Golf Club Atlas
GolfClubAtlas.com => Golf Course Architecture => Topic started by: Paul_Turner on October 11, 2004, 09:20:18 PM
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Windemere is the popular tourist town and lake for England's best landscape: The Lake District.
Short course, only about 5000yds, and plenty of challenge.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v135/paulturner/Colt/Windermere1a.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/paulturner/media/Colt/Windermere1a.jpg.html)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v135/paulturner/Colt/Windermere1b.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/paulturner/media/Colt/Windermere1b.jpg.html)
1st
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v135/paulturner/Colt/Windermere4.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/paulturner/media/Colt/Windermere4.jpg.html)
4th
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v135/paulturner/Colt/Windermere5.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/paulturner/media/Colt/Windermere5.jpg.html)
5th (Side on)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v135/paulturner/Colt/Windermere6.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/paulturner/media/Colt/Windermere6.jpg.html)
6th
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v135/paulturner/Colt/Windermere6a.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/paulturner/media/Colt/Windermere6a.jpg.html)
6th looking back
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v135/paulturner/Colt/Windermere7.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/paulturner/media/Colt/Windermere7.jpg.html)
7th
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v135/paulturner/Colt/Windermere8.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/paulturner/media/Colt/Windermere8.jpg.html)
8th with outer fells in background.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v135/paulturner/Colt/Windermere10.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/paulturner/media/Colt/Windermere10.jpg.html)
10th
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v135/paulturner/Colt/Windermere11.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/paulturner/media/Colt/Windermere11.jpg.html)
11th
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v135/paulturner/Colt/Windermere12.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/paulturner/media/Colt/Windermere12.jpg.html)
12th
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v135/paulturner/Colt/Windermere13.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/paulturner/media/Colt/Windermere13.jpg.html)
13th
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v135/paulturner/Colt/Windermere14.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/paulturner/media/Colt/Windermere14.jpg.html)
14th
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v135/paulturner/Colt/Windermere15.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/paulturner/media/Colt/Windermere15.jpg.html)
15th-ridge dictates the shot
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v135/paulturner/Colt/Windermere15a.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/paulturner/media/Colt/Windermere15a.jpg.html)
15th...line of play from left.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v135/paulturner/Colt/Windermere15b.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/paulturner/media/Colt/Windermere15b.jpg.html)
looking back to tee.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v135/paulturner/Colt/Windermere16.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/paulturner/media/Colt/Windermere16.jpg.html)
16th
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v135/paulturner/Colt/Windermere16a.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/paulturner/media/Colt/Windermere16a.jpg.html)
16 closer
17th tee
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v135/paulturner/Colt/Windermere17.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/paulturner/media/Colt/Windermere17.jpg.html)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v135/paulturner/Colt/Windermere17a.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/paulturner/media/Colt/Windermere17a.jpg.html)
17th
Missed the 18th and 2,3
A just around the corner...it's the Lakeland Fells proper; my favourite place for a holiday.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v135/paulturner/Colt/Buttermere.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/paulturner/media/Colt/FleetwithPike.jpg.html)
Buttermere from the summit of Haystacks.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v135/paulturner/Colt/FleetwithPike.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/paulturner/media/Colt/FleetwithPike.jpg.html)
Fleetwith Pike.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v135/paulturner/Colt/GreatGable.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/paulturner/media/Colt/FleetwithPike.jpg.html)
Great Gable in the distance.
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Wow!!! What a nice looking course. It would appear the course has few, if any, bunkers. Yet, the course looks 'complete' without them. Thanks for the pix! I have to get to that corner of England some day.
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What a beautiful little course. I'll have to go play this one day. It reminds me somehow of the little golf course on Vestmannaeyjar in Iceland, except this one has trees. Thanks for posting.
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Incredible pictures and views, thanks for the pics. Paul, what are some the yardages for the holes.
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Paul,
I love these places, I'm greatful for you and your friends who photo these gems. While short, it struck me that a number of shots were really tough with the severity of slopes away from the greens. Will the ball run long distances in many cases or is the turf a little longer and more forgiving of the poor approach.
Would this be comparable to Merion West for fun and subtle difficulty despite the short course?
Keep adding the landscape photos too, this will help convince my wife to go there. ;D
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At 5000 yards, this little gem ought to only allow the player to carry 4 irons of your choice (no fairway metals or driver) and a putter. But, are the tiny greens quite uncontoured? Perhaps it would be just a little more fun with a 1000 or so more sq ft per green and a little more contour. No sand is a cute touch of quirk however.
What 4 irons and putter would you use? I'm thinking 3-6-9-pitching wedge-putter.
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Paul
Thanks for posting .
These must be the best pics. you have taken this year ? .
Designer ? .
Brian
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Paul:
Is the flag on the eleventh hole extra tall, or is the hole a lot shorter than I thought from looking at the fairway?
That is a really pretty piece of land. Is it possible they have the room to stretch it to 7,300 yards so it can be considered for a junior event?
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Beautiful pictures, great color, thanks for posting and sharing with all of us :)
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Pleased you like these. It was a very easy subject and I have a new camera with a polarising filter...good colours. I love the textures that you find in the mountain and hill districts of Britain and Ireland.
http://www.windermeregolfclub.net/golf_club_history.htm
George Lowe, who routed most of Lytham, is the architect.
The 11th is about 266 yards from the back, 222 from yellow.
The greens are well conrtoured in general. Not buried elephants but a lot of slope.
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Thanks Paul,
You do Windermere a nice, but fair, service. It's a fun course and yet it is no pushover. As I said in an earlier post, there's some good golf to be had in and around the English Lakes.
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Paul - Once again your work is nonpareil (not counting Mark Rowlinson's wonderful installments).
Quick question - can you tell me about the 12th? Where is the green? I see something in the distance, but it looks like the green adjoins a fairway coming from the opposite direction.
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Hey Ian...
I wonder if the name for Windermere (House) golf course in the Muskoka area, north of Toronto, was borrowed from this particular golf course in England?
After all, Muskoka's Windermere was designed by George Cumming, an Englishman. Perhaps Cumming was familiar with England's Windermere and sensed the similarity between the two - sporty golf courses in tourist areas comprised of hundreds of lakes.
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Paul,
Great compostion, as always; however the colours do seem
extra vivid. Care to share any details on the new camera?
Thanks again for a wonderful glimpse at the Lake District.
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Camera is a Canon Rebel (digi) with a Canon 28-135mm lens. With a polariser filter to take out some of the haze in the sky...which maybe helped saturate the other colours too? I didn't tweak them in photoshop. It is a very rich landscape with the heather, bracken, rocks, grass etc.
You can just see the original 12th green tucked in a hollow down the hill. There is now an alternative green tucked behind the trees (nicely done). The photo I took was from the back tee which has a line of play across the 11th fairway, the normal tee is more in line with the marker pole.
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Thanks paul, greatpiece of land, I love those par three over
the valleys.lovely compositions and saturation
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this course is getting some interest so thought i would fix the links and resurrect.
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Delete
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I thought I was aware of most courses worth a look. Clearly I was wrong. This looks like a most enjoyable and beautiful place to play and stay.
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As I think I wrote on the other thread about Windermere, it looks like a wonderful course sadly let down by missing fairway, particularly in the form of the horrible error that is the pinched green approach.
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As I think I wrote on the other thread about Windermere, it looks like a wonderful course!!
Paul,
I took the liberty of editing your post ;) ;D
One of my great regrets of having to miss the Silloth BUDA was missing the scheduled round at Windermere
The last three pictures (absolutely stunning stuff Paul) are a great illustration of why I enjoy what Sean A describes as "windshield time"
I often plan drives through such scenic areas as part of the trip (Donegal, Kerry, Scottish Highlands), which of courses adds to the drive time, but greatly enhances the experience
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As I think I wrote on the other thread about Windermere, it looks like a wonderful course!!
Paul,
I took the liberty of editing your post ;) ;D
One of my great regrets of having to miss the Silloth BUDA was missing the scheduled round at Windermere
From you, I will tolerate that. ;) ;D
Don't misunderstand me, I'd happily give them my money regardless of the current set up.
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Paul,
Thanks for resurrecting this thread.
It appears that the 12th has changed from when you took these photos to when we visited just before Buda in 2012? The green looks to be at the bottom of the hill in your photo, but when we played, it was tucked against the far bank, with a small pond short and left? Must be a recent change, though I cant see any other obvious changes?
Cheers,
James
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Paul,
Thanks for resurrecting this thread.
It appears that the 12th has changed from when you took these photos to when we visited just before Buda in 2012? The green looks to be at the bottom of the hill in your photo, but when we played, it was tucked against the far bank, with a small pond short and left? Must be a recent change, though I cant see any other obvious changes?
Cheers,
James
Well spotted - I missed that. The pictures below illustrate what you say. From the 2004 tour:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v135/paulturner/Colt/Windermere12.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/paulturner/media/Colt/Windermere12.jpg.html)
From my tour in 2006
(http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i101/edtilley/windermere/P1000697.jpg)
(http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i101/edtilley/windermere/P1000701.jpg)
Probably 40 yards longer with the pond short and left that you can't see in my photo put in as well. In the 2004 photo there does seem to be a fairway extending past the green - maybe this was a temporary for some reason?
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Great movement of the land, that looks to be a course one would never tire of playing. Great Pics!
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According to the club website, they had real problems with the greens sagging in the middle and becoming unplayable after prolonged rainfall - which has been known to happen in that part of the world. They completely rebuilt the greens with the work completed in Dec 2005. It doesn't mention a new green site for the 12th so I can't say if that green in 2004 was an old green site or a temporary due to the 12th green being rebuilt. Looking at the fairway extending from the green I'd imagine the latter.
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Ed,
That was the old green site (or very close to), being used as a temp - very drivable! The new green was benched into the hillside, with the artificial pond below/left. As I've mentioned on another thread, the 17th green was moved to it's current position (sometime before this early 2000's work), from a tiny semi-punchbowl located high-right (behind/right of the 18th tees) - this is still used as a temp in winter...brutal.
The old-push up greens were replaced with USGA greens [::)], with the promise of year-round play - unsurprisingly these still stay very wet. I think they may have tried some remedial work in the years since then, but can't remember exactly.
For such a short, 'sport' course I always think Windermere places a significant premium on driving off the tee - there is danger (OOB, bracken/heather, trees, rugged lies) everywhere. Missing the small, canted greens on the wrong side, with that nasty semi-rough is a big no, no!
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Thanks Clyde,
I had played Windermere before the changes but I was very young and couldn't really remember anything. While I think it's clearly a better hole, particularly given that there are already plenty of driveable par 4's, I'm not sure about the artificial pond myself. The length of the hole needs a significant hazard but it seems that the lay of the land would lend itself better to a big, deep bunker? No bunkers on the course though from memory.
Ed