Philly Golf Guy
#PGG
- Joined
- Nov 7, 2012
- Messages
- 9,103
- Reaction score
- 7
- Handicap
- USGA 14
Just thought of another gimmicky hole but it probably falls into the unfair category. Since the course was designed in the mid1920s it was probably considered extremely gimmicky for the time:
200+yrd par 3 with a 180+yrd carry over water from a significantly elevated tee to a very deep green (maybe 50+ yards deep) with a Biarritz separating the front and back that is a couple feet deep and 8-10 feet wide. Lays out beautifully but if you are in the valley in the middle of the green or have to putt across it, good luck in 3-putting the green. The pin was seldom in the back but if it was in the back it became a 220-230 yard par 3 where if you landed the ball short of the valley on the green, you would be lucky to get a 4 and would be happy with a 5. It is the 9th hole and as a result can either kill a round or propel you with confidence onto the back 9. Overall a "fun" and beautiful hole but just plain unfair.
This is the a Ninth at Yale and is considered one of the most classically well done par 3's in the country. It is not gimmicky at all and was never considered as such. The designer, Seth Raynor, incorporates template designs and the Biarritz green had been around more than a 100 years before the course at Yale was designed.
I played it as a 20 handicap and parred the hole as well.
I don't think the hole is unfair at all; the green is enormous, so even if you end up in the Biarritz or on the other side, you are putting.
To me, gimmicky is something that is contrived, or existing only for attention. The floating green at Coeur D'Alene is a good example.