"I feel it is not out of character. It's simply an extension of the bolder featuring I had attempted at 11 and 15"

I'm trying to get in the mood for the Open and know I will when I get that first whiff of links in HD next Thursday (and no Bobby Clampett!). Perhaps the most interesting pre-tournament item will be the new 17th green and the R&A's ability to manage it.

I was skeptical when they first announced in 2005 that they were redoing the green (a redo of a new green for the last Open at Birkdale) and even Peter Dawson, in his now infamous "the game has moved on since then" press conference understands they have to be careful with the speeds.

Golfweek ran a cartoon lampooning the new No. 17 this week, but Golf Digest's Ron Whitten likes it.

Prior to the 1998 Open, the club also cut down some 6,000 trees that had cluttered the dunes and buffered the mighty winds. Even with a new two-level green, the par-5 17th was the easiest hole in the 1998 Open, so Martin Hawtree rebuilt it a second time, using the back half of the old green as the front half of a new one, and running the remainder up into hand-carved dunes. The contours give the green real character, in contrast to Birkdale's other, more docile greens. He admits some club members don't like it, finding it freakish and out of character. "I feel it is not out of character," he says. "It's simply an extension of the bolder featuring I had attempted at 11 and 15, which were also somewhat controversial after the rebuild."

Ahhhh...the green is not out of character because it matches the other two Hawtree redid.

Now that's an architect who has been spending way too much time around The Donald!

Comments

[Grant]

Having played in The Open in 98, I can say that the only reason 17 played as easy as it did was because it was pretty much down gale all week, and with a front pin on the old green everything ended up pretty close on the front tier. The rest of the course was a monster in the wind (I think the 13th was the first par 4 in a major to play at over 500 yds?- happy to be corrected on that) and it blew pretty hard after the first day. Sorry to hear that some funky greens have been added- the course hardly needs, or deserves it.

Cheers

[golfman]

It is interesting that the two slopiest greens at Birkdale are 11 and 15. Completely unneccesary especially at 11, as the hole will be a driver and long iron or fairway wood if the prevailing winds get above 15-20 mph.As for 17 green, it is simply out of place and ugly. I predict there will be players chipping from one part of the green to another to eliminate some of the rediculous contours.

[johhny knoxville]

The new 17th is just terrible.

I was just so shocked when playing back in 2006.

What is the GCA thinking ? Do they feel they have to leave a mark. Well, they certainly left a mark of shame with that new green 'complex' at Birkdale.

[Otey]

Has Ron Whitten gotten a lot worse in recent years or has he always been this bad?

How does a reputable journalist miss the obvious howler that Hawtree fed him as a rationale for the new 17th green?

My sense is that Whitten isn't doing much more than typing what people at these venues tell him to type. Just the hint of a thought process would be nice.

[Geoff]

Otey,
Oh I disagree. I think Ron caught the howler and made sure to put it in, allowing cynical bloggers and shrewd readers to hear Hawtree's hilarious rationale.

[Otey]

Geoff -

Maybe, maybe not. Hard to tell what Whitten was thinking. Or if he was.

My point is a larger one. Shouldn't the voice with the biggest wattage in golf architecture do more to educate the everyday golfer about gca? Rather than being a cipher for others? As here?

A couple of sentences expressing why he thought Hawtree was right or wrong would have made the piece both more interesting and informative. An easy double kill.

My sense is that more and more of his pieces function simply as microphones for influential architects and others in the business.

[phil]

is hawtree any good? or does he ride a bit on family coattails? any opinions?