| Championship |
581 |
| Maroon |
548 |
| Teal |
532 |
| Orange |
468 |
| Green |
462 |
| Ocean |
453 |
| Khaki |
453 |
| D. Muirhead |
303 |
Par
(Mens/Ladies) |
5/5 |
Handicap
(Mens/Ladies) |
1/1
|
|
|
After three holes, it starts to get more challenging, and challenge is the essence of golf. Here I have taken the Redan principal of diagonal penalty to its ultimate, using angles fairways instead of traps. This is called an heroic carry. Off the tee you can belt out as long a drive as you date to a diagonal fairway, which will make the second shot that much easier. To add fuel to the challenge, I have added a multiple-choice option with an electrifying tee shot over water, and a dramatic choice of routes.
When we first introduced multiple-choice water holes in the 1960's, I never emphasized the island on those earlier courses as I have on this hole. I have also tried to make it the symbol of Beauty in the name. The Beast in turn is suggested by the ragged maze of traps on the mainland fairways which are ferocious enough to scare my friends, Mary Gavin and Old Joe Plunkett, and being Irish, they can take some scaring.
The mixed-up rough on these mounds is Carnoustie-style, where some say you need a rake instead of a wedge. It is the only really vicious rough which comes into play on the course, and the fairway at this point is barely 40 yards wide. When Jack Nicklaus kindly opend my new course at Bay Valley, Michigan, he felt that a 40-yard water-edged fairway was unfair. So I know that the tee shot on this hole favors the island.
In contrast, the island itself is 60 yards with perimeter ridges near the water to hold the well-hit ball in play. So it is just much better to play the island, period.
The carry from the championship tee is less than 180 yards, normally downwind. From the regular tee it is much less, so even short hitters can have a whack at the island route. There is a special tee for ladies.
For the second shot there is a large fairway landing area which even timid golfers can treat as a heroic carry. Longer hitters from the island can go for the green on the second shot; it is bulkheaded and slopes directly toward the golfer. A birdie or eagle is possible with a superlative carry. If you come in from the fairway side, however, it is much harder to hold the north side of the green which now slopes away from you.
So we have a fair and resonable island route or a mainland fraught with peril and difficulty. It is a hole that I have long wanted to do. I believe it to be the essence of the so-called strategic design. It embraces all the Homeric ideas of courage rewarded for obstacles overcome by bravery, tenacity, and sheer ability. Odysseus would have like this hole.
Desmond Muirhead |