Gopher Watch Competition – April 2018
January’s Gopher Watch (inset) was obviously a little bit harder than usual, because we received a relatively small number of entries by usual standards. That said, the proportion of correct entries was extremely high; we had one
contestant who seemed very confident that Sandy was on the fourth hole at the Gil Hanse-designed TPC Boston, but sadly his confidence was misplaced! Hanse, like so many golf architects, though, is on record as being a big fan
of Dr Alister MacKenzie, so perhaps the resemblance was there to the actual hole, MacKenzie’s ultra-dramatic short par four seventeenth at Crystal Downs in northern Michigan. If the mark of a good golf hole is that it results in a
wide range of scores, then this must be one of the very best – it’s drivable for some, but its 311 yards are packed full of ways to meet disaster. Anyway, John McNey of Fort Worth, Texas, figured it out and was first out of the hat, so a
GCA shirt is on the way to him.
This time, Sandy’s back on his normal stamping ground, the links. We think this is a pretty tricky one to guess, so we’re going to give you a couple of clues. This highly respected links is in a rather isolated position, though there are one or two very strong courses nearby. It has hosted five Brabazon Trophies and two Boys’ Amateurs among a long list of top amateur events since its foundation back in the early 1890s. Reckon you know where Sandy is? Send
your answer to gopher@golfcoursearchitecture.net