Jay Flemma | |
Tobacco Road and Pulp Fiction:
Years Ahead of Their Time
April 26, 2006
In his book Grounds For Golf, Geoff Shackelford once compared great golf courses to epic films. For example, he called Pine Valley The Godfather and he called National Golf Links of America Citizen Kane.
The analogy has merit. To continue the exploration, it's clear that Mike Strantz's tour de force at Tobacco Road is clearly akin to Quentin Tarantino's celebrated, polarizing, avante garde neo-classic Pulp Fiction. After all – Tobacco Road is celebrated, polarizing, avante garde and neo-classic.
|
The first tee at Tobacco Road. Head into the valley of darkness, but will MIke the shephard save you from the tyranny of evil men? |
|
Strantz once quoted his idol Alistair Mackenzie as saying, "The best holes give rise to the most bitter controversy." As Mackenzie also opined, "golf course design is all about designing holes on the borderline where strokes can slip away so easily or be regained quickly and dramatically."
In this regard, Tobacco Road is a triumph. Combining his profound gift for designing great strategic holes with his limitless palette for artistic flair, Strantz wove wide, yet elusive fairways and well protected greens amid heaving, expansive waste areas and hurly-burly sand mounds. The results are awe-inspiring. Part Pine Valley (and therefore World Woods) for its vast sandy waste areas and part Prestwick for its numerous blind drives and approaches, the result is a dazzling and unique synergy flawlessly executed to produce a course rich in risk reward options on a breathtaking canvas. It's easy to see how players find Tobacco Road the most atmospheric and enjoyable four miles of potential eagles or triple bogeys ever designed.
| "When I lay my vengeance upon thee!". The tyranny of evil men or the shephard leading the weak through the valley of darkness. |
|
But like Pulp Fiction's divided initial reception – where it won the Palm D'Or at the Cannes film festival but lost every U.S. Academy Award except one to the more accessible Forrest Gump starring the "safe" Tom Hanks - the road to recognition and respect for Tobacco Road has been as bumpy as the great rumpled course itself. As Strantz correctly anticipated, the course divided some in the golf community and triggered controversy and frustration along with well-deserved acclaim.
The Ideological Battle Lines
Years of target golf on parkland style layouts and the acceptance of "stick the pin" designs as "normal" by American professionals, broadcasters and amateurs alike has led some to opine that many of Tobacco Road's ancient design concepts – blind shots and shots threaded through towering rough covered dunes – were anachronistic or contrived. Moreover, The Road (as it is affectionately called) is unyielding, consistently requiring shaped shots, a smooth, trusty swing to deal with the challenging shot values, and most of all patience bordering on the robotic.
Patience and creativity are two traits that have suffered of late when it comes to both critics and the playing public. By and large, blind shots are seen as a nuisance and overly difficult golf courses and unconventional designs are often too quickly dismissed as gimmicky. Some unimaginative and disgruntled players unfairly brand The Road with such a stigma. As the design elements they dismiss so high-handedly are derived from some of the most storied courses in the world – the great links of the UK and Ireland – these detractors are dead wrong. Nobody has a problem with the blind shots at Prestwick or Lahinch, but import them to America and a designer better have ear plugs or a bulletproof ego.
The difficulty of the course is derived directly from three factors. First, nobody is better than Strantz at optical illusion and nowhere do his optical illusions invoke more trepidation, confusion or frustration in a player than at Tobacco Road. Holes look cloak-and-dagger claustrophobic from the tee. Since the tee shots are sometimes blind, players and particularly first-time visitors, are uncertain exactly where to place their shot. (Always remember – when teeing off on a Strantz hole, go over the mound in front of you, Strantz' fairways are behind the mound…) Adding to the illusion, fairways are the furthest thing from straight ribbons from tee to green. Instead they wind around, over, and through the mountainous sand dunes. It's one thing where Rees Jones creates inkblot bunkers, it's another where Strantz designs inkblot fairways and greens. One fairway (the ninth) is even shaped like an arrowhead…almost as if Strantz was saying "The green is that-a-way!" Another (the par-5 fourth) is shaped like a question mark as if asking "Think you can hit it in two?"
Fears from the teebox are misplaced as fairways are actually wide. This concealed width opens up many shot options for players, making the course eminently playable and enjoyable by all skill levels…if they hit their fairways. Nevertheless, several holes are not only blind off the tee but semi-blind or blind into the green as well. Some greens curve around enormous sand dunes, others are recessed into the dune's face, and still others are almost completely obscured by the dunes. These devilish green settings are often far above or below the fairway level and are guarded by exaggerated chipping areas that even Donald Ross would fear. Challenging to club, hard to visualize, severely uphill one minute, severely downhill the next, and severely around-hill after that, Strantz never lets a golfer catch his breath or bearings. The course rides like an angry, bucking steer, but it is that breathless feeling, that continual adrenaline rush that adds to the magic.
The optical illusions lead to uncertainty and uncertainty frequently becomes fear, which is the second and overriding factor in the course's difficulty. Nervous, uncertain swings lead to disastrous results. Wayward tee shots stand no chance of offering players a chance to play to the greens in regulation. Golf scores can turn to bowling scores in the span of just a few holes. "Tobacco Road is easily one of the most intimidating courses you'll ever set eyes on, but playability-wise it is actually quite easy" said Forrest Fezler, Mike's design partner and a former touring pro. "The look paralyzes your brain on overload – hence your swing tightens. But once you play it a few times you'll get your comfort zone. That is what the great courses are all about, they make you think. And when you pull off that impossible shot, you'll remember it forever."
Third, and perhaps most importantly, play the right set of tees for your skill level. This is the easiest problem a player can remedy. Par is 71, not 72 so the 6300 yard tees play closer to 6600. Players who insist on playing a set of tees beyond their skill level will fail to reach the knee of doglegs or may not be able to negotiate the forced carries off the tee.
Continued on Page 2
|
