Featured
Originally published in Top 100 Golf Courses.
At Elie, we don't know what Old Tom was thinking. There's no overarching technical pattern, no documented philosophy to guide our interpretation. That lack of explanation is what gives the course its purity. You're forced to experience it on your own terms, to figure out what works and why without being told what the design is supposed to mean. That might be the most valuable thing courses like Elie offer: the chance to encounter golf before it had to answer to anything but the ground itself.
Putting skill separates players most on mid-range putts, roughly 10-30 feet. Inside five feet, almost everyone converts, and beyond 30, almost nobody does. According to Data Golf, per tournament, Augusta produces 3.6 more putts from inside five feet and 2.4 more from beyond 30 feet than the average Tour stop. This is due to the sloping greens and the large number of funnel pins. Hit your spot with the iron, and you’re inside 10 feet. Miss it, and you’re looking at a long-range putt. There is less mid-range putting, meaning less room for skill to show up.