Golf Club Atlas

GolfClubAtlas.com => Golf Course Architecture => Topic started by: Sean_A on March 30, 2009, 04:16:38 AM

Title: All Things Draw Toward ST ENODOC
Post by: Sean_A on March 30, 2009, 04:16:38 AM
See

http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,59264.msg1393465.html#msg1393465

Ciao
Title: Re: BEHOLD, ST ENODOC
Post by: Scott Warren on March 30, 2009, 06:14:33 AM
Thanks, as with West Cornwall, Sean. Can't wait to see them both in the flesh in May.
Title: Re: BEHOLD, ST ENODOC
Post by: Neil_Crafter on March 30, 2009, 06:27:29 AM
Sean, great tour as always - well done.

Neil
Title: Re: BEHOLD, ST ENODOC
Post by: Mark_Rowlinson on March 30, 2009, 07:46:09 AM
Excellent photos - you are very clever at showing the architectural features. Commentary stimulating, as always.
Title: Re: BEHOLD, ST ENODOC
Post by: George Pazin on March 30, 2009, 11:10:23 AM
Excellent pix and thoughts, thanks for sharing, Sean.

#2 on my unrealistic wish list... :)
Title: Re: BEHOLD, ST ENODOC
Post by: PThomas on March 30, 2009, 11:27:36 AM
terrific Sean, thanks!

and bonus points for using the word "Foozle"!

and that guy with the cane on the 10th hole sure reminds me of Bernard Darwin...any ghosts out there?? ;)
Title: Re: BEHOLD, ST ENODOC
Post by: David_Tepper on March 30, 2009, 11:56:33 AM
I believe Sir John Betjeman, the famous English poet (died May 1984), is buried in the graveyard of the church behind the 10th green.  If you are playing the course and there is no one behind you, it is certainly worth spending 5-10 minutes exploring the church & graveyard.  I recall reading somewhere that most of the church was, when it was abandoned for a period of time a couple of centuries ago, buried under a massive sand dune.
Title: Re: BEHOLD, ST ENODOC
Post by: Philippe Binette on March 30, 2009, 12:08:21 PM
LOOKS SPORTY
Title: Re: BEHOLD, ST ENODOC
Post by: John Mayhugh on March 30, 2009, 12:46:01 PM
Does that ever look fun.  You really do a nice job of capturing the feel of the course and much of the architecture with your photos and comments.

I do wish I could spend a winter on tour with you!
Title: Re: BEHOLD, ST ENODOC
Post by: Rory Connaughton on March 30, 2009, 12:49:26 PM
Sean:

  Terrific photos. Thank you.  Is it my imagination or are there elements of St. Endoc that are very similar to Enniscrone?  Scale is obviously different but I was reminded of Enniscrone 1, the green at 2 and the punchbowl 13th.  I would appreciate your thoughts.
Title: Re: BEHOLD, ST ENODOC
Post by: Tommy Williamsen on March 30, 2009, 01:08:44 PM
Thanks Sean.  St. Enodoc is a religious experience.  It may be one of my favorite place to play.  The welcome is also warm and genuine.
Title: Re: BEHOLD, ST ENODOC
Post by: Mark Chaplin on March 30, 2009, 01:11:17 PM
Sean,

A wonderful winter you've had bringing us the delights of the more off piste offerings in the UK. You must have clocked up a few miles on your travels.

Chappers
Title: Re: BEHOLD, ST ENODOC
Post by: Andrew Mitchell on March 30, 2009, 01:37:29 PM
Sean

Great pictures as ever.  St Enodoc is a magical place as your pictures capture that spirit.

I played there about four years ago and can't recommend it enough to people who mention they are going to Cornwall on holiday.  I'd love to spend a lot of time there trying to figure out the best ways of playing holes like the 3rd, 4th, 6th and 10th.  I do think that 11, 13 & 14 are weak in comparison but they don't really detract from the experience of a must play course.
Title: Re: BEHOLD, ST ENODOC
Post by: David_Tepper on March 30, 2009, 01:45:50 PM
For anyone going to St. Endoc, be sure to bring your handicap certificate! They are (or at least were) sticklers about that. ;)
Title: Re: BEHOLD, ST ENODOC
Post by: James Boon on March 30, 2009, 02:08:34 PM
For anyone going to St. Endoc, be sure to bring your handicap certificate! They are (or at least were) sticklers about that. ;)

They certainly are! Thank goodness for howdidido.co.uk!

I have great memories of the course. After Rick Stein'd fish and chips in Padstow, my wife treated me to the round as a 30th birthday present, and she walked round with me. I'm sure she would do that more often is every course was as wonderful as this! Though it was probably the windiest weather I've played in for a very long time!

Sean, I was trying to think of something else to say, but I can only add to the love fest for your photos and the course! Many great holes, but I love the 4th hole, a great short par 4! And I certainly liked the 10th, though having to wait for at least 15 minutes while a stream of ramblers just wandered up the middle of the fairway was real frustrating!

Cheers,

James
Title: Re: BEHOLD, ST ENODOC
Post by: James Boon on March 30, 2009, 02:17:42 PM
...and don't forget that Mr Doak has it as one of his Gourmet Choices in his Confidential Guide  ;D
Title: Re: BEHOLD, ST ENODOC
Post by: John Burzynski on March 30, 2009, 03:23:52 PM
I will add that they have a great webcam on their website of the 1st and 18th holes, realtime webcam, great to peek in for a few minutes.
Title: Re: BEHOLD, ST ENODOC
Post by: Jim Nugent on March 30, 2009, 04:31:10 PM
Sean, the profiles you run are always eye-openers for me.  Hope to see more of them!
Title: Re: BEHOLD, ST ENODOC
Post by: Sean_A on March 30, 2009, 05:43:15 PM
Sean:

  Terrific photos. Thank you.  Is it my imagination or are there elements of St. Endoc that are very similar to Enniscrone?  Scale is obviously different but I was reminded of Enniscrone 1, the green at 2 and the punchbowl 13th.  I would appreciate your thoughts.

Thanks all. 

Rory

I would agree with you in terms of some of the greens, in particular #s 1, 2, 7, 12, 16 & 18.  There is a modern edge to these greens which is a bit more in your face once you stand on them as compared to say the 3rd, 10th, 11th, 14th and 17th.  However, excepting the greens, St Enodoc is far more daring design.  Comparatively, Enniscrone is quite conventional.  Not surprisingly, the new 16th green complex is very similar in style to what has been built lately on links. When I think of the new Royal hole at Hoylake, Burnham's new 6th (and a few others for that matter) and several of the holes at TEC - they all have a flavour of being able to be grouped together in the general style of Enniscrone.  I spose this was one of the things which is a real double edged sword for Carne.  I couldn't ever say that Hackett designed in the same mode as those mentioned above and this helps it to stand out as unique among modern designs - Hackett really was a throwback.  That said, there are times when I wish he would have compromised and pushed a bit of dirt around.

Ciao

Title: Re: BEHOLD, ST ENODOC
Post by: ed_getka on March 30, 2009, 06:02:15 PM
Sean,
   Thanks for the great tour. St Enodoc has always been near the top of my South England list and this just reaffirms why. I'm pretty sure I could enjoy playing that course for the rest of my life.
Title: Re: BEHOLD, ST ENODOC
Post by: Rory Connaughton on March 30, 2009, 06:32:03 PM
Thanks Sean. St. Endoc is on the must see list.  As for Mr. Hackett, I agree with you. I suspect that he was always concerned that moving more dirt meant added cost in areas where the local golf club was being run on a shoestring and the course financed through raffles etc. 
Title: Re: BEHOLD, ST ENODOC
Post by: Rob Rigg on March 31, 2009, 02:05:34 AM
Marvelous work Sean.

St Enodoc looks like such a unique combination of holes. A one of a kind place that I look forward to playing one day. It's like some sort of epic voyage!
Title: Re: BEHOLD, ST ENODOC
Post by: Jon Wiggett on March 31, 2009, 09:50:14 AM
Sean,

thanks for the great photos, I must get round to posting mine in the next few days. Enodoc is a great golfing experience and I too would recommend it to anybody. The only weakness I saw was with the new green at 16. From a GCA point of view it left me feeling that something was odd with it and it just didn't fit. The complex is fine in itself but as Sean said it is alittle to modern. It left me wondering, as did the 'garden wall' by the 8th tee what might have been had the GCA had handled the job a little more sympathetically,

Jon
Title: Re: BEHOLD, ST ENODOC
Post by: Sean_A on March 31, 2009, 10:40:20 AM
Sean,

thanks for the great photos, I must get round to posting mine in the next few days. Enodoc is a great golfing experience and I too would recommend it to anybody. The only weakness I saw was with the new green at 16. From a GCA point of view it left me feeling that something was odd with it and it just didn't fit. The complex is fine in itself but as Sean said it is alittle to modern. It left me wondering, as did the 'garden wall' by the 8th tee what might have been had the GCA had handled the job a little more sympathetically,

Jon


Cheers Jon.  When I referred to the 16th as newish it wasn't meant in a negative way.  I like the how the greens at St Enodoc have a mixed old/modern feel about them - it is one of the strengths of the course.  I am not sure why a club with a course of modest length is worried about adding extra yards or if it is a better hole than previously, but I think the work done was good - excepting the spilling of sand (which does curiously open toward a prevalent wind direction) from the large bunker short right of the green.  I think as a set the greens are in the same top class as Woking's or Beau Desert's even though I believe Beau's to be more difficult than either of the other two. 

Ciao
Title: Re: BEHOLD, ST ENODOC
Post by: Jon Wiggett on March 31, 2009, 11:04:55 AM
Sean,

I find the 16th looks slightly at odds to the surrounds. All the other greens fit in really well but the 16th has nothing that says this is how the land was before it was built. The 14th, with its obviously man made wall on the left hand side, fits beautifully into the surroundings as the wall itself appears as though it was there before the course was built and the green was fitted around it. Whether this is true I don't know, but it does give you that feeling.

16, for all its good contouring still feels as though it has been imposed. The lines are obviously man made and the tie ins are to uniform and symetrical. It is a fine example of workmanship but lacks that certain something to make it harmonious IMHO.

Title: Re: BEHOLD, ST ENODOC
Post by: Jack_Marr on April 11, 2009, 03:07:07 AM
Sean:

  Terrific photos. Thank you.  Is it my imagination or are there elements of St. Endoc that are very similar to Enniscrone?  Scale is obviously different but I was reminded of Enniscrone 1, the green at 2 and the punchbowl 13th.  I would appreciate your thoughts.

Thanks all. 

Rory

I would agree with you in terms of some of the greens, in particular #s 1, 2, 7, 12, 16 & 18.  There is a modern edge to these greens which is a bit more in your face once you stand on them as compared to say the 3rd, 10th, 11th, 14th and 17th.  However, excepting the greens, St Enodoc is far more daring design.  Comparatively, Enniscrone is quite conventional.  Not surprisingly, the new 16th green complex is very similar in style to what has been built lately on links. When I think of the new Royal hole at Hoylake, Burnham's new 6th (and a few others for that matter) and several of the holes at TEC - they all have a flavour of being able to be grouped together in the general style of Enniscrone.  I spose this was one of the things which is a real double edged sword for Carne.  I couldn't ever say that Hackett designed in the same mode as those mentioned above and this helps it to stand out as unique among modern designs - Hackett really was a throwback.  That said, there are times when I wish he would have compromised and pushed a bit of dirt around.

Ciao



According to Hacket, 14 of the holes in Carne were just there, but the other four he had to "move heaven and earth" for.

John
Title: Re: BEHOLD, ST ENODOC
Post by: Emil Weber on April 11, 2009, 05:41:43 PM
Great pictures and great comments, Sean. I'm soo much looking forward to finally play there next week :)
Title: Re: All Things Draw Toward ST ENODOC
Post by: Sean_A on July 26, 2013, 05:21:36 AM
Take a look at the updated tour.  Zowie!

Ciao