[Rick Lane]

Rick, Terry -
I find myself wondering how many unintended consequences your clubs have avoided because of a commitment to low-zero debt.
I mentioned earlier how the relative lack of fairway bunkering at Crystal Downs seems to make it more interesting/strategic to play and not less. (Such bunkers can function as signs and signifiers of the key risk-reward equation; without them, a golfer has to pay closer attention and make even subtler choices.) But that's not an idea that I'd accept or that would occur (to me, at least) intuitively. If a club was willing to spend money it didn't have to make the course 'better', I wonder how easily some committee member might suggest new tees (or in the past, trees) or green re-contouring etc -- only to discover later that such changes didn't achieve their goal, but instead only added a big debt load onto members' shoulders.
To borrow from 'Cool Hand Luke' - "Sometimes a handful of nothing can be a pretty cool hand".
Peter

You are right, and its also true that somebody in the 1940's spent a lot of money planting trees, then they spent money for 70 years picking up leaves and trying to maintain healthy turf with no air and sun, and now we are spending money to cut down those trees!  Luckily, all that wasn't financed by debt, but for sure it takes the place of dollars spent more wisely.....

[Matt DeVito]

Old Town is missing a high quality very short par 4.   

I would disagree with this one. I have not played Old Town since I was still at Wake Forest, but i recall there is a great short par 4 on the back. The player can lay back to a full wedge or try to drive the green where a steep runoff short left leaves an extremely awkward half wedge dead uphill to a pitched green.

[Sean_A]

Well, as I sit, my favourite two courses are Old Town and St Enodoc.  Of the elements of design I really enjoy....

Both are missing quality flatish holes. 

Both are missing are missing a terrific very short hole.

Old Town is missing a high quality very short par 4.   

No course (so far in my experience anyway, but I am hoping this will change one day) can tick all the boxes. As has been mentioned so many times previously, folks can forgive a lot if the whole is greater than its parts. 

Ciao

Sean, it's great to hear that Old Town in your top 2! However, I'm going to debate your contention that OTC doesn't have a high quality very short par 4. (Possible out here: "short" is a relative term, particularly in this day and age). IMHO, the 14th hole at Old Town is one of the finest short par 4 in the US. I've been meaning to create a thread on this hole, but here's my short version. The 14th (339 from the  tips, 322/blue, 317/white, 278/gold, 272/red), nicknamed "Old Easy" by the old timers at the club presents options and a great strategic challenge. There are birdies to be had for sure, but bogey or worse lurks at all times. From the tee the player is presented with two lines of play, the high side or the low side. Each offers advantages and peril.

From the high side, the player can see the putting surface and is playing down the length of the green. While there are bunkers right of the green, the real trouble is missing left. Did I mention the high side presents and lie with the ball above one's feet, promoting a draw? Compounding this, the back half of the green has a "false side" on the left, and a ball over-drawn will funnel off the green to a valley of sin (the same is true for balls coming up short).

The low side is wide, and offers the player a flat lie. However, from down below, the player cannot see the putting surface, and is playing in from an angle such that the green is very narrow. A ball hit too long will end up in the bunkers, creating a very challenging recovery. Balls too short gather to the already mentioned valley of sin.

The green, subtle by Old Town standards, is a true challenge. The front portion of the green contains a nearly imperceptible ridge that will affect every putt. The front middle is the "easy pin," sitting in a gentle swale.  The back has the dreaded funnel feeding balls left.

On a course full of great holes, number 14 is hands down my favorite. I hosted a GCA'er last summer and we had the course to ourselves. We played 14, then went back to the tee with the requirement that however we played the first time, we had to play it differently the second time. It was great fun.

Even for the WFU golf team, who can drive the green (sometimes with a 3 wood - just crazy), the miss left can spell doom.

Just my $0.02. I look forward to seeing you again the next time you're at OTC!

Will, interesting take on OTC's 14th...especially as it is your favourite hole.  I think of the hole as a routinely good, but perhaps more experience would better inform me.  I am quite partial to 2, 3, 5, 6, 7 & 12, but I don't think I could choose a favourite.  The over-riding aspect of OTC which impresses most is how the copious amount of water was dealt with.  OTC could well be model to hold up against some modern courses in how to design a course when plenty of water is a fact of life. 

Ciao 

[Tim Martin]

$14 hot dog

[Ken Fry]

Decorative fountains.

Ken

[Ira Fishman]

Golf carts.  A strong 18th hole.


Ira

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