 Image by jurvetson via Flickr |
| Now this is a tough par 3... |
'Palmerston North golf course architect Tommy Cushnahan was engaged by the club to do the re-design...The hole measures 145 yards from the middle tee to the centre of the green. Personally, when I can no longer hit a ball 145 yards on the fly with any club, I'll give up the game for fear of what I'm doing for the blood pressure of those behind me. I cannot believe that in the land of Colin Meads and Jonah Lomu, there are grumbles about a 145-yard par 3.
...As far as Cushnahan is concerned, it allows him to design an improved hole. "The trick in golf course design is to make it playable for any golfer without taking it away from the top golfers."
As it is now, everyone has to fly the ball on to the green to avoid the bunkers, and that's too tough for many.
"It's a very difficult golf hole for any members to play and for the majority of people who pay their dues," Cushnahan said. "You want the golf experience to be fun."
He wants the bump-and-run shot to become an option.'
What might have happened were floods not a factor? Would Mr Cushnahan have still been briefed for a full-scale revamp, or would reducing that front bunker, making it teasing rather than terrifying, have sufficed? Or might the members might have had a brainwave, opened up the green by playing the hole as a 120-yarder from the forward tees and saved the club a few grand in the process?
And then there's that big patch of open turf between the two bunkers. Controlled fade, anyone?
All right, I'm on the other side of the world but I've seen the thing on Google Earth and as greens go, I think it has a good shape, with plenty of pin placement options. I'm a high-handicapper and I still say I've seen far tougher things than this on a golf course.
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Pic of the Day - Washington's Skamania Lodge Golf Course
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