L.A. North's 15th & 16th
L.A. North's 15th & 16th
A wee par 3 may be stand out during the upcoming U.S. Open week. It is followed by a massive par 4 to begin a spectacular set of finishing holes.
We’re back to real golf! Not the “game” that is Tuesday’s detail-light, unsigned arrangement with shady characters. I hope you enjoy the reprieve. Especially since we are now just one week from the opening tee shot.
And if you haven’t already gotten a sense that 2023 U.S. Open host L.A. North is loaded with fun, wild, difficult, different and crazy holes you’d love to play, the closing stretch will win you over.
Following two massive holes where pars will be treasured, the little par 3 15th is about more than its quaint size and shot. A wild green that may have briefly included a bunker in the green awaits. Today the surface is separated by a “bump” bisecting the green into lower and upper halves. We’ll cover that bit of lore and the history made during the Walker Cup. Then we’ll move on to one of my favorite holes commencing L.A. North’s hang-on-for-dear-life finish.
First, a recap of how we got here and an editorial reminder that I’m wildly biased as part of the Hanse Design team that restored the 1927-28 redesign by George Thomas and Billy Bell:
Onward to the wee par 3!
Fifteenth Hole
Par: 3
U.S. Open Yardage: 125 yards
Elevation Change: +5 feet from back of tee to center of the green.
Long viewed as a hole “forced” into L.A. North and perhaps fairly so given the tight quarters after two massive holes in grandeur and scale, the 15th saw the most radical transformation in green size, shape, bunker expansion and overall sensibility within the 18 chapter story.
The 15th has gone from seeming like an afterthought to ingenious work of architecture after 2010’s project. On behalf of the restorers, we thank whoever went up in some rickety 1920’s era plane to take aerials allowing for the hole to be replenished. And whoever you are, if you’re reading and could do it all over again, we would have loved a better close up of that mysterious white spot in the middle of the green!
Here is the overview of L.A. North’s darling little 15th that I expect to take on a similar starring role as it did in the 2017 Walker Cup.
Setting: The South Course first green sits to the right, a large oak is short right of the green, and pines are to the back left protecting the green from errant 14th hole shots.
Continuous fairway mow off the 14th green collar allows for an elegant walk onto the 15th tee now maintained as one cut instead of two “boxes”.
A pair of Tipu trees sit right of the green and separate the complex from the 16th tee.
The hole plays in a northerly direction.
Concept: Architect George Thomas opted to retain an existing hole from the Fowler course but completely rebuilt it into a long, half-moon shaped green with a narrow front right opening and bunkering everywhere.
Initial drawings that ran with a 1928 Thomas article show a bunker in the middle of the green.
There is evidence it was built and lasted a very short time (more later).
A small bump divides the green into two sections today.
Tee shot yardages can various by 40 yards depending on marker and hole location.
The large rear bunker never hugged the green and the hole featured a huge rear “chipping area” in between green and sand.
The back bunker was likely constructed to guard against balls incoming from the 14th before trees took over.