18 Golf Holes that Make Me Feel Something - Walker Simas

Hole 1: Tobacco Road

Truly one of the hardest hitting opening holes in golf. Whether you know Strantz or not, any sensible person is worried about what’s over those hills. Only when you’re past the first bottleneck do you look back and realize you were taught a very important lesson before hitting your second shot of the day: it’s usually not as scary as it looks. In what other sport can you simply walk around letting your eyes allow fear to enter your brain? With nothing but a bag of sticks and a few balls, the first at Tobacco Road can make you feel the same way you felt asking that girl out for the first time.

Hole 2: Camden Country Club

Camden is one of those courses that, if played enough, will give you good reason to never want to return. Because of that, I find it to be the course I most want to see again. Funny how that works. The second is this gnarly short par three with overhanging pines that may be a bit invasive, but make the hole memorable. The green is like that one pan in an ordinary Ohio diner- been slammed and dented one too many times out of anger- and has been turned over sitting in the corner never to be picked up again. The edges fall into green side bunkers. Sometimes you pray to be in them, other times you watch your ball roll for 15 seconds as it rolls into one. The least desirable of which, you find yourself over the back where you might as well move along quickly because thats where you’re headed anyway. A true “par is your friend”.

Hole 3: Kingston Heath Golf Club

Kingston Heath might be one of the top members courses around because it requires many rounds to understand, but also requires a certain level of skill to attack. Of course, like any good course, you can easily pop a huge score out of foolishness, and the par 4 third is perhaps the best example. Driveable on a good day (284 front)- nobody will stop you from taking on the challenge. The green is angled from back right to front left and is wedged between a calvary of bunkers and teatree (if you don’t know, you don’t want to know). The architects will tell you to lay up short of the left fairway bunkers, which looks ridiculous from the teeing ground- only 205 off the tee. When standing short of them, it's clear that they’re right. Sometimes to win the long game, you must be willing to appear as the fool. Let them go for it, we’ll tally it up later.

Hole 4: Wilshire Country Club

One of the most versatile, “ring out the towel” par threes I’ve ever seen is the 4th at Wilshire. As we have said many times, the creek game there is not to be out-competed (willing to hear counters). The skinny green spans seventy yards from front to back, with a creek guarding the entire front half on all sides. Playing a mere 140 to a front pin- no big deal. The back, however, is guarded by bunkers on all sides, and at 195 shot becomes a bit more intimidating. Makes you forget about that creek REEEAL quick. There are three ways to increase the variety of a par 3: more sectioned off hole locations, different hazards compete with, or a drastic change in yardage. The 4th at Wilshire does all three- and well.

Hole 5: Pinehurst No. 2

I’ll just go ahead now and concede that I’m choosing this hole because I think it has one of the best greens on the planet, but so far we’ve had: (1) an eyefuck, (2) a bludger par three, (3) a drivable par four that you shouldn’t go for, and (4) a green so long and well protected that it might as well be two equally good par threes. The 5th at Pinehurst is like trying to pet a lion except, in golf, it’s a “must pet to move on” type situation. We can argue over par (4 or 5), but in reality it doesn’t matter much does it? It’s a lion for God’s sake! Does it matter if it's a small one or a big one? The drive is your decision to start walking towards the cat. Ok, fine, I can do this… how hard could it be? The 2nd, should I just go for it? I have to face it eventually. If a layup is chosen, thats you- in close proximity to the living, breathing, thing that could- and will- eject you for all eternity with no remorse for you feelings.

Hole 6: Los Angeles North

The 6th is one of those “you can and will eat cake- you can eat it upside-down, sideways, or any other way you like, but you’re going to eat it” holes. And for those who weren’t bold enough, LACC shows us how little undulation is needed to create a world class hole that gives each and every player a chance to leave with a satisfied sweet tooth and a clean face or the very real chance at leaving like you just left a clown festival as the unlucky victim. As far as golf goes, its a hole worth studying just because of how insane it really is.

Hole 7: Maidstone Club

One of my favorite cape templates out there, the par four 7th at Maidstone seems to give the devil on your shoulder more power than the angel. With two choices in front of you- lay up or go for gold- the one determining factor is the wind. I love when otherwise simple shots (220 yard layup or stock driver at a target) are amped up with some good old fashioned fear. And among the best parts of good design is the power of choice.

Hole 8: Colleton River (Dye)

I never give the Pate and Alice Dye enough credit. The par five 8th is one of my favorites. The bunker complex on the right side of the fairway down the right is far beyond the landing zone, but because it is built up higher than the rest of the hole the fairway is hidden between a water, a diagonal guard bunker, and this complex far beyond reach. Once standing in the fairway, you realize how much room you had. The next test in the second shot asks you to carry a shot to a number on a specific line. Three main layup zones provide different looks to the green. Going for it requires two great shots, and it can be done.

Hole 9: TPC Sawgrass (Stadium)

Dare I go back to back Dye 5’s? You bet. I saw the opportunity and I took it. This edition is similar in that all the same hazards are out to play, involved on the same shots. First things first, we know that it takes two great shots to reach. If that’s what you’re interested in, the pond WILL be a factor. Three good shots will give you a look, and anything worse could lead to bogey. In competitive golf (which Sawgrass was built for), the spread matters. Two shot swings send guys down 7 spots on the leaderboard going into the back nine- or 7 up! These decisions and shots separate the best from the very best, and that’s why we love it.

Hole 10: Rustic Canyon

When your’e at a great restaurant and there’s a simple item on the menu, you should probably order it. I bet they do it pretty well. To me, the 10th at Rustic Canyon is this. Not that I’m shaking in my boots, it’s just one of those holes that is good to they eye. The bunker complex sprawls out of the left native, cutting diagonally through the right side of the hole up to the green. Because of this simple feature, the hole feels as if it was meant to be there. Tucked away from the clubhouse, the 10th at Rustic feels unlike most.

Hole 11: Country Club of Charleston

C’maaannnnn, what’s not to like here? What’s not to FEAR here? That’s the whole game isn’t it? Acknowledging the trouble, THEN ignoring it? Playing the 11th at CCC is a feeling that’s worth having in golf. I’ll take you through my though process:

Step 1: Long bunker no good

Step 2: False front no good

Step 3: Right bunker ok

Step 4: Take front of false front #

Step 5: Add 5 yards

Step 6: Account for all the things

Step 7: Pick one and go

For every ten thousand mid irons on the practice tee or any golf course, you’ll play few like this one. Just some silly hills and hollows will get you thinking real quick.

Hole 12: Mid Pines

One dinner I’d love to be a part of is Donald Ross and Kyle Franz, if we were to be so lucky. Growing up, Mid Pines was my favorite golf course. The 12th always presented itself as annoying, but it was always a beautiful hole that made sense as far as strategy goes. The fairway sweeps left in slope and in direction. A few sandy areas poke out from the native looking for stray balls in the landing zone, and the green is oriented sideways across from the approaching golfer. A “good drive” down the left would leave a shorter, more uphill approach, with a flatter lie, and a better look into the green. Conversely, a drive up the right lends all the opposite and more difficult factors. The green side bunker on the right is one of the hardest bunkers on the course, with a green that is pitched away from you. Good clean golf.

Hole 13: St Andrews Beach

Michael Clayton has probably spent more time here than anyone else on the internet, and when he showed me around this Doak Gem I was stunned at how good it was. The 13th is this 500 yard par four, playing downwind to a massive, rock hard fairway with a long iron or wood approach to a tiny green surrounded by a massive bowl of tightly mown turf. The surrounds act as a punchbowl and is one of the most clever holes I’ve seen. When I was standing in the fairway feeling the breeze at my back, I thought “this is genius routing”.

Hole 14: Quail Hollow

On a course worth criticizing given its influence in the sport, Quail’s 14th is truly one of the best holes in competitive golf that also serves as a fun hole for members. The best greens border on insanity and this one in the right conditions gets that way too. Options are presented early- you can tackle the hole however you like, which is a huge plus. Despite a careful approach, all players will have to face the green and its proximity to the giant pond beside it.

Hole 15: Wild Horse

Everything about Wild Horse is special including the 15th. The serpentine fairway, the Shinnecock style bunkers, the angled green guarded by a front bunker and a back bunker that bends into some native shrub- its chef’s kiss stuff. Though it’s not a long hole (especially if you hit mad dingers) the hazards push you to play to the right side of the fairway, leaving a blind approach to nothing but a flagstick. The difference of 20 yards in distance and line can make this par four an easy birdie or a nervy gritty par. At only 340, I’d say that’s pretty special.

Hole 16: The Tree Farm

Ok, so what do we look for? Let’s do a checklist. Strategy, check. Width and options, check. Aesthetics, check. One or more interesting features, check. The par five 16th at Tree Farm would probably be a good hole just because of it’s green. If the entire hole were dead flat and boring, it would still probably be a memorable, talked about hole. Off the tee though, a player who its the ball average length should have 250 yards of width, shaped by three good looking bunkers and woods. The approach rolls down into a valley that feeds directly into the 14th, and the 17th tee sits just above the massive cutout bunker long of the green. It’s a masterpiece.

Hole 17: Landmand Golf Club

Ya know, I’m kinda kicking myself for not choosing the 12th at Landmand (or the 17th at Seminole), because 17 at Landmand is the front-cover star. With the green being 30k square feet (over half an acre), there’s enough variety to keep anyone occupied for multiple lifetimes. An ode to Alister Mazkenzie’s Sitwell, the eroded hillside is as extreme as it gets.

It’s hard to stand on that tee (especially at sundown) and not feel like you’re seeing something pretty special.

Hole 18: Cherry Hills

I love a par five finisher as much as the rest of you, but we’ve had some great ones today, and after all that fun I think a nice kick in the teeth is in order. The par four 18th at Cherry should be fresh after the US Amateur, but if it isn’t, let me refresh your memory. Left, no good. Any sensible person misses right, leaving a near impossible shot to the green surface. That’s asking for one thing and one thing only: execution. Make 4, go enjoy your shower. Make 5 or more and it will be because of that tee shot. It’s the reason so many love to hate it.

Cheers,

WS