Fantastic New Flyover at Royal Cinque Ports with commentary by James Bledge

[Michael Whitaker]

The brilliant course manager at Royal Cinque Ports GC, James Bledge, has just created a new flyover of all 18 holes, with commentary on changes to the course and maintenance regime (if you can understand him through his thick Scottish accent  ).


The course looks absolutely fantastic!!! I so wish I was there. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLscFLFLrW8

[Dónal Ó Ceallaigh]

Thanks for the link Michael. Great vlog. The others are really interesting too, especially the presentation from April:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6UfitKCBaU


i hope James continues to do more vlogs.


Who would have thought that Organic Matter Content percentages and Wetting Agents could be so interesting? 

[Mark Chaplin]

These videos are great for engaging members in work that goes on on their course, I’m surprised more Course Managers do not do them. If I recall correctly the upgraded camera for the drone was purchased by the Course Manager selling old tee marker plates to the members.


The only downside to the videos is distant members like Michael know what they are missing!

[Michael Whitaker]

The only downside to the videos is distant members like Michael know what they are missing!

Ain’t that the truth!!!


I have never seen the course look so good! James is a genius. We are so fortunate to have him overseeing our course. 👍👍

[Noel Freeman]

With no fans and Open Infrastructure, I'd love to see the course host a proper Open Championship tomorrow.. It sure would play the way the game intended with the coloring of the course.. This makes 2 years I've not been to Deal breaking up my string of seeing it for 18 years straight..  It is heartbreaking to see how great Bledge has it looking.


I'd love to see the angles with the left fairway on #16 into that green.  The ability to not have to hit a pitch from the valley of inglorious security to flags you cannot see the bottom of (and have depth perception issues) is a delicious option.  In a winter northerly now it also gives a nice option for those who can't hit a power fade to play long down that side.  Despite all my past (many years ago posts) musings on Deal, playing it in a Northerly is definitely a fun time coming home leaving you with shots and options you never really see (especially since the SW blows more often).


Anyway, I think the time the course had off for the lockdown obviously did amazing things for Mr. Bledge and crew.  Well done.

[jeffwarne]

Really fantastic video.
Love the look and the fact that despite irrgation the fairways are tawny and appear quite firm.

very informative-love the little details like the corner of the tee where he wanted to widen for traffic flow/wear and tear.
Really great-thanks for posting Michael.


Curmudgeon alert.(I had to break at 7:58 of the video)
Found the "irrigation" due to "burnout" of semi rough a little? worrisome(by changing heads from 180's to 360's), in addition to the word defintion in referring to it.
Members can opine on the effect on the rough.(Mr. Bledge did comment that the sand allowed the irrigation to not create an over grassed situation)
Then the words...
"Championship", "difficult" and "fair" all in one sentence, referring to cutting down an area of rough(presumably irrigated)


Final scary thought was the reference to "we'd like to see PREFERRED LIES remain in force in the bunkers" (presumably after the pandemic)
What scares me is this is coming from someone(James Bledge) who is clearly an expert and well respected in his field.
That sounds more like something I'd hear in the US from the fair police.
(I'm a little scarred from a weekend debate with a persistent and insistent self proclaimed expert who informed me our fairway bunkers were unfair because a professional couldn't hit the green from every one of them-my reply-"How else do you induce strategy or fear in a good player?)


Please understand I think the course looks fantastic and no doubt is in incredible condition due to Mr. Bledge's dedication, innovation and hard work, and it sounds like the members are thrilled. Good on him and I'm happy the members are pleased.
I was very impressed with the course, management and members when I visited a few years ago(was supposed to be there last week )


Thanks for posting Michael, I look forward to watching the rest of the video and revisiting what is one of my favorite courses in the UK.

[Dónal Ó Ceallaigh]

What do those familiar with the course think of the addition of the new left fairway at the 16th?


Here's the before:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LS_mc3Eub60


and after:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLscFLFLrW8 (starts at 15:33)


Under what circumstances would you play left?

[Michael Whitaker]

Donal - I've only played the new lefthand fairway version of the hole a few times. The second shot, for me, is a bit tougher going left than right into the "valley of inglorious security." But, the third is easier from the left as you are closer to the same level as the green... as opposed to the pitch up from the valley to a blind target. On balance I'm not sure which I will prefer.

[Adam Lawrence]

What do those familiar with the course think of the addition of the new left fairway at the 16th?

It's a brilliant addition (and is restorative as old photos show there used to be fairway there). It makes one of the greatest holes in England even better.

[Ben Stephens]

What do those familiar with the course think of the addition of the new left fairway at the 16th?


Here's the before:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LS_mc3Eub60


and after:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLscFLFLrW8 (starts at 15:33)


Under what circumstances would you play left?

Regarding the preferred lies in the bunkers - there are no rakes (unless you carry your own) due to the current COVID 19 rules set out by England Golf. I suspect the preferred lies is an 'emergency' local rule to enable more fairer lies in the bunkers and easier for members/guests to play out of. 

[Tom_Doak]

It's a brilliant addition (and is restorative as old photos show there used to be fairway there). It makes one of the greatest holes in England even better.

Was the bunker at the end of it, on the left, always there, too?  I don't remember that one.  It seems weird to invite people in that direction but then cut them off at the pass.

[Michael Whitaker]

Tom - no, that bunker was not there before. It is one of the reasons I think playing left makes the second shot much more difficult... as you say, hit it too long and you are in jail.

[Noel Freeman]

It's a brilliant addition (and is restorative as old photos show there used to be fairway there). It makes one of the greatest holes in England even better.

Was the bunker at the end of it, on the left, always there, too?  I don't remember that one.  It seems weird to invite people in that direction but then cut them off at the pass.

Ebert changed the whole bunker configuration on the 16th.  The two spectacle bunkers (215 yards out) before the pillbox have been taken out and the first left bunker (250y from the tee) has been expanded from a small revetted evil circular cavity into a more fingery shaped bigger bunker as well a new bunker just past the pill box on the right that is very large and I'd imagine finds a lot of balls.  The old strategy on this hole was to look at the bunker about 350-360 yards down the fairway and aim for it with a fade.  Ebert when he added the left  fairway has added a bunker at the end of it (I'm guessing about 30 yards or so from the green) and also a new left bunker in the valley of inglorious security.  Without asking him, I'm pretty sure this was not the bunkering scheme from when the hole had the original alternate fairway.  A few things from my perspective to chew on:


When did the alternate fairway on#16 begin?  It certainly was not around when Herb Fowler wrote about Deal in 1909- he is somewhat scathing in his assessment in spots so I think he was looking for work although he liked 16 in the original form.  I don't think from looking at the Open Championship layout at Deal in 1920 or the Amateur in 1923 there was an alternate fairway there although there is a chance from one of the schematics I've seen on a Plan of the Course from 1923 there could have been.


Now, in 1936, JSF Morrison came in to move the Sandy Parlour green (Tommy Naccarato and I did a lot of research on this and wrote a piece in the Neil Crafter version of Golf Architecture on this) and when I look at pictures from 1936 I do see some evidence that Morrison might have been the one to create this new fairway but it is not listed among the changes he made (I only see the tee moved back 25 yards on the hole as a change).  The schematic for the 1938 Open at Deal is unclear on whether that fairway was there or not.  I'm going to have to ask David Dobby (the former historian) about this as a lot of the course was reconstructed in 1939 due to flooding-- Guy Campbell did a lot of the work then as he did a few years later after WW II.  I cannot find Darwin who wrote extensively on Deal mentioning the alternate fairway in any of his missives.


If you look back over the last 20 years the consulting architects (Steel and Ebert/Mackenzie) have been looking to tighten the drive on 16 with expanding and moving the left hand side bunker (I think this is what TD is referring to).  I've only walked the hole with the new fairway but my thought is even with the bunker at the end of it, this hole is very hard to reach in 2 and the angles from the Valley of Inglorious Security have caused me to miss the green right and long on many occasions which is a easy bogey given how contoured this green is.  I can't wait to play it but I think going left will give you a much better chance for birdie (for the visability of the flag due to the distortions when you are in the valley given the green is situated on a "minor mountain") but I need to see the width of the fairway and the actual depth perception.  I've reached 16 only a handful of time in 100+ tries with the SW wind blowing so going left may prove to be a lot of fun.  I'd like to ask Martin why he changed some of the bunkering styles at Deal from pure circular revetted ones but the 16th has had changes to it before but I do like a uniform bunker style on a "bleak" course like Deal.  I'd rather see the sandy area restored on #4-- btw Bledge shows you where the original Sandy Parlor green was during the flyover when going to hole 17.


The 16th was called by Sir Peter Allen the "Greatest Hole in Golf" and hopefully the change has made it even better.  It certainly is my favorite links golf hole (although I do love the 6th and 10th at Deal with almost equal vigor).  I hesitate to name a better green on a links course than 16 especially considering the size of it. Usually I would be loath to any changes but with the work Mr. Bledge has done it looks additionally quite interesting to play when firm and fast given the new option.


Chappers- pls opine if I got something wrong here or you have anything to add.

[Niall C]

FWIW, in Sir Guy Campbell’s book “Golf at Prince’s and Deal” he refers to the course suffering “heavy material damage as well as the consequences of enforced and unavoidable neglect” as a consequence of being taken over by the military during WWII.


He also refers to four greens being destroyed (he doesn’t stipulate which greens) and that “many more sustained damage ranging from 20% to 80%, and that there was not one but suffered. The fairways were cut up and scarred with tracks, barbed-wire enclosures, reinforced concrete tank obstacles, and erections of steel scaffolding inseparable from becoming a “Defence Area” and as an entity there remained only the disjointed skeleton of a golf course.”


In the book there is a diagrammatic plan of the course that suggests that there might have been a hint of a fairway to the left but not much. From the tee there was two side by side bunkers at the very start of the fairway and slightly to the right. Looking at google earth to remind myself it appears those bunkers have gone.


The bunkers further up on the right close to the pill box aren’t shown and the only bunker on the right is a bunker just short of the green that approximates to where there is a bunker now built into the bank.


On the left hand side there was a cluster of three bunkers flanking the fairway to catch pulled drives with one of the bunkers possibly doubling for a bunker on the 5^th. The position of the bunkers approximates to where the scar bunker is now. They sit just to the edge or just outside the fairway line.


Further up there are three further bunkers that are leftish being clearly inside the fairway line. The first bunker appears to approximate to the current pot bunker in the bank where the fairway splits in two. The two other bunkers are just short and left of the green lying one after the other. It looks as though they might have sat in the bank rather than on top where the new bunker is.
 
The fairway cut that is shown suggests that a portion of the shelf to the left of these three leftish bunkers was in play but not nearly to the extent as is now. That said there’s no scale and the plan is clearly meant to be more illustrative rather than precise.


I’m not sure of the exact date but I think the book dates to the early 1950’s.
 
Niall   

[William_G]

James Bledge did a fantastic job discussing all thing going on presently and into the future


have not been, but looks very civilized as dogs are allowed for the golf walk in the dunes



well done


thank you Mike

[jeffwarne]

What do those familiar with the course think of the addition of the new left fairway at the 16th?


Here's the before:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LS_mc3Eub60


and after:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLscFLFLrW8 (starts at 15:33)


Under what circumstances would you play left?

Regarding the preferred lies in the bunkers - there are no rakes (unless you carry your own) due to the current COVID 19 rules set out by England Golf. I suspect the preferred lies is an 'emergency' local rule to enable more fairer lies in the bunkers and easier for members/guests to play out of.

yes, I get that.
Pretty common everywhere(though last week I played in CT Senior Open and there were rakes-the first I've seen since March, other than our caddies who carry their own)
Mr. Bledge mentions in the video he'd like to see the "preferred lies" going forward after Covid(if I understood him correctly)