TheNEW
HILLS POPPY
slopes were created to maxi- mize fairway space on holes such as Nos. 3, 9, 10 and 18. The natural fairways can
now bleed into the greens, which have been lowered to fit into the slope of the surrounding land. And that brings an entirely new concept to Poppy Hills: the ground game.
“Golf is a little bit of outdoor billiards,” Charlton said. “There’s a lot of that out here. But that doesn’t work if there’s not sand cap.
30 /
NCGA.ORG / SPRING 2014
The new 14th hole is the smallest green on the course at 4,700 square feet. The 18th hole is the largest at approximately 9,000 square feet. The average green is 6,600 square feet and features bentgrass, replacing poa annua.
Once we brought sand cap into the picture, it really allowed us to think about roll from a design philoso- phy. It’s going to be firm and fast. We can do things with the design that we didn’t have before. The idea of fairway cut everywhere really helps that whole philosophy.” The only other course
RTJ II has incorporated the ground game to this extent is Chambers Bay, site of the 2015 U.S. Open. “I’m hoping that ev-
eryone will spend a lot of time looking at these greens
and studying these green complexes,” Charlton said. “There are great shots to be had where you don’t necessarily hit it on the green here. You hit it out- side the green and let the slopes do the work. We did that at Chambers Bay a lot.” The new greens at
Poppy Hills are draped in glassy bentgrass, a wel- comed upgrade over poa annua. If bentgrass is a clean shave from a barber, poa annua resembles a 5 o’clock shadow. The greens are also much subtler, pri- marily favoring the pitch of
the surrounding land. “We wanted to have at least 10 pin positions on every hole,” Charlton said. “When you do that, you create greens that don’t have those huge slopes, or else you lose a lot of green for hole locations.” Charlton also wanted
to dot hazard edges with as many hole locations as pos- sible. The ravine fronting the right side of Nos. 1 and 17, and the creek bordering the left side of No. 9 will be littered with sucker pins. “One of the key green strategies on No. 9 was to
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88