L.A. North's 7th And 8th
U.S. Open golfers will face an option-laden long one-shotter followed by a meandering par 5 through a rustic setting. And it may take a while this June.
Captain Thomas’ thrill ride moves from the Beverly Hills into an oak and sycamore stretch of holes seemingly out of a bygone era. Throw in glimpses of high rises and half-par holes that could take forever to play in the juiced equipment era, and 2023 U.S. Open contestants should have plenty of time to take in the wondrous mid-city setting.
Following the dramatically downhill sixth, Los Angeles Country Club’s seventh and eighth bring the barranca* into full effect after brief run-ins at the second, third, fourth and sixth.
The two holes in today’s deep dive were retained from the Herbert Fowler routing in 1921 where Thomas built holes off of the Englishman’s clay models. But as with the twelve Thomas kept in some form during 1927-28’s redo, he turned Billy Bell’s crew loose with their shovels, road scrapers and nail files to shave down the hard edges. They moved bunkers and greens at Thomas’s direction to naturalize the North and squeeze more strategy out of the incredible land. But in a twist you might not have seen coming, 2010’s Hanse Design restoration turned into a remodel at the eighth. It was a nod to today’s hardest-working-ever-in-the-history-of-the-game-ultrajocks and with some inability to understand The Captain’s unguarded eighth green.
I know, I know, not quite the exciting tease we had for the sixth hole write-up. But they all can’t have Esther Williams, the ghost of Jayne Mansfield and $115 million estates next door!
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