The Washington herald., 1922-02-26

L nave probably been asked a
thousand times what considered
the finest golf holes or the greatest
golf courses I have ever played 1t
will not be my purpose here to rank
holes or courses in the order OF
their merit, as they look to me. but
rather to give some idea of what
consider good samples of good
holes for the four main distances:
1. The short hole.
2. The drive and pitch.
3. The two-shotter.
4. The three-shotter.
A fine golf hole should not only
be hard, well bunkered. well guard
ed. but also interesting.
There are dull. uninteresting
types that also are hard to play,
but ! dorJc consider these great in
any sense of the word. But there
are many hard holes that are fire.
Quent score wreckers to which the
duffer and the star alike look for
ward when they strike that course.
One-shot Samples.
rieties of the one-shot hole. rang
ms llOih a ~ a
drive.
OF the longer distances think
two of the finest one-shot tests l
have ever seen are the twelfth hole
at Garden City and the fifth at Pine
Valley.
The twelfth hole at Garden City
is around IFS yards in length.
There is a deep trap in front of the
green. with guarding mounds TO the
right and left. and then another
trap at the back.
One of the main beauties about
this hole is that one day il may be
only a simple jigEer shot and the
next II may be a spoon or a brassie.
as the wind seems to have way
here of changing its direction and
force with unusual frequency.
II the ball isn't struck in the
right way with the right club there
will be a lot of trouble for the next
shot. And the choice of clubs. with
the strong. shifting winds, is more
important than at any other short
hole l know OF.
The short hole referred to at Pine
Valley is the finest full shot layout
I recall. The tee is elevated. set
back in a pine thicket. There is a
small lake in the valley below. and
out beyond the lake the ground
rises abruptly again to another
plateau that is guarded on either
side. For a medal score il is one
OF the most terrifying spectacles |
know of. The carry over the lake
to the top Of the guarding ledge. a
sand barrier 20 feet high. is around
$50 yards. The green itself is about
210 or 215 yards away from the tee.
so no ball that isn't hit for both
distance and direction will do any
good And just an average. pretty
good shot here isn't much better on
than a poor one.
Other fine one-shot holes are the
tenth at Pelham, the fifteenth at
Hollywood. the Redan at Merton,
and the thirteenth at Sleepy Hollow.
the latter with its river palisade
background and its lane of naples,
being one of the prettiest in the
world
The Two-Shotters.
Pine Valley. outside of Philadel-
phia in New Jersey, has two OF the
finest two-shot types I know of.
The first is No. s. a drive and pitch.
There are very few good two-shot
hoIees in the United States of the
drive and pitch type. They are .ex-
tremely rare. for in most cases you
can miss your tee shot and still get
home.
The eighth hole at Pine Valley is
about 800 yards long. The long.
narrow, we'll trapped green runs in
a diagonal way, where 1t is neces-
sary to play well to the right 10
place the tee shot in the vicinity of
a certain spot to have the right
pitch to the green. II the tee isct
placed correctly il is necessary to
pitch over a deep trap to a very
narrow green.
The longer type at Pine Valley is
the fourteenth, a dog-leCged hole
calling for two long. accurate shots
with driver and brassie, or driver
and driving iron or spoon. A Ions
drive leaves you on an upland
stretch of ground with a waste OF
sand and deep valley between you
and the green, also on a plateau.
Another fine full two-shot type is
the thirteenth at Knickerbocker,
N. J.. a 450-yard hole fianked> by
woodlands and guarded by two
streams that cross the course. In
neither case is there a chance to
miss either the drive or second-shot
and get home. 50
other fine two-shot types are No.
] at Garden City. No. Is at Pelham.