Ralph Plummer's Tryall
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In very general terms, courses built during the dark age of golf
architecture (1950-1970) were long in length and short in both
character and charm. The bunkering was unimaginative, repeatedly
forcing the same kind of aerial approach shots. Monotonously
long holes resulted in the birth of the dreaded '7,000 yard
championship course' phrase. As with any generalization, there
are exceptions with one of the most important being Ralph
Plummer's design of Tryall Golf Club.
Opened in 1958, the course measured 6,324 yards. Yet, thanks in
large part to its sloping greens and the ever present trade
winds, golfers of the highest calibre have failed for over five
decades to tear it apart. Recognized early on as the Caribbean's
first course of genuine character, Shell's Wonderful World of
Golf staged a match here in 1962 between Dow Finsterwald and
Peter Alliss. Finsterwald won the match with a score of 72 to
Alliss's 75. Twenty years later, a desire by the club to host
important events manifested itself and the Mazda Champions LPGA
- Senior PGA were held at Tryall from 1985-87. This event was
followed from 1988-1990 with the LPGA Jamaican Classic, which in
turn set the stage for the Johnnie Walker World Championships
from 1991 through 1995.
Just prior to the 1991 Johnnie Walker World Championship, a
sports columnist not so shrewdly predicted that one of the
professionals would break 60 as this par 71 course still
measured below 6,800 yards. That year's winner was Fred Couples
and not only did no one break 60 but Couples was the sole person
in the field to break par for the four day event. The subsequent
winners of the Johnnie Walker (Faldo, Mize, Els, and Couples
again) were all major championship winners, which suggests a
quality course.
What then are Tryall's attributes that promote the best to
flourish? Certainly, the course's island setting adds much to
Tryall's allure and inspires one to play his best. However, it
speaks little as to the lasting merits of repeated games here.
The trade winds which average 20 miles per hour pose the same
question as the winds in the United Kingdom: can the golfer
control the trajectory of his shots? The golfer with the talent
to do so shines here. Those who followed Nick Faldo during his
1992 win of the Johnnie Walker marvel to this day at his
complete ball flight control with every club in the bag.
The first six holes at Tryall are routed near the coastline, and
apart from the romance of such a location, Mother Nature didn't
imbue this flat portion of the property with many natural
features. Thus, Ralph Plummer did what every good architect
should: he created the character but he did so in a manner that
is peaceful to the eye. The land in no way looks tortured and
the holes sit peacefully upon the property. In The Golf Course
by Ron Whitten and Geoffrey Cornish, Whitten notes that 'Plummer
was known for the attractiveness of his layouts and for his
remarkable ability to estimates cuts and fills and shape greens
and bunkers by eye.' The only man-made water hazards on the
course are ponds found on the first six holes, namely at the one
shot 2nd and in the landing areas for the second shots on the
par five 3rd and 6th. (Forty three years later, the Club
acquired the property to build a true coastal hole - today's 4th
- which is also a water hole, albeit a totally natural one).
Plummer used the fill from the ponds to build up the tees and
greens a few feet, thus providing the necessary drainage on
these first six holes. With no extraneous land movement from tee
to green, Plummer's low profile design at Tryall still enjoys a
timeless appeal. His complete absence of clutter is most
appreciated, especially relatively to other courses built after
WWII. Plummer didn't build three bunkers when one would suffice.
Plummer didn't follow Robert Trent Jones horrific example at
Oakland Hills six years prior in 1952 of pinching in fairways
with bunkers on either side. Instead of reducing width and
ruining playing angles by overbunkering holes off the tee, nine
of the fourteen nonpar three holes at Tryall originally had no
bunkers off the tee (the 3rd, 8th, 9th, 11th, 13th, 14th, 15th,
17th, and 18th). In addition, Plummer eschewed containment
mounds and framing green sites. The challenge at Tryall
intensifies the closer one gets to the greens - a tenet of
classic architecture that allows the greatest range possible of
golfers to enjoy a course (in fact, so fierce where Plummer's
orginial green slopes that the greens on holes 7, 8, 11, 12, 13
and 16 were softened when Club switched from the old bermuda
grass greens to today's swift tifton dwarf greens).
Starting at the 7th, Mother Nature's natural attributes are more
profuse and Plummer took full advantage as he perfectly draped
the holes onto the rolling foothills of the property. As with
his other best west works like Preston Trail Golf Club, Great
Southwest Golf Club, and the Cypress Creek Course at Champions
Golf Club, Plummer's routing makes intuitive sense to the golfer
as one good hole follows another with the green to tee walks
always short. The golfer's judgement is continually taxed at
Tryall on the variety of approach shots required: the uphill
approach at the 9th, the sharply downhill one shot 10th where
one doesn't want to be long, the uphill approach at the 11th,
the downhill one shot 12th where one wants to be long, the
uphill approach at the 13th, the downhill approach to the 14th.
The continually shifting demands keep the golfer off-balanced, a
great attribute for any architect to achieve (though few rarely
do) as it means the golfer will never tire of playing there.
Ran Morrissett is an avid golfer and host of the popular website
www.golfclubatlas.com that features course profiles highlighting
the finer virtues of golf architecture found in over 140 courses
world-wide.
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