| Championship |
399 |
| Maroon |
369 |
| Teal |
359 |
| Orange |
359 |
| Green |
339 |
| Ocean |
319 |
| Khaki |
319 |
| D. Muirhead |
213 |
Par
(Mens/Ladies) |
4/4 |
Handicap
(Mens/Ladies) |
12/10
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Another water hole was unavoidable here, as I had established the theme and the view from the clubhouse, which I wanted to be sustained. Here was an island surrounded by water, then by golf holes, then sometimes water again. It was an advance on the design we had done for Desert Island in Palm Springs, California, some 12 years ago. However, to avoid too many water holes, I have tried to de-emphasize the water on this hole.
Although you cannot ignore the water, it is on the hook side and the fairway is so wide the lake should hardly come into play. It is mental rather than a physical hazard. Again the green in surrounded by high protective mounds, which will gather and hold any shot hit directly toward it.
The green itself is flattened with a maximum of even surface for pin placement. When Jack Nicklaus and I were partners, Jack used to stress that half the strokes in golf were putts, which puts an unfair emphasis on good putters at the expense of the other skills in golf. Severe rolls, he said, made this situation much worse. I agreed with him then and I still do.
I believe that heavily rolling greens should be occasional rather than the rule on the course and cannot understand the present trend to six-foot-deep roller coaster undulations unless they are outside the green area.
On this hole, the hovering curved slope before the green symbolizes flight and the fluid form traps in line astern (or left echelon, as my friend Bill Harvey puts it) recall my own war-time flying days, a series of Immelaman loops perhaps. They terminate with two traps of a similar kind on the green and the central grass section in each trap provides a figure-ground relationship, which emphasizes the line astern theme.
As has been pointed out, the ball is also a reminder of our hunting history with the spear, and our future as astronauts, so flight and golf are close together. This should be a pleasant hole for the beginning fo the back nine and, mercy of mercies- Mercury, flight and the southwest wind are behind us again!
Desmond Muirhead |