid to roll on.

[Jim Sherma]

Sounds like you're describing the first at Greenspring Valley Hunt Club in Baltimore. 172-190 yards - open for a run-up shot. Nice start to the day even if it is a tough opening for scoring relative to par. Of course I don't think pace of play is ever an issue at Greenspring Valley.


p.s. I just looked at the website to get the yardage. Looks like fellow GCA'er Tyler Rae has been hired to do work on this gem of a course.

You don't see it embraced often, but I have to vote for a par-3 first.  It's an easy solution for spacing.   And if a wait is happening, better that wait be at the starter's shack and not out on the course.  There should be no forced carry hazards on the hole in case of tops.  If it's a long par-3, the green should be wide open to the ground game, like for a nice 5-wood or hybrid to roll on.

[Jeff Kallberg]

Everyone hates making double bogey on the opening hole. Getting beaten over the head on number one doesn’t set a positive tone for the round so offering the player a solid chance for bogey with a less aggressive line of play is appealing for most players.

We've solved this problem at Rolling Green, where (mostly because of the challenges of the green complex) triple bogeys (or worse) are not at all unusual on the opening hole.  A double bogey isn't so bad!


Perhaps this identifies a latent masochist streak in me, but I think nonetheless that it's a terrific introduction to the aspects of the course that appeal to me.


Jeff Kallberg

[MKrohn]

If I had my choice in an ideal world it would be something like Shinnecock, easy to see drives.


Back to reality, most member courses and publics in Australia will have players teeing off 1 and 10, my old course had three starting tees, you were either a morning or afternoon player. Worked well in terms of post game camaraderie and staffing, not sure anyone really cared that much about what tee they went off.

[Tim Gavrich]

I get the inclination to want a gentle start, but SO many opening holes just feel like extensions of the driving range, and I don't think that's a good purpose.


A good first hole doesn't need to be long or brutal, but it does need to get (preferably grab) the golfer's attention. You're not likely to be engaged with a piece of writing that doesn't have a strong lede - why would it be any different with a golf course?


Hartford Golf Club and Greenbrier Old White always come to my mind when people bring up strong opening holes. They're each big par 4s where you have to hit two quality long shots but at the same time, there's no real chance of losing a ball off the bat.


A lot of Dye opening holes I've seen manage to be relatively easy while also, crucially, introducing the golfer to the themes/feel of the course. 1 at PGA Village is a birdie hole, but it quickly introduces the design elements you're going to see over the rest of the course: width, subtle and overt angles, tiny pot bunkers juxtaposed with flat sandy waste areas, a green with both falloffs and on-ramps. It's an elegant lede.

[Carl Nichols]

My favorite opening hole of my own is the first at Old Macdonald.  It’s a wide open tee shot but can be a difficult approach depending on the hole location.

This is very high on my list of favorites.  The tee shot is wide open and no one should lose a ball, but depending on the tee, wind, and hole location there's the strategic question of whether to challenge (or at least play toward) the fairway bunker, which leaves a much better look at the green and potentially a better angle.   

[V. Kmetz]

I'd like the ability to hit a driver... (no fairway ends or too much crossing stuff before 300)
I'd like it to face West or South... (with the morning sun)
I'd like to see all the shots finish... (no blinds, unless a clear strategic failure setting up approach)
I'd like a gentle terrain... (no big ups or down in elevation)
I'd like no OB stakes...
I'd like one interesting feature...( a wild green, a nasty bunker, a firm and fast false front, etc)

[Anthony Gray]

 TOC is my favorite. North Berwick is a gem.

[Brad Tufts]

Tedesco starts with a 432-yard par four, which is tougher than I'd probably prefer.


It's wide open from an elevated tee, but it always seems to play longer somehow (into the summer wind).


There is a broad dip short of the green, and the green is open for run-up shots.  The green itself is ever so slightly crowned and has bunkers left, back left, and right.  It has a false front, and many small contours that make putting vexing. 


It's a tough start, as even for good players, those not quite warmed up might have 200+ into the hole for the second shot.


A par on #1 is a half-shot ahead of the field, and a bogey doesn't mean a ton.  It's a good barometer of how you are hitting the ball that day!



I think something in the 360-400y range is a nice start...no huge distance pressure but two solid shots required.


The short four is something I feel like many clubs have around Boston...Brae Burn, Woodland, Vesper, Oakley, Wellesley, Myopia.

[Zac Blair]

Tom opened with a par 3 at The Tree Farm. It didn’t take much to convince me … in fact i kinda feel like I had to convince Tom that it was ok 😂


It’s about 175 yards from the back and plays over a beautiful valley (it should definitely be pretty dramatic looking). The plan is for the green to be fairly big with plenty of room on the back to send balls long.


Jeff touched on it earlier in this thread - the built in spacing was really attractive from an operational side. No better place to wait than the putting green/bar.

[Gib_Papazian]

I see no reason *not* to start with a par-3, just as I do not object to finishing with one either (Pasatiempo).


A reasonable par-5 probably works best to sort out the 1st tee kinks - but my prejudice towards that opener might be rooted in what I grew up playing.


O-Club Lake, Ocean, SFGC, Cal Club, Harding, Half Moon Bay Old, Poplar Creek & Meadow Club all start out with a gentle par-5 handshake. After that, there are plenty of Donald Ross "real nuts to crack" waiting patiently down the line.


The fact #1 on the Lake got played as a par-4 last Open is irrelevant - artificial USGA perversions don't count.



The one thing I *do not* like is for the horsewhip to come out right off the bat - like at Oakmont. Loooong par-4, followed by 3-iron to a green (sloping away) is a bit much for the first bite of a shit sandwich.


Actually Henry Fownes must have been a self-flagellating Calvinist, because going off on #10 buys you nearly the same kick in the groin.


If I'm going to subject myself to the gauntlet, blow-torch to the face as an opening gambit was too much for the 2 handicap version of me . . . . At this point, fergetaboutit!


If I lived in Pittsburgh, my 50th birthday present to myself would have been resigning from Oakmont and joining Fox Chapel.


I long ago reached a point when having fun trumps "being challenged" - because the older I get, the longer and harder the courses become . . . . . standing on the 2nd tee, feeling discouraged and defeated with a double-bogey on the card, takes the gas out of my already flaccid balloon.


I've gotta say though, #1 at PV never struck me as a terribly difficult opener. The landing area is wide enough to land a 747 and the fairway segues seamlessly into an enormous putting surface.


Once you get a look at the pits of perdition on either side it might pucker your rectum a bit on a return visit, but compared to #1 at Oakmont or WF West - well, there is no comparison.


Give me a little daylight off the first tee . . . . . please.       


 


 






 

[Michael Wharton-Palmer]

Worst is a “drivable” par four.  Never a good starting hole for many reasons.

Don’t go to Melbourne then, mate.  Victoria and Royal Melbourne East both have them, and we will be restoring the great opening hole at Commonwealth, when COVID allows.  The only problem with that hole was/is the number of stupid golfers who think they are going to drive the green!

I was going to say..I like my opener like the first at Victoria.
My favourite opening hole anywhere

[Michael Wharton-Palmer]

As  real ball buster Royal Birkdale is just a gentle welcome to the golf course

[Andrew Harvie]

I like foreplay, so I suppose something that gets me excited for whats to come without revealing too much.

[archie_struthers]

 


Might be splitting hairs but…..I’ll take the over under on ten groups playing the first at PV / Oakmont / Winged Foot West


Two bets.  Highest individual score and total aggregate for the group combined.


Got no worries 😉 PVGC #1  looks easier but will win every time 

[Gib_Papazian]

Archie,


I'll take 1/2 that .


Provided the players all have handicaps between zero-10 . . . .


Highest indie score is a sucker bet . . . . there is no way to make a double-digit, BIP at WF or Oakmont. No water or places where recovery is impossible.


Miss #1 at PV either side of the green and you're doneski.


Aggregate, I'll lay down whatever - again, as long as we don't have Angelo Spagnola's group shanking their approaches.


Unless you completely defecate the bed, playing to a safe bogey on #1 at PV is not hard for a reasonably skilled player.


The other two are fraught with multiple perils.


$100?






 


 

[JMEvensky]

Might be splitting hairs but…..I’ll take the over under on ten groups playing the first at PV / Oakmont / Winged Foot West


Two bets.  Highest individual score and total aggregate for the group combined.


Got no worries 😉 PVGC #1  looks easier but will win every time

What's up Archie?


I've never played Oakmont but I'll take the bet--if my group is me, Sully, and a couple of guys I'll bring from home .

[archie_struthers]

 


Gib ,


But of course it's a sucker bet , how else can I swindle you 


Unfortunately we will never get to pay it off and then throw the cash on the bar !  But we weren't talking super low handicappers but golfers in general in this thread.




 I actually played Winged Foot a lot when I was younger  , Oakmont only three times so I'm not an expert on either but  .....as to PVGC when I worked there Charlie (golf professional) always charted the toughest holes for the field in Crump Cup Qualifying. Surprisingly in a field of really expert players #1 was often the highest stroke average over par.  Never worse than third toughest. 
I'd venture that even with a field other than touring pros PV's opener would prevail. Shame we couldn't see that one.

[Kevin_Reilly]

Gib, you must be thinking of the 10th at Harding.  The first at Harding is like the first at Orinda...an easy par 4 opening shot.


To the easy par 5 opening shot list, you can add Claremont.

[mike_malone]

Everyone hates making double bogey on the opening hole. Getting beaten over the head on number one doesn’t set a positive tone for the round so offering the player a solid chance for bogey with a less aggressive line of play is appealing for most players.

We've solved this problem at Rolling Green, where (mostly because of the challenges of the green complex) triple bogeys (or worse) are not at all unusual on the opening hole.  A double bogey isn't so bad!


Perhaps this identifies a latent masochist streak in me, but I think nonetheless that it's a terrific introduction to the aspects of the course that appeal to me.


Jeff Kallberg

Now with the moved fairway bunker and the fairway expansion left up to the green some are suggesting that people won’t even finish the hole!!!

[Gib_Papazian]

Kevin,


I stand corrected . . . . . still reeling from Frank Mazion hitting it onto #10 in the pouring rain (SF City) and losing the hole 3-5.


Your Claremont suggestion is better . . . . don't sleep on #1 at Orinda, balls have a strange way of disappearing over the ridge.

[Garland Bayley]

Like the 1st at the Links of ND. Gentle handshake with a little dose of strategy thrown in.

[Jon Claydon]

In the Chicago region, I've always liked the first hole at Skokie CC.  Lovely vista on a long-ish downhill par 4, with a wide open landing area.  But there is an advantage to testing the bunker that juts in from the left side of the fairway as that side of the fairway has a shorter approach from a better angle.  Allows for two full swings with some strategy in play, but plenty of room to miss right. 

[Brad Tufts]

Tedesco starts with a 432-yard par four, which is tougher than I'd probably prefer.

It's wide open from an elevated tee, but it always seems to play longer somehow (into the summer wind).

There is a broad dip short of the green, and the green is open for run-up shots.  The green itself is ever so slightly crowned and has bunkers left, back left, and right.  It has a false front, and many small contours that make putting vexing. 

It's a tough start, as even for good players, those not quite warmed up might have 200+ into the hole for the second shot.

A par on #1 is a half-shot ahead of the field, and a bogey doesn't mean a ton.  It's a good barometer of how you are hitting the ball that day!

I think something in the 360-400y range is a nice start...no huge distance pressure but two solid shots required.

The short four is something I feel like many clubs have around Boston...Brae Burn, Woodland, Vesper, Oakley, Wellesley, Myopia.

I'm going to reply to my own post, as I have re-thought this.  I'm advocating above for a throwaway hole of 375.  Those holes tend not to be too memorable.  We are here because we are looking for memorable, and reachable par fives, short par fours, and par threes usually have that.  The long fours are not the best opener to me, but they certainly can be memorable.  Mea Culpa!

[Kevin_Reilly]

Kevin,


I stand corrected . . . . . still reeling from Frank Mazion hitting it onto #10 in the pouring rain (SF City) and losing the hole 3-5.


Your Claremont suggestion is better . . . . don't sleep on #1 at Orinda, balls have a strange way of disappearing over the ridge.

Would have liked to have details on that hole w/ Mazion.  Loved watching him play.  United Airlines worker, built like a linebacker or lineman, hit every tee shot with a fairway wood.  Great amateur player (older, with a job or career) back when SF was filled with them.