#2 at St. Louis CC is around 225-230, uphill, and a Biarritz to boot, with the swale part of the green. At what part of the green do they measure the length of that kind of Biarritz?
I was also thinking about St. Louis CC. The current yardages for #2 & #3 are listed as 213 & 207. The other three par-3s on the course are all under 200 yards.
Bill, I don't have Google Earth, or I'd see what it says. 213 seems to me on the light side, though that's just my subjective memory from nearly 50 years ago!
I thought I read they pushed the tee on #3 (Eden) back, so that it now stretches to over 200. #7, the Short, is well under 200. 12 is probably a little less than 200, as is 16, the Reverse Redan.
I'm guessing you played the old Forest Park 18, before Hale Irwin changed things around. #2 used to check in around 215 or 220, all flat; while #3 was around 185 with the second half all uphill towards the Art Museum parking lot. I used to like those holes a lot, and also #4 that wrapped itself along Art Hill, with a Alps-like second shot that made this par 5 way harder than it should have been for a hole so short.
Jim,
I agree, I believe that #2 at StLCC can play at least as long as 225 yds.
You are correct that #2 on the old Forest Park 18-hole course was over 200 yrds. By the late 1980s until the course was re-designed, it was listed as a par-4. I will have to see if I can find one of my old scorecards with the yardage when it was listed as a par-4. With all of the water around that hole, it was smarter to hit a mid-iron to leave a short chip to the green.
The 4th hole across Art Hill was always a fun hole to play; especially the tee shot. However, it is better to have the full use of that hill available for public use, and without concerns or incidents between non-golfers and golfers. Since the park was refurbished, that hill gets a LOT of use as a spot to play, picnic, layout, etc.
My favorite stretch was always #5-#15, and those holes are all still there except for the old #9 is now two holes - a par 4 & a par 3; and the old #10 is now a drivable par 4 with the tee backed up to near #11. There was an old tee back there from many many years prior when at some earlier time it was played as a par-4.
Lat month I played for the first time the re-furbished old Triple A at the other corner of the park. It is now called The Highlands, and includes a driving range, a short game practice area, and is used for a First-Tee program. The layout is basically the same with a few minor tweaks to the finishing holes. It is in good shape, and was a lot of fun to play. For a city 9-hole muni, the fairways & tees were in good condition, and I thought the greens were in very good condition. It would be a good course for an afternoon league, and for juniors, seniors and beginners. But a good player can also have some fun and a little bit of a challenge.
On a side note, my brother & I were recently discussing the hold #9 at Forest Park, and if anyone ever hit that green in two. Later I was looking through my copy of Golfing Before the Arch (a wonderful book on the history of golf in St. Louis written by Jim Healey), and I came across that Larry Ziegler once hit that green in 2.
Did you ever see him play during your time at StLCC? I forgot that we was considered a long hitter back in the 1970s when he played on the PGA Tour.