GolfClubAtlas.com > Golf Course Architecture
I wish more 6,300 yard courses were as dynamic as Pinehurst No. 2
Tim Gallant:
Ran - great thread.
Thinking about this, I would put Cruden Bay in this category. I believe the middle tees are just below 6,300 yards and there are so many holes that can yield birdies or doubles. The holes that come to mind:
2 - Not a long hole, and if you judge your approach correctly, it is a relatively flat green. Miss the green though, and you are looking at a chip shot well over your head
3 - Drivable, but easy to spray one and lose it in the dunes!!
4 - I don't know many who will birdie this par-3. I'm sure it's possible, but gosh golly that's a tough 3
6 - A par 5, which should be easy to birdie. But...it is tough as nails. I've seen birdie putts here and lots of pick-ups
8 - Again, it seems so easy, and yet, the dunes grab those trying to be too greedy, and in firm conditions, there can be nightmare shots from around the green
11 - Miss the green at this short 3 and pay a heavy price!
12 - Short, and simple, but it's the tightest fairway on the course and after miles wide fairways until this point, it suddenly becomes a daunting proposition. However, drive it safe, and it's a realistic birdie chance
13 - A par-5 where anything can happen
14 - I'm sure everything from a 2 to a 12 has been made here
15 - Can you trust your line?
It really can be fireworks or famine. A truly brilliant course that I believe fits the dynamism that you mention with No. 2!
Mark_Fine:
Ran,
Nice summary of #2. However, when you make the statement that "you wish more courses were like #2", I have to grin. You have to remember you are talking about what many consider one of the absolute best golf courses in the world! I think we would all like to play that quality of golf course much more often (if not all the time) but for some reason there are 30+ thousand courses out there that are not near that level of greatness :( I wonder why that is? There must be a reason ;)
Mark
Peter Pallotta:
Ran -
I assume you'd have mentioned it if you had, but have you ever played the course with hickories (or with 50s era persimmon & blades)? Given that the course gave you all the fun & challenge you could handle using modern equipment, I wonder what your experience would be like from 6300 yards using the implements of Ross' day. Which is to suggest: maybe the course is so dynamic for you today precisely because it was such a difficult (if enjoyable) test for your golfing ancestors. Can present day architects 'skip a step' and get the dynamism in their courses ready-made, without having to risk offending our current expectations with the difficult step/stage? I'm told by many knowledgeable posters that they most certainly can and do, and I defer to that opinion. But I raise the issue as a possible 'answer' to the question in your subject line.
P
James Brown:
I think the Kiawah Ocean Course has some similar qualities on the Par 5s and 3s. Whichever wind blows there at least one or two of the fives are reachable with two good shots and the two par threes on the back are definitely pulse quickeners in any kind of breeze.
Tom_Doak:
Have you not been to Rye? Those par-3’s are disasters in waiting.
Barnbougle and Pacific Dunes also fit your description.
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