Mike Strantz & the C.B. Macdonald Template Holes

Mike Strantz is viewed by many in the golf community as a revolutionary designer. Some of the things he produced on golf courses were visually stunning and unlike little that had been seen before. But once you start digging a bit, get past the shock value visual features, there seem to be some definite old style golf features and even some of the Macdonald School template holes. Now, to be sure, these holes do not look like the simple, yet elegant, templates that Macdonald, Raynor and Banks crafted, but the visual features and playing features are there and show up far too often to be simple coincidence.

The most well known of the Macdonald School holes are the Biarritz, Redan, Punchbowl, Sahara, Cape, Road, and Alps. All of these holes show up at least once on Strantz courses, some of them more. Certainly Strantz went and put his own unique touch on these holes, but the strategic features are still there.

All images, with exception of Bulls Bay images, taken by and used with permission from The Buffalo Golfer: http://www.buffalogolfer.com

Bulls Bay images taken by and used with permission from S. R. Arble.

Biarritz
This is a hole that Strantz created twice. The basic feature of the biarritz hole has been described here before, but generally the hole is defined by a large depression in the middle of the green running side to side. The player is given the opportunity to bring the ball in low, landing it on the front of the green, and rolling to the back.

Tobacco Road, Hole #3, 152 yards

Here, the green starts just beyond the front bunkers, dips down, and rises sharply to the back level. Perhaps not a true Biarritz given that the back level is above that of the front, but the depression and two tiered green is there.

Royal New Kent, Hole #7, 197 yards

This hole is a biarritz/redan hybrid. The depression with two tiers is there, but so is the right-to-left angle and the front kick slope. Strantz used the creek bed in lieu of a bunker as the fronting hazard and put the two pot bunkers in as the rear hazard. The bunkers short of the kick slope are traditional redan features.

Redan

Strantz also crafted this hole twice. The standard Redan has a green that is angled roughly forty-five degrees right-to-left away from the player. Traditionally, the hole has a deep bunker fronting the green and another bunker behind the green to catch shots going long. The hole is also marked by the front to back slope, allowing the players to roll the ball to the back of the green, and the bunkers that are typically short of the front kick slope, bringing distance control more into focus for the player.

Royal New Kent, Hole #7, 197 yards

--Profiled above

Bulls Bay, Hole #7, 180 yards

This hole features the standard Redan shape and the front slope into the opening, However, it lacks the cross bunkers and rear bunker.

Punchbowl

This is a hole that Strantz used a number of times. The basic idea of the Punchbowl is that the green is located in a natural bowl or depression. The slopes of the depression can either be part of the green or part of the surrounding area.

Tobacco Road, Hole #13, 573 yards

This green is most certainly located in a bowl. Much of the green is obscured from view when approaching from the fairway. Options could be incredible if the bowl walls were maintained with shorter turf rather than high love grass.

Bulls Bay, Hole #14, 190 yards

Here, you can see the entire rear and both sides of the green sloping down towards the center of the green. In this case, a portion of the surround is maintained as short turf. This gives the player the chance to use the slope to get a shot closer to the hole...or might improve the positioning of a poorly played shot as well.

Stonehouse, Hole #5, 431 yards

The features are fairly obvious here. Slopes coming into the center from all directions. This might be the most traditional of the punchbowls shown.

Cape

This hole has become something different than it originally was. The original Cape played as a dogleg but the green was located on a peninsula surrounded by water. The original hole has since been altered and today the Cape is typically defined as a dogleg hole where the player is given the option of picking a more or less aggressive line off the tee, typically cutting over some type of hazard. This hole concept is possibly the most copied hole in golf and Strantz made good use of the concept himself.

Tobacco Road, Hole #12, 419 yards

This hole bends significantly to the left around the bunker. The green is farther around the corner, not in the image. The player is able to play the tee shot as far out to the left as he dares.

Tot Hill Farm, Hole #5, 535 yards

While difficult to see in the image, the fairway here runs from right to left, away from the player. Inside the dogleg is a deep depression filled with small trees and shrubs. The most agressive line on this hole is towards the peak of the hill/mountain in the distance.

Royal New Kent, Hole #9, 407 yards

Here, the player is given the chance to pick his line over the creek that is just shy if the fairway. In prior years, the creek also served to separate the fairway on the left from a second fairway on the right. The bunkers await through the fairway to catch golfers getting a little too greedy on the conservative line.

Bulls Bay, Hole #5, 406 yards

This is the first of the Cape holes that really play over a water feature. The marshland must be carried here in order to reach the fairway and the player is able to play as far out right as he feels comfortable doing.

Road
As the name suggests, this hole is patterned after the Road hole 17th at The Old Course. The green typically is narrow and angles right to left. There is also normally a bunker short of the green, ideally a pot bunker to mimick the Road Hole Bunker and some type of hazard long of the green to represent the road itself.

This hole bears more than a passing resemblance to the Road Hole, even if it lacks the bunker short. The tall grass short provides the Road Hole Bunker feature and the wall long, there to keep balls from going onto the public road located about 10 yards beyond the hazard, provides the Road feature.

Alps
The idea here is typically to have some type of large hill feature obscuring the view of the green. Sometimes the player is given the chance to play to a disadvantaged side of the fairway in order to avoid it, other times that is not the case.

Tobacco Road, Hole #1, 558 yards

This from about 210 yards from the green, no sight of the green. The green sits about 75 yards beyond the mound in the center of the picture.

Royal New Kent, Hole #14, 344 yards

This hole allows the golfer the chance to see the green when playing to a proper location. Golfers who play tee shots to the flanks of the fairway will likely not be able to see the flag. This green is also located in a punchbowl.

Sahara

This hole plays up and over a dune or some type of sand feature that also prevents the player from seeing the ball come to rest in the fairway.

Tobacco Road, Hole #18, 432 yards

From the tee, this is what the player sees. The fairway begins directly over top of the hill but the vast majority of it is out of the player's view.

There are other examples that could be used for these hole type, certainly the Alps feature is one that Strantz uses with semi-regularity. Same with the Punchbowl. Also, you may note that no holes from True Blue and Caledonia, Strantz originals, or Monterey Peninsula (Shore) and Silver Creek Valley, Strantz redesigns, are mentioned here. I simply lack familiarity with those courses and am unable to determine if any of those holes fit into the template mold.

If you think I've missed any, and I probably have, feel free to let me know.

Mattaponi Springs Golf Club-Ruther Glen, VA

This is a fantastic course located a fair ways off of the beaten path north of Richmond, Virginia. The routing, in most places, makes great use of the terrain and even where it does not, the holes work out quite well. For the course to be located so far out of the way it gets fairly good attention, being ranked in the Golf Digest Top 100 Public courses. Based on other courses played, both on and off that list, this writer feels the course is deserving of such ranking. It is a very solid course. The only real weakness the course has is three holes in the middle of the back nine, 13, 16 and 17, that are routed over very flat land, surrounding a man-made lake, on top of a hill at the highest point on the course. But those have solid strategic value, even if they do feel a bit out of place.

Ranking:
Variety of Design: Very solid. The par 3's have variety as good as can be expected, as to par 4's and 5's. Variety in length among all holes is very good. Directional variety is as good as any, having 6 holes going Right, 5 going left, and 7 going straight. 7 3/4

Flow of the Course: The course does a very good job of taking the player up and down through the course of the round. Difficult holes are typically followed by breather holes and mundane holes followed by good ones. Adding in the fact that the course mixes up playing uphill and downhill, the course does a good job, though not a perfect one, of telling a story through the round. 7

Conditioning: The course was played during the spring season, Master's weekend, in fact, so the course might not have been as "green" as during high season. But the course had very firm fairways with solid turf cover to go along with a solid set of greens. Could have been fractionally better, but still very good. 7 3/4

Ease of Walking: Given the hilly site the course is a difficult walk, but not impossible. Generally the holes are routed somewhat close to each other, allowing for moderate to short walks between green and tee. 5

Atmosphere: Good. The club tries to be nothing more than it is, carries no amount of snobbery or the like. The club lives up to the standards set by the rankings and that adds to the history of the club. It also doesn't hurt that the course is privately owned, not owned by some huge corporation. Good, "throwback" type operation. 4

Total: 67 3/4

Holes to Note
Hole #1: Par 4, 446 yards
This is no bargain for an opening hole. Hole plays significantly downhill and has a pond awaiting the player at the end of the fairway. It is possible to reach the pond off the tee if the player hits the ball more than 300 yards from the tee, which given the downhill nature of the shot is quite possible. It is unknown why the pond is here, it certainly seems manmade. Perhaps is was needed to control run-off from the course. From the fairway, a semi-difficult shot awaits the player, coming over the pond to a slightly elevated green. This hole certainly does not give the golfer a "gentle handshake" to start the round.

From the tee, the golfer is afforded a great view of the hole and the surrounding country side. The best play is towards the right edge of the green with a slight draw if able. The farther left one is in the fairway, without being blocked of course, the better the angle for the approach shot becomes.

From the center of the fairway, the shot is rather simple, though not incredibly easy.

Hole #11: Par 4,413 yards

This hole features a double fairway set-up that allows the player to pick a side depending on how much rish he wishes to take. The left fairway is wider, but leaves a longer play to the green. The right fairway is narrow, and has disaster waiting down the right side, but will leave the player with a shorter shot to the green. The fairways are split by a cluster of trees, though they should not be in play for the golfer. The approach to the green changes little depending on side are far as angle and so forth. The left fairway is slightly more elevated giving a more level approach to the green.

From the tee, the two fairways wait. The better player, of course, can pick the fairway he wishes to play down and play to that point. The lesser player might simply aim for the trees, playing the percentages that he will not hit straight and will then find the fairway no matter which way he misses. Strategic for the best players, easy to play the the lesser ones? Seems to be a winning combination.

From outside the fairway down the left side, the green lies in wait on top of the hill. As seen here, the approach angle or difficulty would not be significantly different from either fairway, only change would be the yardage.

Hole #14: Par 3, 236 yards

The longest par 3 on the course plays over a large ravine and back up to a generous green. The design of the hole seems to prefer an aerial approach to the green since any ball landing short would have to be coming in quite fast to avoid getting stopped on the slope or, worse, coming back down the slope.

Hole #16: Par 5, 494 yards
This hole, while being out of place playing around a man made pond, it a solid hole strategically. The hole plays blind off the tee to a wide fairway. But being that it is blind, the player who has never played here does not know exactly how wide the fairway is, if is has significant slope or if it is heavily bunkered. This is the only blind tee shot on the course (it could be argued that the tee shot on 9 is blind, but that is only the case for the very longest of players) and that feature is used to full effect. Once arriving in the fairway, the player finds a very accomodating fairway with very little slope and no bunkering. From here, he must determine if he wants to go for the green in two or lay-up. Going for the green certainly brings the water right and short of the green into play. Laying up will bring the bunker that lies about 75 yards short of the green into play possibly. This is a solid risk-reward par 5 this late in the round.

The hole doesn't give the player much help from the tee. He simply must pick a line and hope it is the best (not knowing what lies in the fairway, of course)

This image, from the lay-up area, shows the flat nature of the fairway and gives a closer view ot the green site with the bunker and pond in play. This hole is very solid strategically, but the odd nature of the pond takes away from it, sadly.

Overall, this is a solid course. It certainly will not bore anyone from start to finish. The holes are solid and come together to form a very good course. The course is certainly deserving of it's ranking and very fun to play. 6 out of 10



Royal New Kent Golf Club-Providence Forge, VA

This is a high quality golf course as evidenced by it being Mike Strantz's only original course to break into the Golf Digest Top 100 in America; Monterey Peninsula (Shore) is Top 100, but that course is something of a hybrid renovation/new construction. This course has everything a person would expect to see at a Strantz designed course. Wild greens. Heroic shots. Views and expanses of golf that are difficult to describe in words. It really is a shame this course fell out of the Top 100 after only one ranking because it exemplifies everything that Strantz did as a designer.

Ranking
Variety of Design: Very good. The par three's lack variety slightly, not having a short hole. Par four's have great range, from 333 (playing effectively shorter than that) to 476 yards. The par five's feature one that is reachable for the aggressive player and three more that are all at the very outer reaches of making the green in two shots and will make the player think. Directionally, the course features seven holes going to the right, five holes going left, and six holes going straight. The course also features holes that allow running shots, along with uphill and downhill approaches.
8 1/4 out of 10

Flow of the Course: The course starts off with the traditional Strantz kick in the mouth. Following that, the course ebbs and flows nicely through the round, giving the player opportunities to be aggressive and attempt to gain a stroke or two, to take a breather, and also has holes where the player had best hunker down and hit a couple excellent shots. The eighteenth takes shots in some circles, but truthfully, most would not know the pond is manufactured unless they were told so. The hole provides a very good finish with multiple options. 8 out of 10

Course Conditioning: The conditioning was certainly on pace with the rest of the courses in the local area. Certainly it was not on the level of high end places like Eagle Point, but was generally solid. 7 1/4 out out of 10

Walkability: Not good. The course is on a less than perfect site and there is a housing component to the design. For all his positives, Mike Strantz was not the best at routing courses that could be easily walked. The good thing is that most of the longer walks are over flat ground and not directly up hills. 4 out of 10

Atmosphere: Good atmosphere here. Being one of only a handful of Strantz courses adds to the anticipation and the course does not disappoint. 4 out of 10

Total: 71.25

(all photos taken taken by and used with permission from The Buffalo Golfer: www.buffalogolfer.com)
Holes to Note
Hole #2: Par 5, 557 yards
The fishhook hole. This hole is essentially a Strantz template hole. This type hole exists on four of Strantz's seven East Coast courses, six if the basic principle and not style plus principle are included. It is called a fishhook because the hole is shaped as such. The hole plays out a certain distance and then cuts back 180 degrees before coming to the green. In all cases, the hole has some hazard in the middle. The hole here doglegs sharply to the right. The aggressive play from the tee is down the right side of the fairway, that will give the player the chance to go for the green with a mid to long iron. Players not going to the green in two will most likely still have to play over the hazard, unless they wish to play the hole as an effective par 6, but the landing area for lay-up shots is huge. There have likely been scores ranging from 2 to 20 on this hole over the years.

From the tee, the dividing line between fairway and rough is visible. What is not visible, however, is the grass hazard waiting just beyond the trees. Players hugging the right side of the fairway will have the shortest line to the green, obviously.

This player hit his tee shot about ten yards inside the right edge of the fairway. The green is reachable from here, but the hazard will do the player no favors.

A closer look at the hazard clearly shows a abyss awaiting the player should he come up short.

This is the shot that awaits the player who played conservatively on the second shot.

Hole #7: Par 3, 197 yards
This is certainly the best par 3 on the course and may be one of the top three or four in Southeastern Virginia. Strantz is known for his modern style of golf course, but if one looks closely features from the classic designers can be seen. The Alps concept from the Charles B. Macdonald School is a Strantz favorite. He has also used the Biarritz green template at least twice. This hole has what strongly resembles the biarritz green with the large depression in the center, but adds a twist on the template by angling the green like a redan and giving the player the run-up option with slope. The player is given numerous options here on this exceptional hole.

Hole #14: Par 4, 344 yards
This hole, in this writers mind, is the Strantz version of the Alps. The green is barely visible in the distance from the tee and there are two huge mounds flanking the clear opening to the green. Players must play to the center of the fairway or the view of the green may be blocked completely. The green does the player no favors being highly contoured, but a highly contoured green should be expected for a short hole like this.

From the tee, the player has a clear view of the task at hand. Depending on hole location, the player may want to favor the opposite side of the fairway a bit, but any shot hit too far off the center line will have the view of the green blocked.

The approach from 90-100 yards out. This shot was played to an aggressive yardage and is nearing the gap between the hills.

Hole #17: Par 5, 562 yards
Here the player will be given the chance to pick up one, possibly two shots if he is capable of hitting the necessary shots. The creek running down the right side of the fairway dictates all play. If the player has the guts and hits down the right side off the tee, then going for the green in two may be a possibility, but he will be required to play his shot over the trees or hit a huge fade. The conservative play will be out to the left and will not give the player a chance at going for the green in all likelihood, though the angle is better from the left, the distance makes it less then appetizing. From the landing area, the player will once again have to contend with the bunker should he want to go at the green in two. Players laying up are given a generous landing area. The green is not very deep, but quite wide.

The creek is not highly visible in the image, the it runs the entire length of the hole, pressed hard against the fairway. A play towards the bunkers will give the player a conservative line off the tee and an outside chance of going for the green in two.

From the right-center of the fairway about 275 yards off the tee, the green is not visible to the player. In order to go for the green in two, the player would either have to start his shot over the pond, aiming at the trees in the distance, or take his shot high over the center tall tree in the foreground. Otherwise, the player should aim for the bunkers in the distance and lay-up.

A rather simple shot awaits the player laying up, though it does have to be played across the creek.





Hole #18: Par 4, 463 yards
From the tee the player can either try to carry the two bunkers on the right or play to the huge open fairway on the left. In many ways, the less aggressive play is, in this case, preferred, as playing over the bunkers will yeild limited rewards. The shot to the green is a difficult one having to go across the water all the way to a green that is not very deep.

From the tee, the best play will take the player to the left of the twin bunkers. This opens up the fairway.

There are no opportunities to miss herre. Short, long or right will all find the water. This is likely not the shot any player wants after a long day with a few dollars on the line.

Overall, this course is very, very good. With a little more money to spend on conditioning, the course could be exceptional. But there is great variety here and the player will certainly need to be able to shape the ball to score well. In general, this course seems to be underrated in the world of golf. Not even top 20 in the state of Virgnina according to Golf Digest? Hardly. 7 out of 10.