by Gary Williams | Jul 17, 2024 | Great Golf Holes
Par 3 – 229 yards
Royal County Down is consistently ranked among the 5-10 best golf courses in the world. Its brawny make up is matched by its sheer majesty as one of the great golf canvases on the planet. The 4th hole is the greatest representation of all that RCD is for the golfer. After playing the first three holes down the shoreline you turn back towards the Mourne Mountains and take in the breathlessness of the golf course from a higher elevation than the first three holes. From the back tee at 229 yards, you play down to a green with ample depth considering the length of the tee shot but you are seeing the cluster of bunkers that surround the green, short, left, right and at the rear of the green. You are always carrying your tee shot over dense gorse, which in the springtime is a radiant golden yellow color. The green is also surrounded by natural dunes that creates a glorious Amphitheatre once you reach the putting surface. It’s simply one of the greatest long par 3’s in the world.
by Gary Williams | Jul 4, 2024 | Great Golf Holes
Par 4 – 283 yards
A.W. Tillinghast designed three separate 9-hole sides at Ridgewood CC and members play the sides accordingly: East Center; Center West; West East.
When Ridgewood was chosen to host a FedEx Cup playoff event they created a composite championship routing that utilizes holes on all three sides so the 6th hole on center is the 12th on the championship course but its affectionately known as 5 and dime or nickel and dime since you might make a 5 or a 10 on this devilish uphill drivable par 4. Tillinghast originally named the hole “Scoonie”. I’ve played the hole hundreds of times in my life and I still marvel at its genius. Tilly expertly used the tilt of the land to create the hole and its pitch playing up and left to right is a significant element to its challenge. The hole is drivable for elite players with even less than driver but a left miss above the hole leaves a brutal short pitch to the green running away and the width of the green is so modest you feel like you could broad jump from one side to the other. A right miss leaves you in gnarly rough pitch blind over the well bunkered right side to the green pitched toward you, which can be helpful, but slightly long puts you in a bunker playing a shot that is virtually impossible to hold the green. Its why shots accumulate so quickly on the hole. The most practical approach is an iron or hybrid to the right center of the fairway to play a pitch to the elevated green but with the full depth of the green available to you but it is two tiered. This is one of the most interesting and provocative holes ever built by Tillinghast and it will always challenge your belief in how you chose to play it.
by Gary Williams | Jun 27, 2024 | Great Golf Holes
Par 4 – 391 yards
The roll and tilt of Old Sandwich is only matched by the optimum sandy soil to give the course the perfect ingredients for a wonderful golf course. What Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw created with the stewardship of Andy Neher is one of the finest courses built in the last 75 years. The 7th hole is an up of the tee to a cresting hill and then down to a sloping fairway toward the green. T rusting your line off the tee is essential and ideally left center of the fairway will give you the speed slot and the shortest second shot. Over borrowing left puts you in native grasses and right misses find the tree line. The necessity to approach from fairway is seen with the fall offs on all sides of the green complex to magnificent bunkering that surrounds on all sides. A left miss into the green side bunker has you playing down to the green that is sloped naturally from left to right. The yardage is ideal for the shot required into the green which makes the 7th at Old Sandwich a wonderful representation of the entire course.
by Gary Williams | Jun 19, 2024 | Great Golf Holes
Par 4 – 342 yards
The Misquamicut Club was founded in 1895 and the golf course was influenced by Tom Bendelow, Willie Anderson, Seth Raynor and Donald Ross. Playing it is like experiencing three different golf courses. The 11th is just the most spectacular. After 10 holes on one side of Ocean View Highway the tee shot on 11 literally takes you right over the road that sits below. It’s one of most scenic tee shots in New England. Greed is an operative word for the line you choose which might include the lagoon to the right of the fairway and tall native fescue grasses. The short hole leaves you with a short wedge over to modest landforms that give the green approach a distinct look and defense. The green is relatively flat with modest slope from front to back. After ten wonderful and quirky holes on one side of Ocean View Highway the 11th pulls the curtain to reveal the lower seven holes with scale and long views but the playing toward the Atlantic Ocean with purpose is what makes this hole so nourishing. Misquamicut doesn’t seek attention which only adds to the charm of one of my favorite places on earth.
by Gary Williams | Jun 7, 2024 | Great Golf Holes
Par 4 – 454 yards
Perry Maxwell was bestowed a superior piece of ground to design a golf course on in 1939.
The resulting work is arguably the finest routing of a course in the golf rich state of North Carolina. The 12th hole embodies so much of what makes Old Town special. The tilt of the hole requires you to trust your starting line from the tee because of the severe canting of the fairway from left to right. An uneven lie for your second shot is fairly likely although you can find the flat part of the fairway on the right, but it may require a longer approach. The bunkering around the green is sensational and the green sets so beautifully into the base of a hillock which houses the 13th tee above that it appears to have simply been placed there well before a golf course was even a thought. The green runs from left to right from essentially the front to the back of the green complex. In my estimation the 12th is the greatest vantage point to digest the wonder of Maxwell’s routing of the course with views back to 11, 9, 18, and in your immediate view is the double green that is home to 8 and 17 and that is simply a piece of art. Number 12 at Old Town is a 10.
