Loch Lomond GC , SCOTLAND

This picture tells it all: the glorious setting, the sweep of the 18th
fairway on the left,Rossdhu House in the middle, and the 9th
fairway bunker in the bottom right

How often have you heard the expression, 'if Pebble Beach wasn't on the cliffs overlooking the Pacific, would it really be a special course?' The same erroneous comment could be made about Loch Lomond. Situated in one of the world's prettiest spots, some people claim this magnificent setting unduly influences people's judgement of the course itself.

To this, we say nonsense. Because the setting and the location are so special, the architects spent heaps and heaps of time at this site getting the small points exactly right. By doing so, Weiskopf and Morrish avoided the trap that many 'name' architects fell into during the golf construction boom of the 1990's as they raced from one project to the next, stamping out course after course, and capitalizing on the hot market. The quality and originality of such architects' work invariably suffered as they neither studied nor maximized the nuances of the land.

Not so with Weiskopf and Morrish. Weiskopf even moved his family for two summers into the Garden Cottage near the 3rd tee so that he could devote his entire energies to this project. The story of Weiskopf almost perishing in quicksand at 6:00am in the marsh on the 14^th hole summarizes the enthusiasm that he brought to this special undertaking. Given the ten years it took for planning approval, he wasn't going to squander the opportunity.

there is nothing ordinary about golf at Loch Lomond

Thanks to the energies spent during the design and construction phase, the architects imbued character into each and every hole. Take the 12^th hole for instance. Some people say that this hole with its bunkerless green is the least distinctive on the course. The authors would hastily disagree because of the well nigh perfect green complex. The green is angled away from the golfer in a similar manner to the 12^th at Augusta National. Instead of a creek, the golfer faces a 25 foot deep gully. The left third and right third of the green features a false front, encouraging the golfer to be well up on his approach. The rub is that the middle back portion of the green that appears as the safe miss to the golfer in the fairway falls away at the rear. Any approach shot must be well judged to stay on the putting surface and the more you play it, the more you appreciate this fact.

Weiskopf and Morrish avoided another trap that frequently snared many architects in 1990s: pushing everything to the side. In a false quest for fairness and playability, many architects pushed all trouble to the sides of holes. With the trouble only at the sides, courses became bland as they lacked strategic options. This is emphatically not the case at Loch Lomond.

Weiskopf and Morrish do a particularly fine job of laying a variety of hazards and obstacles directly across the golfer's path. Examples include an existing three foot stonewall on the 2^nd that they restored and incorprated into the design of the hole, a bunker in between the flag and golfer for your second shot on the long par five 6^th, a bunker in the dead middle of the fairway on the 9^th, a lake in front of the long approach to the 10^th green, a gulley in front of the 12^th green, streams across fairways on the 13^th and 16^th holes, and a marsh on the 14^th hole. Numerous decisions are the result, and often the day's hole location dictates the best strategy.

Take the 9^th hole for example with the bunker in the middle of the fairway. When the hole is left, the golfer is best to drive to the right of this fairway bunker. In that manner, he has a clear look at the flag with hopes of getting his approach close. However, those who drive left of the bunker are quick to find that the carefully constructed shoulders of the bunkers will shrug off an approach shot from that angle. Conversely, with the hole on the right hand portion, the opposite strategy holds true.

this fairway bunker coupled with the green complex
makes the 9th a strategic gem

Why don't more courses feature such strategic holes? Firstly, there is a reluctance to having genuine fairway bunkers. That is mistake one. Secondly, in this particular case, getting shoulders of bunkers to integrate into the strategy of the hole requires an immense amount of on-site time by the architect. Weiskopf and Morrish did this at Loch Lomond and it is what ultimately separates it from their best work.

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