{"id":1181,"date":"2015-01-20T17:20:54","date_gmt":"2015-01-20T22:20:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theaposition.com\/johnstrawn\/?p=1181"},"modified":"2015-02-06T11:18:16","modified_gmt":"2015-02-06T16:18:16","slug":"rory-plays-the-white-tees-a-fantasy-in-18-holes-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/johnstrawn\/golf\/personalities\/1181\/rory-plays-the-white-tees-a-fantasy-in-18-holes-2","title":{"rendered":"Rory Plays the White Tees: A Fantasy in 18 Holes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Heron Lakes is a 36-hole golf complex located in the flood plain near where the Columbia River flows into the Willamette, not far from downtown Portland.\u00a0 \u00a0Oregon\u2019s second-largest city, Vanport, once stood here.\u00a0 Housing migrants who\u2019d come to work in the Kaiser Shipyards during WWII, Vanport was destroyed when the Columbia\u2019s dikes burst in 1948, displacing nearly 20,000 people.\u00a0 Robert Trent Jones designed the first course in the late 1960s with his son, Robert Trent Jones, Jr., then running the firm\u2019s west coast office, overseing that original work.\u00a0 Jones Jr\u2019s breakaway company, Robert Trent Jones II, would design the second 18 in two nine-hole additions, the first opening in the mid-80s and the second in 1992.\"Heron<\/a><\/p>\n

Called \u201cGreat Blue\u201d\u2014there\u2019s a Heron Rookery along the 7th<\/sup> hole of the original course, rechristened \u201cGreen Back\u201d\u2014the new 18 was immediately regarded as the best of the city\u2019s courses, and remains popular among good players, even though it\u2019s also the most expensive\u00a0 of Portland\u2019s municipal courses.\u00a0 Kemper Sports, operator of Chambers Bay, Jones\u2019s US Open course up in Tacoma, as well as southern Oregon\u2019s Bandon Dunes, manages Heron Lakes for the city.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been playing the Great Blue since it opened.\u00a0 (I remember watching Peter Jacobsen hit the ceremonial first tee shot.)\u00a0 Thirty years ago, my regular group played from the back tees, but we\u2019ve slowly migrated forward over the decades, and have now accepted the reality of being mostly white-tee guys.\u00a0\u00a0 6,400\u2014Great Blue\u2019s length from the blues–is the new tips for us.\u00a0 We\u2019ll assay that in the summer, but when the fairways are wet, the brief period lasting from fall through spring and sometimes a bit into the summer, 6,000 yards is plenty.\u00a0 I feel not the slightest pang of nostalgia as I walk past the back tee markers.<\/p>\n

I know Chambers Bay well from having been the CEO at Robert Trent Jones II during its design and construction.\u00a0 Thinking about all of the great players who will be coming there to test themselves this summer, I imagined how much fun it would be to invite Rory McIlroy to join us for a practice round at the Great Blue.\u00a0 He could start getting a feel for Northwest golf, which as an Irishman I\u2019m sure he will enjoy.\u00a0 He\u2019s used to cooling mists and a verdant palette.<\/p>\n

Google Earth is an amazing tool for all of us in the golf design business, both because it can give a quick and informative glimpse of a potential site, and also because it can provide an amazing amount of information about existing courses.\u00a0 \u00a0Knowing that Rory\u2019s average drive last year at PGA Tour events was 310 yards, I can use the measuring tool on Google Earth to see exactly where his drives would put him if he joined us on the white tees at the Great Blue.<\/p>\n

I am going to keep score for Rory as I escort him around the Great Blue, teeing off with us from the white tees.\u00a0 It will be lovely to see, if only in the mind\u2019s eye.<\/p>\n

\"Rory,<\/a>

Rory, 2013. He’s stronger and longer now, coming off two Major wins in 2014.<\/p><\/div>\n

FRONT NINE<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0Hole # 1. 351 yard dog-leg right Par 4.\u00a0 A hole\u2019s length is measured along its centerline.\u00a0 \u00a0Course architects use what\u2019s called a turning point to provide consistency in the location and layout of the landing areas.\u00a0\u00a0 When the Great Blue was designed, the distance from the back tee to the turning point would have been about 260 yards, which was the distance big hitters drove the ball thirty years ago.\u00a0 The length to the landing areas should be consistent, which means providing for variation in the length of approach shots is the key to testing all the clubs in a player\u2019s bag.\u00a0 A 200 to 220 yard drive, which is the winter range of distance for my group, gives us a 150-130 yard approach shot on #1.\u00a0 That is not what Rory would face, of course.\u00a0 On a direct line from tee to green, according to Google Earth, Rory\u2019s 310 yard shot would not simply cut off the dogleg, it would land on the dog\u2019s head\u2014that is, put Rory in the middle of the green.\u00a0 Given that this green measures only about 4400 square feet, however, while even a tight landing area for a Tour event would be 20,000 square feet or more, Rory\u2019s drive slightly misses the green but he gets up and down with ease for his first birdie.<\/p>\n

Rory\u2019s Round after one hole: -1<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hole # 2.\u00a0 461 yard Par 5.\u00a0 Sad as it if for me to confess it, at only 461 yards #2 is still a three-shot hole for us, with its tiny green tucked along the right edge of a lake that can also come into play for a sliced layup.\u00a0 But Rory\u2019s 310 yard drive to its generous fairway, where he favors the left side, gives him a clear view of the perched green with a wedge in his hand, so he stiffs it and makes an eagle, draining an eight-foot putt.<\/p>\n

Rory\u2019s Round after two holes: -3<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hole #3. \u00a0286 yard par 4.\u00a0 Rory can\u2019t hit driver here, so he cuts a three-wood onto this commodious, receptive green, and once again two-putts, only this time for birdie.<\/p>\n

Rory\u2019s Round after three holes: -4<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hole # 4. 126 yard par 3.\u00a0 PGA Tour players average just under three strokes on holes of this distance, so Rory makes his first par.\u00a0 This tee shot is entirely over water, so it intimidates high handicappers, but for Rory, it\u2019s as dry as Moore County, Tennessee.<\/p>\n

Rory\u2019s Round after four holes: -4<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hole # 5.\u00a0 503 yard Par 5.\u00a0\u00a0 Another three-shotter for us, but for Rory, merely a drive and a seven iron.\u00a0 Ho hum, two-putt birdie.<\/p>\n

Rory\u2019s Round after five holes: -5<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hole #6. 161 Yard Par 3.\u00a0 This is a two tiered green, so getting to the right elevation is key.\u00a0 All great players have distance control, so Rory drops his tee shot on the upper tier and makes another two-putt par.<\/p>\n

Rory\u2019s Round after six holes: -5<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hole #7. 343 yard Par 4.\u00a0 This green is well guarded with bunkers on the right side, so once again Rory lays up to a very comfortable lob-wedge distance rather than trying to drive the green. At the Scottish Open last year, Rory hit a 430-yard drive, so a 343 tee shot is nowhere near his limits. Trees also line both sides of this green, making driving a sucker play. But everybody I know has birdied this hole, and when I mention this to Rory, he smiles and taps in for three.<\/p>\n

Rory\u2019s Round after seven holes: -6<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hole #8. 413 yard par 4.\u00a0 For all of my group, this is the Great Blue\u2019s hardest hole.\u00a0 The fairway wraps in a dog-leg left around what Google Earth calls \u201cMud Slough,\u201d with trees intruding on the line of play directly on the line to the turning point.\u00a0\u00a0 We normally play well right of the trees, which gives us 170 to 200 to the green, depending on how close we\u2019re willing to get to the tree line.\u00a0 The hole has a small green with a deep bunker on the front left, and death anywhere short or left, where Mud Slough beckons.\u00a0 But Google Earth shows us that the direct line from the white tee to the green is no more than 320 yards.\u00a0 Rory misses slightly right, has an easy up and down for another birdie\u2026but he has to wait until I hit my third from just behind him, which he does graciously, although I thought I heard a coin jingle in his pocket.<\/p>\n

Rory\u2019s Round after eight holes: -7<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hole #9. 366 yard par 4.\u00a0 Again, Rory backs off driver and hits three wood down the left side, giving him a perfect angle to a two-tiered green tucked hard against a lake.\u00a0 He plays a loose shot from 80 yards, landing above the hole but with too much spin, pulling the ball to the lower level and leaving a tricky putt.\u00a0 Two-putts for par.<\/p>\n

Rory\u2019s Round after nine holes: -7.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Out in 29.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Rory,<\/a>

Rory, staring at an amazing future, will entrance the galleries at Chambers Bay.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u00a0BACK NINE<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hole #10.\u00a0 367 Par 4.\u00a0 Very straightforward hole with the most difficult greenside bunkers among the Great Blue\u2019s first ten holes.\u00a0 Rory\u2019s drive leaves him with a flip wedge, which he tosses up a bit too casually, perhaps unable to put his poor shot on #9 out of this mind, and settles for his second consecutive par.<\/p>\n

Rory\u2019s Round after ten holes: -7<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hole #11, 166 yard Par 3.\u00a0 Tricky perched green with a strong diagonal right to left from the white tee and tilted into three tiers sloping from back to front.\u00a0 Rory hits into the upper slope, which shapes the ball toward the center hole location, and drops in a short but slightly downhill putt for his first birdie on a par 3 at Heron Lakes.<\/p>\n

Rory\u2019s Round after eleven holes: –<\/strong>\u00a08<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hole #12, 467 par 5.\u00a0 Once again, a lake guards the right side of the lay-up for us, and protects a very tricky green with a hard right to left slope exacerbated by severely tilted back to front pitch, altogether making this the toughest green on the Great Blue.\u00a0 But Rory has a wedge for his second, and can place the approach shot perfectly to the left of the green to let it run down toward the hole.\u00a0 What feels like a routine-birdie to Rory is a white-tee eagle, so he dips into a double-digit number below par.<\/p>\n

Rory\u2019s Round after twelve holes: -10<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hole # 13.\u00a0 467 yard par 4.\u00a0\u00a0 This is a strong hole distance-wise, but once again a good drive well past the fairway bunkers leaves Rory a gap wedge to the green, which he hits slightly long left and two putts for par.<\/p>\n

Rory\u2019s Round after thirteen holes: -10<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hole # 14.\u00a0 300 Yard par 4.\u00a0 This green is tiny, with no bail out to the right and a lake to the left, so after a long discussion of where I would play it, Rory decides to hit an eight-iron off the tee and a sand-wedge second, which he executes with such perfection that his putt is his first tap-in birdie of the day.<\/p>\n

Rory\u2019s Round after fourteen holes: -11<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hole # 15. 149 yard par 3.\u00a0\u00a0 The companion to the 4th, 15 plays over water to a green which is as wide as 4 is long and narrow.\u00a0 The cup is cut front right, so Rory plays safely and comfortably left of the hole, scares the cup but settles for another par.<\/p>\n

Rory\u2019s Round after fifteen holes: -11<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hole # 16. \u00a0325 Yard par 4.\u00a0 This hole has a split fairway, divided by a lake, with the green on the left side. The maximum distance for a layup off the tee on the right side is 200 yards.\u00a0 The left side fairway slopes left to right toward the water.\u00a0 The direct line of flight over the lake to the green is 305 yards.\u00a0\u00a0 When I told Rory about an ex-NFL quarterback making a hole-in-one from the blue tees, playing at 360 yards, he wanted to move back. \u00a0I told him that wasn\u2019t in the spirit of our tale.\u00a0 So from the white tee he cut the tee shot perfectly, watching the ball arc toward the slope on the back left of the green. It curled slowly down toward the lower right pin position, somehow stopping on the crest of the steepest part of the green.\u00a0 A very disappointing two-putt birdie had Rory muttering about what he hopes he better not see at Chambers Bay, and I told him not to worry\u2014putts would not be stopping above the holes there unless he yipped.<\/p>\n

Rory\u2019s Round after sixteen holes: -12<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hole # 17. 474 Yard Par 5.\u00a0\u00a0 There are no par 5s for Rory from the whites on the Great Blue.\u00a0 This hole, arrayed with Mud Slough along the entire right side of the fairway, sets up perfectly for Rory.\u00a0 He drove the ball just to the right of the furthest fairway bunker, placed not to influence a tee shot but to force people laying up on their second shots to favor the right side, which brings the slough into play.\u00a0 But those design considerations had no bearing on Rory, whose tee shot left him 110 yards from a front right pin, which was a sitting duck for his gap wedge.\u00a0 He tossed it perfectly to the left of the hole, and it dribbled gently down toward the cup for a tap-in eagle.<\/p>\n

Rory\u2019s Round after seventeen holes: -14<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"17<\/a>

17 Green, Great Blue<\/p><\/div>\n

Hole # 18. 364 yard Par 4.\u00a0\u00a0 Satisfied to protect a mere 14-under, Rory hit a six iron off the tee, followed by a wedge to the upper tier of the green.\u00a0 Lagging to within a foot, he tapped-in for 4.\u00a0 Inward 9\u2019s total of 29 matched the outward 9, a fitting symmetry. \u00a0\u00a0I forgot to mention that Rory was giving me two shots on every hole except the par 3s, where I was getting one. \u00a0I didn\u2019t play so bad myself, and I know the course. \u00a0With my bogey on 18, I won the hole and halved the match.\u00a0 Hey, it\u2019s my fantasy.<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n

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Images Courtesy of WikiCommons and Heron Lakes. Rory McIlroy photos originally posted to Flickr by TourProGolfClubs at http:\/\/flickr.com\/photos\/80715750@N03\/8934798140<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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