This is a municipal course in Essex County, New Jersey. It is also designed by Charles Banks, making it one of the few golf courses that the average person can play designed by the Macdonald/Raynor/Banks crew. The course is not perfect and is certainly not National Golf Links or Fisher's Island. That said, it is easy to see what once was a tremendous golf course if you take the time to look. I've worked a bit with Anthony Pioppi, Executive Director of the Seth Raynor Society, to try and determine what template holes exist on the course. Years (scores of years, even) of degraded maintenance practices make this difficult. Indeed, the forward part of the Biarritz green was already in disuse as early as 1954 according to some old aerial photographs. So, a tentative listing of template holes:
1. Road (confirmed)
2. Biarritz (confirmed)
3. Punchbowl (partial, tentative)
4. Sahara (tentative, severely degraded)
5. Short (confirmed)
10. Bottle (tentative)
13. Cape (tentative, green only)
14. Eden (Confirmed)
15. Raynor dog-leg (tentative)
18. Home (Confirmed)
There are several other holes that I believe are likely template holes, but I can't yet place them certainly enough in a category to include them. With that, on to the ranking:
Variety of Design: The course has only one par 5 and it's the first hole, the Road. That hurts the course a bit. The par 3s have great variety, ranging from 235 to 140 yards. The par 4s range from 360 to 465 yards, so a fair variety in distance, but limited variety in direction. Of the 15 holes, 10 are straight, 3 work to the right, and 3 work to the left. The green sizes, while shrunken and degraded from their original sizes, all fit the shots required and work well. 7 out of 10
Flow of the Course: The course ebbs and flows through the round quite nicely. The start is difficult with the only par 5 followed by a very difficult par 3, but the course gives the player a break on the 3rd hole. The Short hole appears as the 5th hole and, while severely degraded from its original state, still mandates precision from the player. On the back nine, the holes alternate between difficult and moderate from 10 to 13, before playing the final par 3 and then 2 very difficult holes before coming out for a nice closing set in the 17th and 18th. 7 out of 10
Course Conditioning: Not very good. The fairways were reasonably smooth, but they were still spotty and were very damp. The greens were very soft and bumpy as well. The greens are maintained at slow speeds in an effort to improve pace of play; that should be commended. The course was just fair in condition. 4 out of 10
Walkability: The course can be walked very easily. There were a few significant hills, but one of the players in my group was in his 60s and was able to walk the course fine. There were a few slightly longer walks, but nothing major. 7 out of 10.
Atmosphere: None. It's a standard municipal course, not really the place to go expecting some cool vibe. Just pay the fee and go. And that's fine. 1 out of 10
Total: 58 out of 100. In my opinion, this is the best public golf courses I've played in New Jersey. I've played 3 courses in Gulfweed Magazine's Top 15 best in state (Neshanic Valley, Hominy Hill, and Galloping Hill). This course tops all of them by a pretty wide margin.
Pictures and a hole-by-hole look at the course will come shortly.
Showing posts with label Template Holes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Template Holes. Show all posts
Monday
Modern Day Template Holes: The Island
The Island green hole is one of the most used modern 'Template' holes. These holes are not all identical, or very close, like the Macdonald School holes, but the concept is certainly the same for each hole. The nature of the green, being surrounded by water, makes the hole somewhat uniquely capable of bringing drama and a high point to the round.
While not the first Island green built, that distinction is generally thought to belong to Ponte Vedra Country Club just a short ways away, the 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass (PLAYERS Stadium) is the hole that started the trend of island greens. The positioning in the round and the length of the hole, combined with the water-surrounded green, give players in match or stroke play opportunity for any score from 1, which we have seen during the PLAYERS Championship numerous times, to the 66 that Angelo Spagnolo made during the Golf Digest Worst Avid Golfer contest. That is the kind of drama and build-up that other courses have attempted when building the Island hole.
The 17th hole at PGA West (Stadium). This one was designed by Pete Dye a few years after the one at Sawgrass. In the same way, it provides the unique drama to the round, but this hole is over 20 yards longer than the hole at Sawgrass, making it much more difficult.
This is the 16th at Golden Horseshoe (Gold) in Williamsburg, Virginia. This is a much older Island hole, dating to 1964. Obviously the concept is the same, but this hole has more room for the player to miss the green, being surrounded by 5 bunkers and significant rough space.
This one, from Stone Harbor in New Jersey, is one of the holes that went beyond a normal Island concept and into foolishness. This green has since been rebuilt, likely at significant cost, into something more normal. This hole, and the one below, represent what the Island has become to many places, a gimmick to draw attention to the course.
The 14th hole at Coeur d'Alene Resort in Idaho is a true island green, requiring the player to take a boat ride in order to reach the green. The green is located on a barge and the yardage can be changed day to day by allowing the green to float out farther from land. Again, a bit of a gimmick to draw attention.
The Island template is a solid hole. There are those out there who believe that holes with forced water carries are generally unfair. Perhaps they are. After all, there are virtually no options for the player when playing an Island hole. However, there do not always need to be numerous options for the play of a hole. The problem with the Island template or concept of that it has become somewhat overused and that has tarnished the quality of drama and flow to a round this type of hole can provide. But when executed well, this hole provides a high point to a round not matched by many other holes or especially hole types.
Friday
Template Holes of the Macdonald School: The Biarritz
The Biarritz is one of the four standard par three holes used by the designers in the Macdonald School of design, Charles Blair Macdonald, Seth Raynor, and Charles Banks. This hole was typically intended to be the longest par three on the course, sometimes out to 220 yards, a significant distance today much less in the 1920's and 1930's. The idea of the hole is that the green has a large front tier and a large back tier with a fairly deep depression between them.
The idea with this hole is that the player should be face with a long enough shot that he must land the shot at the front of the green and run it through the depression in order to reach the back of the green. Like many of the holes built by Macdonald, this hole style is not used very often in modern days due to the shift of golf from a running shot game to an aerial shot game.
There are two basic types of the biarritz, seen in the images below:
This one pictured above is from St. Louis Country Club and is maintained with the front plateau as part of the green. This allows the club to cut the pin on the front portion of the green and mandate the player land short of the green in the approach if he desires to roll the ball onto the green.
This one, from Chicago Golf Club, only maintains the the rear plateau as green. The front plateau and the depression are all maintained at fairway height. This mandates the player land the shot short of the depression on the fairway cut in order to run the ball back to the hole.
The newest Biarritz built, the 8th hole at Old Macdonald in Bandon, OR, is much shorter than the old standard and is meant to be approached with low running shots using mid-irons. Hardly the hole of year's past. The hole is a solid hole in it's own right, but not the long yardage hole with very long green and deep depression like many might have expected.
Overall, this is a superb hole type. If a hole of this nature were to be built today, however, it would need to be built out to 250+ yards in order to challenge the best players with fairway woods or drivers. Indeed, a Biarritz hole is in play on the PGA Tour, at The Old White TPC at The Greenbrier, and those golfers are approaching the hole with high lofted shots from middle irons, rather than low, running shots from long irons and fairway woods. Perhaps one day designers will take the risk and build another of these holes as it was meant to be played.
The idea with this hole is that the player should be face with a long enough shot that he must land the shot at the front of the green and run it through the depression in order to reach the back of the green. Like many of the holes built by Macdonald, this hole style is not used very often in modern days due to the shift of golf from a running shot game to an aerial shot game.
There are two basic types of the biarritz, seen in the images below:
The newest Biarritz built, the 8th hole at Old Macdonald in Bandon, OR, is much shorter than the old standard and is meant to be approached with low running shots using mid-irons. Hardly the hole of year's past. The hole is a solid hole in it's own right, but not the long yardage hole with very long green and deep depression like many might have expected.
Overall, this is a superb hole type. If a hole of this nature were to be built today, however, it would need to be built out to 250+ yards in order to challenge the best players with fairway woods or drivers. Indeed, a Biarritz hole is in play on the PGA Tour, at The Old White TPC at The Greenbrier, and those golfers are approaching the hole with high lofted shots from middle irons, rather than low, running shots from long irons and fairway woods. Perhaps one day designers will take the risk and build another of these holes as it was meant to be played.
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