Golf Club Atlas

How the ball interacts with the ground is at the soul of good golf. The natural, random land conformations found on links are ideal but skilled artifice is needed for an inland course to enjoy the same playing attributes. In all the world, some of the most graceful man-made contours of the sort that are perfect for golf are found at Wolf Point, a Mike Nuzzo design in Texas. Appreciate the scope of contour in the photograph against the silhouette of Green Keeper Don Mahaffey.

Ran Morrissett, the author of the above quote, started Golf Club Atlas ~12 years ago as a place to share pictures and golf stories with his friends.  It has grown into much more.  He came to visit recently. Wolf Point is currently the welcome picture to his website.  I'll be sharing more in the future about our round and his thoughts on the course.  Cheers

Validation of Wolf Point's double green at 8 & 18

Recently I had a business round at Wolf Point.  We play the 8th as a warm up hole to get to the first tee.  The 8th and 18th share one large 14,000 sft putting surface.  In describing my hesitation to build a double green, he said "it would have been silly not to have done so".  There have been so many gimmicky, goofy, ugly and unplayable double greens built in the modern era.  


It turns out that our double green was going to prove it's authenticity today. Pictured below was the first time we played the green on our regulation round.  My guest is putting from the 18th green towards my ball near the 8th hole.  His shot drew a little too much and the swale exaggerated his miss.  I took the pic mid shot, he wound up inside my ball.  Nice pars.
(click the pictures for the bigger versions)

On the last hole of the day my approach ran a little long into the swale and my guest's ran quite a bit further, again the swale exaggerating his miss.  Below is his next to last putt of the day, from the 8th green to the 18th hole.  Proof that this green complex is no gimmick.  Both greens are in play from both holes.  Maybe next time we'll play to the opposite greens.

Double Green

I don't think much of double greens outside of St. Andrews. These double greens, 8 & 18, just evolved. I kept shifting the 8th green during the routing process to minimize the walk to 9 tee.  You can play to either one from either hole, and with the flag near the swale it is a trick shot.  Hitting an approach on 18 can run long to the swale, and a slight pull on the long par 3 8th will also find the swale.

From the other direction:

Clubhouse View

Here is the view from the clubhouse I mentioned yesterday. There are several tees to the 8th & 18th green around the deck just in case after a few beers someone thinks they can have another crack at the day's victor.

Juilliard's Golf Program

I recently got a wonderfully flattering e-mail from a post-graduate student from Juilliard wanting to persue his other passion of golf course design.  It is an extremely competitive market for projects and for those that want to enter the business.  I've heard many architects tell prospective applicants not to even bother - it is just too hard today - which is very good and accurate advice.  I try to be a little more optimistic - doubtful - but still optimistic.

His message was inspiring for me and I'm honored to be its recipeint and better understand how lucky I am to be in the position I am.  Thank you.

Pictured above is the 18th green from above.  Sometimes the clouds make the picture too.

The 18th

The 18th green complex is quite wild. There is a large swale that passes behind the small putting surface - the 18th is part of a double green complex so in the above illustration the swale passes from right to left through the middle of the green. The back right pin is my favorite due to the sharp fall off behind and to the right - it is on a very steep and high corner.

There is a split fairway and ultimately two major influences that would help the player choose which one to play. The short par 4 plays into the prevailing wind, making the creek crossing tee shot much riskier on a brisk day. The pin placement can provide an advantage from either fairway as well. I thought at great lenght to make each fairway an option - sometimes with very subtle ideas, but ultimately the wind will play the biggest factor.

I also like starting and finishing on short par 4s - I only know of one other example - The Old Course at St. Andrews.

Earlier Holes Featured: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 -11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17.