Golf's Finest Par Threes , livre ebook

Ecw Press - Michael Bartlett

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229 pages

English

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Golf

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Publié par	Ecw Press
Date de parution	01 avril 2011
Nombre de lectures	3
EAN13	9781554909735
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	5 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,1000€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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Acknowledgments
To Leslie for her love and support in life and photography.
To Jim McCann — a plus-three in the mind game.
When we began this endeavor some three years ago with the question, “Has anyone ever written a book about the great par-three holes?” we had no idea how much work would go into selecting and researching the core 100 (along with others) presented here. For sure, we have measurably enhanced our personal understanding of golf course architecture and the one-shot hole in particular.
Some of our material derives from the books in our bibliography. Among those listings, we need to pay special thanks to those who have devoted years to studying and writing specifically about the great architects and golf courses of the world. These include: Ron Whitten, Geoff Shackelford, Forrest Richardson, Bradley Klein, Bill Davis and the editors at Golf Digest , George Peper and the editors at Golf magazine, Mark Rowlinson, Malcolm Campbell, David Barrett, Paul Daley and Tom Ramsey.
We took inspiration from the work of great golf writers, among them Bernard Darwin, Peter Dobereiner, Dan Jenkins, Henry Longhurst, Charles Price, Pat Ward-Thomas and Herbert Warren Wind.
We could not have completed the presentation of our “Finest Holes” without the generous contributions of our many friends who specialize and excel in photographing golf courses worldwide. We applaud their artistic excellence and dedication to making golf photography about the love of the game. A special thanks to our longtime friend Brian Morgan for his encouragement, recommendations and images. Evan Schiller and Pat Drickey contributed their photographs with enthusiasm for the project, as did Paul Handley and Jim Krajicek. Russell Kirk, Joann Dost, Geoff Shackelford and Ken May went the extra mile to find needed images. We also want to mention Bob Schank, a talented amateur photographer, who discovered the joy of shooting at dawn at Medinah No. 3 . All of our contributing photographers are listed in the back of the book along with their websites where you will find a cornucopia of the very best in golf photography.
Our gratitude goes to expert readers Al Barkow, Joe Passov, Forrest Richardson, Lorne Rubenstein and Matt Vorda, who gave valuable time to review the entire manuscript. Their corrections, observations and suggestions made this a much better book.
Among golf course architects who took time to respond to our questions about par threes, we would like to cite Bill Coore, Pete and Alice Dye, Tom Fazio, David McLay Kidd, Jay Morrish, Dick Nugent, Gary Panks, Kyle Phillips, Forrest Richardson and Tom Weiskopf.
Architect Tom Doak deserves special recognition for providing help on multiple fronts — with his unique Confidential Guide to Golf Courses , photos of some of the holes and a careful reading of the original text.
Our early research began at the United States Golf Association library where Nancy Stulack and David Fay provided access to a treasure-trove of golf course literature.
Those who bring a book idea to publishers are of course key to the project. When Farley Chase called from Scott Waxman Literary Agency, we knew we had an idea worth doing. And Farley made sure we shaped our proposal just so, thus exerting an early and important influence on the final product. We thank him for his editing skills and encouragement along the way.
To all those at ECW Press — Jack David, Jennifer Knoch, Tania Craan, Erin Creasey and Simon Ware — our gratitude for taking the concept and making it into something we can share with golfers everywhere.
Our sincere thanks to Pete and Alice Dye for generously contributing a foreword. Their words and work speak for themselves.
Finally, we want to thank Leslie Roberts, whose steadfast goodwill and culinary talents kept the authors on an even keel; Jim and Karen McCann, whose hospitality sustained our early research; and Charlie Bartlett, who always knew a good par three when he saw one.

Foreword
During our fifty years designing courses we have always tried to wed the best of old and new. Our first experiences playing St. Andrews Old Course and many classic venues in Scotland, Ireland and England grounded us in a style of design that favors nature’s unpredictability. We fell in love with the eccentricities that dominate early layouts like Prestwick, Nairn, Cruden Bay, Royal Dornoch and Royal County Down, and the work of Old Tom Morris, James Braid, Harry S. Colt and Donald Ross. Some of the par threes we saw and studied remain favorites — the fifteenth at Cruden Bay, North Berwick’s original Redan, the Postage Stamp and the Eden at St. Andrews.
Although we have built some outstanding par fours and fives, the world knows us for our par threes — the ocean holes at Teeth of the Dog and Kiawah Island, number seventeen at TPC Sawgrass and PGA West, the lakeside threes at Whistling Straits and the seventeenth at Harbour Town. We delight in the one-shot holes for many reasons. For example, the tee shot on a par three is in our control. This lets us select yardages and angles that produce different challenges. We also make sure every golfer can select a club that will allow him or her a chance to reach the green. Because the threes are spatially condensed, we treat them like a beautiful painting that will leave a lasting image in the mind of each golfer.
When Michael Bartlett and Tony Roberts approached us about writing a foreword for their book, we found the idea of devoting a volume to the art and science of the one-shot hole intriguing. After reading it, we can safely say they have succeeded in producing a memorable combination of informative writing and striking photography. We were particularly impressed with the section on blind holes, the book’s homage to those old-fashioned creations. It put us in mind of what Tommy Armour said to critics of blind holes: “A hole is only blind once for a golfer with a good memory.” The variety of categories showcases the wonderful diversity that defines golf’s playing field. We are pleased to see that the holes chosen are a roll call of the best architects and great courses, our own among them.
So, we encourage you to settle in and enjoy a reading tour through some of the world’s great par-three holes. We are glad to be part of it.
— Pete and Alice Dye

INTRODUCTION
In Praise of Golf’s One-Shot Hole
“The merit of any hole is not judged by its length but rather by its interest and variety. It isn’t how far but how good!” — A. W. Tillinghast, Golden Age course architect
Alcatraz . . . Biarritz . . . Cleopatra . . . Dell . . . Eden . . . Himalayas . . . Postage Stamp . . . Redan. Ask someone to identify these names and they might respond: prison, city in France, Egyptian queen, secluded glen, paradise, mountain, mail fee, fortification. And they would be right. But for golfers, the correct answer is that each belongs on a list of the game’s best-known par-three holes. All owe their fame to a natural setting and the imaginative genius of gifted course designers who believed that less can really be more.
At last count the United States Golf Association library contains 25,000 books, including 1,200 under the heading “Golf Courses.” Search as one may, there is no volume devoted solely to the par-three hole. This was a curious omission that we decided to rectify. Our goal: Canvass the world for some of the finest, most interesting, dramatic, beautiful, historic, delightful and confounding one-shot holes and assemble them in a collection that showcases their particular virtues and role in golf history.
Why else a book on par-three holes? Looked at imaginatively, a par three is “the whole-in-one.” Most par threes let a golfer see the entire challenge — tee to green — and, with skill and luck, complete the hole in a single shot — the ace.
In a distance-obsessed era, the threes remind us that controlled shotmaking is fundamental to the game, and, on many short holes, finesse is all. Augusta National Golf Club #12, Cypress Point Club #15 and Royal Troon Golf Club #8 exemplify this dimension.
Maybe too it’s about respect. Golf’s short holes are sometimes overshadowed by the tougher handicap holes that comprise the finishing stretches on a course. But look deeper, and gradually the list of threes that regularly produce high scores grows. They aren’t pushovers, for sure. And golf history highlights many a par-three seventeenth — the Tournament Players Club at Sawgrass, Pebble Beach Golf Links and Pinehurst Country Club No. 2 Course, for example — that has determined victory or defeat in major competitions.
In his “Thirteen Principles” of golf course design, Dr. Alister MacKenzie, creator of Augusta National and Cypress Point, stated firmly that there should be “at least four one-shot holes” on every course. In his case, he also laid out two in a row (the fifteenth and sixteenth at Cypress Point), or made the eighteenth a three (Pasatiempo Golf Club). As we shall document, course architects know the importance of well-made, strategically placed one-shotters and use them to enhance the quality of a course.
We very much subscribe to the thought of Japanese architect Shunsuke Kato who said, “The importance of the par-three hole is that it truly represents the designer’s policy as to the character of the golf course. It is a wrong idea that a par-three hole is easy to make because it is just a short yardage. The [good] designer puts his heart into making a par-three hole special among others.” The top courses are distinguished by a strong complement of par threes, each good to great. In many cases, one of the threes becomes the signature hole.
To set the stage for our collection, a Prologue presents the origin of three famous one-shot holes. This is followed by a brief essay, titled “Evolution,” which highlights the thoughts of leading designe