Post by Richie3Jack on May 17, 2010 11:36:46 GMT -5
Hamilton Mill is one of my favorite Canongate courses. It's a Fred Couples design, very hilly with some very tough greens. It's about 7,000 yards from the back tees and I think it's a 138 slope. IMO, it should be at least a 142 slope because it can really hammer you.
I was told that they lost their greens for 3 years in a row before I joined, but last year they made the greens grow a bit and cut them less, providing for solid, healthy greens that were a bit slow. The rest of the course is in good shape come spring.
Not a lot of water on the course, but where the difficulty lies is in the length and the lies in the fairways. 7,000 isn't exactly super long, but some of these holes are straight up hill and only #10 is really downhill of any noticeable difference (well #17 is downhill, but it's a long par-3)
One thing I like is their first hole. To me this is what a first hole should look like, wide open but you have to hit it well or you'll have a long club into the green. From there the course isn't particularly tight by any means and you can see Couples' influence behind the design.
The great holes are #3 (par-5), #4 (par-3), #6 (par-4), #7 (par-5), #10 (par-5), #11 (par-4).
The questionable holes are #2 (par-4), #9 (par-4), #15 (par-3)
The bad holes are #5 (par-4) and #18 (par-4)
I think #11 may be their best designed hole, although not the prettiest (that belongs to #4). It's a relatively short par-4, but with fairway bunkers strategically placed so you can't go right and the trees on the left will scare you. If you hit a good driver, you have a huge advantage over hitting a good, safe 3-wood because the approach to the green is so difficult. And even if you hit a good driver, it's a good test with a wedge to the green.
The questionable holes are more or less questionable because of the way they are sloped and the problems that can be presented if the wind is gusting and blowing into the golfer's face.
The only issue I have with Hamilton Mill is #5 and #18 are awful golf holes and there's no reason to be. #5 is about 390 yards, but straight up hill. The green is about 40 yards wid, but about 20 yards deep...so it's a very shallow green. It also sits on a crown. If they stick the pin front left, you can hit 2 spectacular shots and still come away with a double or a 4-putt. While that makes the hole difficult, they also have a giant tree in the way that if you hit a good drive right down the middle, you'll have to find a way around it. If they just cut down that tee, they would take an awful hole and make it a very tough hole that can be a little ridiculous at times.
#18 is 435 yards, straight uphill. There used to be water that ran up the left side and then up short of the green. I can see why they took that out because it would probably cause an average score of higher than double bogey. But instead of taking it out and putting grass over it, they made a brick retaining wall in front of the green. And you HAVE to play from there without a drop.
I think I'm more amazed by the members who actually like the retaining wall. It's beyond goofy.
But still, a good course if you can avoid the trouble on those 2 holes and it has a lot of good holes and you will get your practice in on difficult fairway lies.
3JACK
I was told that they lost their greens for 3 years in a row before I joined, but last year they made the greens grow a bit and cut them less, providing for solid, healthy greens that were a bit slow. The rest of the course is in good shape come spring.
Not a lot of water on the course, but where the difficulty lies is in the length and the lies in the fairways. 7,000 isn't exactly super long, but some of these holes are straight up hill and only #10 is really downhill of any noticeable difference (well #17 is downhill, but it's a long par-3)
One thing I like is their first hole. To me this is what a first hole should look like, wide open but you have to hit it well or you'll have a long club into the green. From there the course isn't particularly tight by any means and you can see Couples' influence behind the design.
The great holes are #3 (par-5), #4 (par-3), #6 (par-4), #7 (par-5), #10 (par-5), #11 (par-4).
The questionable holes are #2 (par-4), #9 (par-4), #15 (par-3)
The bad holes are #5 (par-4) and #18 (par-4)
I think #11 may be their best designed hole, although not the prettiest (that belongs to #4). It's a relatively short par-4, but with fairway bunkers strategically placed so you can't go right and the trees on the left will scare you. If you hit a good driver, you have a huge advantage over hitting a good, safe 3-wood because the approach to the green is so difficult. And even if you hit a good driver, it's a good test with a wedge to the green.
The questionable holes are more or less questionable because of the way they are sloped and the problems that can be presented if the wind is gusting and blowing into the golfer's face.
The only issue I have with Hamilton Mill is #5 and #18 are awful golf holes and there's no reason to be. #5 is about 390 yards, but straight up hill. The green is about 40 yards wid, but about 20 yards deep...so it's a very shallow green. It also sits on a crown. If they stick the pin front left, you can hit 2 spectacular shots and still come away with a double or a 4-putt. While that makes the hole difficult, they also have a giant tree in the way that if you hit a good drive right down the middle, you'll have to find a way around it. If they just cut down that tee, they would take an awful hole and make it a very tough hole that can be a little ridiculous at times.
#18 is 435 yards, straight uphill. There used to be water that ran up the left side and then up short of the green. I can see why they took that out because it would probably cause an average score of higher than double bogey. But instead of taking it out and putting grass over it, they made a brick retaining wall in front of the green. And you HAVE to play from there without a drop.
I think I'm more amazed by the members who actually like the retaining wall. It's beyond goofy.
But still, a good course if you can avoid the trouble on those 2 holes and it has a lot of good holes and you will get your practice in on difficult fairway lies.
3JACK