The Punchbowl green is a old standard of golf green fairly common in classic golf architecture. The name gives away the main feature namely banks around the green that direct your ball towards the green. The 7th at North Oaks is a classic punchbowl. One of the reasons these were commonly built was to capture and retain as much moisture as possible. Carnoustie and North Berwick have punchbowl greens. The Punchbowl green can giveth and taketh away however. Hitting one is easy but putting on one can be a challenge. If the hole is level the punchbowl green is also blind. Mississippi Dunes punchbowl green is currently the 18th. Because you are hitting down to the green it is not blind. However the green is slightly elevated compared to its surroundings and also incorporates another classic green design--the Biarritz green This is a green with a deep swale across the green. This originally was a design in Biarritz France where Willie Dunn designed a green where your ball would land on the front of the green and then disappear into a deep chiasm only to appear on a elevated portion of the back of the green. Biarritz greens became famous at courses at Yale and Fishers Island. So the 18th (next year 8th) green at Mississippi Dunes is actually combination of three classic green designs, namely the punchbowl, plateau, and Biarritz green. Think about this as you stand on the fairway overlooking the green and Mississippi River behind it as one of the most picturesque holes in golf.
Posted on: Thu, 16 Jan 2014 23:19:52 +0000