The fairway widths at Indian Creek are impressive as is the job that Joe Pantaleo, the superintendent, does. One of the first things you notice upon leaving the clubhouse off the terrace and seeing the practice putting green, the 9th and 18th greens, and the 1st and 10th tees is an expanse of closely cut lawn; in fact, many acres of it. The entire effect of grand scale and width is carried out throughout the course. Some of the bunkers are over 100 yards long, for instance along the right side of the great par 5 3rd. In one of the design iterations Flynn did dated Sep. 25, 1928 it was drawn as more than 180 yards long! I'll have to see if it was built as to that design.
Tom and I noticed a design tendency of Flynn's that integrates well with the sense of scale and that is to use bunkers on either side of a fairly narrow front opening (a demanding run-up shot is available on most holes) and flaring them out to the sides. He often had a bunker or two way outside of the flared greenside bunker line. Sometimes the fairway bunkers 100 yards or so short of the green were placed in such a way so as to look like they connect with the greenside bunkers. The effect is to fit the large bunkers into the wide scale of the holes. With the fairways often 50-60 yards wide, the bunkering makes you take it all in, one's eye does not focus down the middle. Everything is so beautiful , there are a number of fascinating trees, some strategic but not many, that it is by design that the scale and dynamics of the holes make you look around. Sometimes you're looking around wondering how the heck to play the hole. The designer not only makes you take it all in, he makes you figure it all out.
There is a lot of variety at Indian Creek. There are a number of great short par 4s (13 is simply great and photos--even as good as Craig's don't do it justice), long par 4s, short to long par 3s (12 is sooo good!) and wonderful par 5s. The course played long for its day and the long par 4 9th and 18th holes played up the 30' climb (imagine that in Dade County) were long par 4s. .The 14th has a strategic tree on the right hand side at the turn of a dogleg right. The 17th has an angled treeline from the right that dictates strategy on the tee. Other than these two holes the trees are really not in play, but beautiful specimens of palm, baobab, and other plantings around the course.
Flynn used framing, with trees, mounds, and bunkers to great use on the course. We noticed the characteristic pull-ups
on the edges of some greens. This form of framing adds perspective, contouring, and drainage.
Flynn clearly had a masterly sense of perspective and used the toplines of greenside bunkers to give the impression that the orientation of the bunker is perpendicular to play when in reality the bunker is on a 45 degree angle and the player wonders why he plopped his approach into the bunker rather than on the green. Tom mentioned that there is a famous hole like that at Seminole. The angles at IC are superb. Some of the diagonals of the green edges are truly wonderful Hopefully Tom will address this in more detail.
Ron Forse's master plan put into effect by Joe Pantaleo called for, among other interesting work, for the removal of a lot of unnecessary trees. Ron and Joe really liked the shaggy look and grand scale of the bunkers when built--see Geoff Shackelford's book on the Golden Age of Golf pg. 108 to see a photo of the great par 3 12th and the look of the bunkering in the beginning. Today they are more formalized (maybe Craig can post a picture of today's 12th) with pristeen edging. The bunkers changed to this look sometime around 1937, less than 10 years after the course opened.
After Indian Creek, Tom Paul and I went over to a muni close by on Normandy Shores also designed by Flynn. It was in a way like Indian Creek lite with some of the same design elements. Relatively narrow openings, bunkers flared to the side. One thing I was able to appreciate after viewing NS was how much more Flynn built up the greens at IC than at NS. NS showed the level needed to build above flood plane. IC had higher perched greens, some like 13 10 feet above grade. This added height was clearly what he wanted from a design perspective. Imagine hitting to some of those table top skyline greens perched on high with a big fall-off the back. Misplay the approach, even on short holes and the score climbs quickly.
This is a great golf course. Like Craig, it is in my top 5 Flynn courses. If anyone is going to south Florida to play Seminole, Gulf Stream, or other grand old dames of Florida golf, if you have the connections (the club is ultra private and doesn't get a lot of outside play, which they prefer) then you must try to see Indian Creek. Where else in the world can you see a classic era course where the architect designed and built every height and contour on the course? The Lido was of this design ilk, but it no longer exists.
The Flynn course played about 6650 par 70. This was a challenging golf course in the late 1920s and remains so today. The course on the scorecard today plays about 70 yards longer and par 72. Tom suggested that the club print two scorecards, one with the Flynn length and par for low handicappers and the present set-up for mid to high handicappers. They thought it a great idea.
The club is very proud of their club and the association with William Flynn. They were active in the Flynn Invitational and I look forward to a continued relationship of sharing information and an appreciation of the genius of William Flynn.