Landmand merits discussion - All 18 holes under discussion

[Morgan Clawson]

8 is quite a contrast to the rest of the holes. There's not a lot of room for an off target shot here.  Most players are making a 1/2 or 3/4 swing from the tee box, which is unusual.  On top of that, the downhill slope of both the hole and green, and the wind speed have to be plugged into the equation. 

[Tim Gavrich]

Two months post-play, I'm still trying to figure out how much I like the 8th. The contrast between its green (tiny, mostly subtly sloped) and every other green on the course (huge, extremely undulating) is obvious, and that alone makes it an interesting jolt. But the back two-thirds of the green is so narrow, falling away from the tee box, that I don't know whether there's any real sense in aiming anywhere but the front third of the green under practically any circumstances. The bang-a-putt option could be cool in the wind once the fairways mature.


It's not a bad hole by any stretch, it just is probably somewhere between 15th and 18th in my power ranking of the holes on the course if I were to sit down and rank them all.

[Kalen Braley]

Having correctly guessed the inspiration for the 7th green...

I'm guessing #8 was an ode to Spyglass #4 or Riv #10? 

[David Kelly]

How many great 100yd par 3s are there?  This one has to be near the top.  Awesome golf hole.  I can't imagine what this is like on a windy day.  I will likely find out next year.

I'm not sure that it is great, yet.  Time will tell.  But I'm not a huge fan of 2 or 20 holes to begin with.  I've always thought that #15 at Los Angeles Country Club, for example, was too extreme and there you don't ever have to deal with significant wind.

[Alex Miller]

How many great 100yd par 3s are there?  This one has to be near the top.  Awesome golf hole.  I can't imagine what this is like on a windy day.  I will likely find out next year.

I'm not sure that it is great, yet.  Time will tell.  But I'm not a huge fan of 2 or 20 holes to begin with.  I've always thought that #15 at Los Angeles Country Club, for example, was too extreme and there you don't ever have to deal with significant wind.

What made #15 at LACC too extreme? Is it the bunker-only punishment?


Last time I played all 4 people in our group hit the green... so I don't think the target is too small. I haven't played the short one at Barnbougle but to me that is the most terrifying of all the shorties.

[John Kirk]

I guess what I like is that it looks flat and simple for a 100 yard hole, but by all accounts it is a scary shot.

[Doug Bolls]

First time I played it I went for the pin and ended up in one of the back bunkers - when I got back there I was surprised that the bunkers were there.  Had no idea - can't be seen except from the back.


Next day, with pin in same place, I used one club shorter and went for the front left of the green - ended up about 10 feet putting for birdie.


The front left bunkering really drew my attention away from any problems in the back.  It's not a particularly difficult hole with the pin placement we had - back right.


A fun hole in the middle of a bunch of uphill difficult ones.

[astavrides]

First time I played it I went for the pin and ended up in one of the back bunkers - when I got back there I was surprised that the bunkers were there.  Had no idea - can't be seen except from the back.


Next day, with pin in same place, I used one club shorter and went for the front left of the green - ended up about 10 feet putting for birdie.


The front left bunkering really drew my attention away from any problems in the back.  It's not a particularly difficult hole with the pin placement we had - back right.


A fun hole in the middle of a bunch of uphill difficult ones.

That was a great shot. It helped you a little to be lefty in that case since you cut it a little so it came in a little softer and fit the shape of the hole. Only ball out of 8 I saw hit the green the 2 rounds I played.

[David Kelly]

How many great 100yd par 3s are there?  This one has to be near the top.  Awesome golf hole.  I can't imagine what this is like on a windy day.  I will likely find out next year.

I'm not sure that it is great, yet.  Time will tell.  But I'm not a huge fan of 2 or 20 holes to begin with.  I've always thought that #15 at Los Angeles Country Club, for example, was too extreme and there you don't ever have to deal with significant wind.

Last time I played all 4 people in our group hit the green... so I don't think the target is too small. I haven't played the short one at Barnbougle but to me that is the most terrifying of all the shorties.

The 7th at Barnbougle is pretty terrifying and pretty great.  I think I've played it 5 or 6 times during the course of 2 trips and I'd be surprised if more than 2 or 3 balls stayed on the green out of the 20-24 attempts I either played or witnessed.  However, the wind was blowing very strongly towards the sea every time we played it.  As tough as it is though, on the Barnbougle hole you can chip or putt back onto the green from a lot of places. The only place where you really are in big trouble is if you miss left and the wind is blowing from left to right towards the Bass Strait.

[Gary Kurth]

To provide a more complete perspective of the 8th hole, I found an aerial photo of the course on the Dakota County NE GIS website.  I imported the aerial background of Hole #8 into CAD and scaled it to match dimensions measured off of the GIS website.  Bunker and green outlines with some shading were added to contrast the features of the green complex. 


The measured shaded green area is ~5,260 sq. ft.  Small compared to the rest of the holes on the course but not small compared to golf holes on other courses.  Prevailing wind is from the S-SW and the green slopes front to back.


The distances (in yards) from the back tee to the front, middle and back are shown along with the depth of the green (in feet) in line with each of the 3 flight paths.  I hope the image attaches....if not, Ugh.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/196650661@N05/52413514439/in/dateposted-public/


Failed at attaching the image, added the hyperlink.  If someone wants to post the image, that knows what their doing (I obviously don't) feel free, thanks.

[Kalen Braley]

Gary, here you go!

[astavrides]

Cool diagram!
I wonder if they could or would want to take the 2 little bunkers out on the back left and expand the green there to make a back pin more realistic to go at. 16 yards deep there in line with the tee seems awfully little, especially with wind and trouble surrounding it. It's tough to play away from the hole when it is only 111 yds to the flag.

[Kalen Braley]

Even at 5260 Sq feet, its still bigger than every green at Pebble including 17, which is just over 5100 sq feet.

[Jason Thurman]

Does 8 green slope front-to-back or does it just kind of feel like it does? I do think it's a green that plays effectively smaller than its already-small size.


We've reached the cornfield with another short green-to-tee walk... the first in a while that hasn't been a real hike! The more you hug the bunker off the tee at 9, the better your angle of approach will likely be. Get wild and go left of it if you really want to access a pin in the back right bowl. Miss your approach right, and you might not be able to hold the green with your pitch. Creative recovery shots and putts abound around another very challenging green. This one's a standout for me - a really attractive setting where the land calms down a bit, but anchored by a fundamentally excellent golf hole with plenty of audacity around the putting surface.

[Ken Fry]

One last comment about #8.


The hole plays a tad downhill to a green that has a slight pitch away from the tee.  For middle of the road players like us, it exposes how inaccurate we can be with a high lofted wedge in hitting an exact yardage!  On such an exposed piece of the property, significant wind will make this hole a knee knocker.


Hole #9.  There's a football field out there to hit on your drive.  What struck me was the vastness of the hole on what appears, compared to the rest of the course, a gentle part of the property.  The view of the green definitely leads your eye toward the bunker complex and tempts you to go at that angle.  The boomerang green can make for some interesting recovery shots if you get on the high right side off the green.  It's a beautiful piece of the course that gives the player many options to try and approach different pin positions.


Ken

[Doug Bolls]

Being a short hitter, I aimed my tee down the right side to stay away from the bunker.  However, aiming down the left, and going in over the bunker may be a good option - especially with the pin in the back.  I think going into the bunker is problematic in that your lie is very questionable - this is one of those bunkers built to keep you out.

[Morgan Clawson]

The 9th Hole by Doug Bolls

[Doug Bolls]

Thank You Morgan - I guess it's time for me to learn how to post photos.

[John Mayhugh]

HOLE 8
I agree that targeting in the front seems like the sensible approach, there is a small bunker short and right to complicate even that. For a short hole, could definitely be a scorecard disaster. Another reason for match play - getting to be aggressive on this tee shot.

HOLE 9
Seemingly so much room off the tee, but a bit of a maddening tee shot once you're familiar with the hole. For holes located middle and back, the best approaches would seem to be from in line with the bunker or even from the next fairway. The knob that juts into the middle of the bunker makes the middle and back effectively much smaller targets.

[Jason Thurman]

I mean, when you put it in photos like the above, the 9th is downright Mackenzian. The course has fabulous shaping, and an unbelievable amount of character jammed into each hole so far. The green at the 9th must be one of the most strategically interesting ones built in the last 10 years.


The 10th has as much character as any hole. It has stunning scale. Truly memorable, its two targets are a bit too undiscerning for my tastes. It falls a little flat for me, although I did enjoy hitting an approach 40 yards long on purpose in a skins game and ending up 20 feet away. I did not enjoy missing the putt.

[Ken Fry]

The next two holes show how multiple plays provides a huge advantage over the first time player.


On hole #10, it's easy to see the fairway to the left and the hilltop bunker on the right giving the perception of challenging the a player's aggressive driving line.  There's much more room right for the preferred angle into the green than the tee view leads on.  The drive reminds me of the challenge of the Road Hole.


The punchbowl green is HUGE!  Rebound shots and putting challenge options abound!


A fun start to the great back nine!


Ken

[John Kirk]

From 1,500 miles away, the 9th hole looks like the rare hole where you drive left to attack left-side hole locations and right for right-side hole locations.  Now I'm not so sure.  Maybe you try to drive to right side of the fairway for certain pin positions but not all.

[Kalen Braley]

John,

I couldn't get a feel for 9 based on those two pics, so I cheated a bit and went to Bing Maps which shows the course mostly complete.

The one thing I hadn't realized is that 9/10 have a shared fairway, along with 1/18.  17 green thou looks ginormous, but I will wait!

[Gary Kurth]

One interesting item in the Bing Maps aerial image is that it shows some of the ongoing sodding of the course. 


I'm still a total failure at posting images.  A fuzzy aerial form the Dakota Co. GIS site of holes 8-12 is at the following link.  The Bing Maps aerial is incomplete for these holes.  Maybe someone can post the image.


https://www.flickr.com/photos/196650661@N05/52427609547/in/dateposted-public/

[Doug Bolls]

Everyone I played with went RIGHT over the mound off the tee - no question that is the preferred line of play if you can carry the mound.  That gives you a fairly short (120? yds) into the green.


Being the short hitter, I went left of the mound and stayed in the fairway - 2nd shot short of the green - wedge into the pin.


Most players I saw went for the back of the green just to see the ball roll down the hill towards the pin.  What fun!