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June 13, 2023
2 min read

On the Skillet: No. 2 at Bel-Air

One way to make a carry hazard fun

On the Skillet: No. 2 at Bel-Air
On the Skillet: No. 2 at Bel-Air

George Thomas was obsessed with designing golf holes that provided different pathways for different kinds of players. In the hole diagrams Thomas included in his book Golf Architecture in America, there were almost always separate lines for stronger and weaker players. Many of these concepts were so eccentric that, like Alister MacKenzie’s Lido-contest winner, they were impractical to build. At his actual courses, Thomas often found subtler ways of leveling the playing field between long and short hitters.

Take, for instance, the second hole at Bel-Air Country Club. This 440-yard par 4 travels uphill to a green set into a ridge. An enormous baseball glove of a bunker guards the front of the green but leaves a narrow opening on the right. The best position to hit your approach from is the right-center section of the fairway.

The second green at Bel-Air

There’s a catch, though: Thomas placed another large bunker in exactly that spot.

The second fairway at Bel-Air

Power players would normally have an outsize advantage on this type of long par 4. Being able to carry the fairway bunker not only shortens the hole but also garners a better angle. On the No. 2 at Bel-Air, however, Thomas created a route for a shorter-hitting player. Short and left of the fairway bunker, there is a left-to-right kicker slope. If you hit a low-trajectory tee shot over the shoulder, your ball will catch the slope and roll around the bunker. In other words, you don’t have to make the raw carry; you can use smarts and precision to find the advantageous position.

Tee view on the second hole at Bel-Air

Tom Doak, who completed a restoration project at Bel-Air in 2018, sees this hole as proof of Thomas’s ability to design compelling golf on relatively plain land. “I’m fond of [the hole] because it’s maybe not the most dramatic part of the ground, and as an architect I wouldn’t have known what I was going to do there when I started,” Doak told us during an interview for our George Thomas documentary, “[but Thomas] came up with something really good and really interesting.”

While the second hole at Bel-Air may not as flashy as the five-fairway spectacle on p. 152 of Golf Architecture of America, its well-placed bunkers and savvy use of the topography make it memorable and fun to play for a variety of golfers.

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About the author

Garrett Morrison

When I was 10 or 11 years old, my dad gave me a copy of The World Atlas of Golf. That kick-started my obsession with golf architecture. I read as many books about the subject as I could find, filled a couple of sketch books with plans for imaginary golf courses, and even joined the local junior golf league for a summer so I could get a crack at Alister MacKenzie's Valley Club of Montecito. I ended up pursuing other interests in high school and college, but in my early 30s I moved to Pebble Beach to teach English at a boarding school, and I fell back in love with golf. Soon I connected with Andy Johnson, founder of Fried Egg Golf. Andy offered me a job as Managing Editor in 2019. At the time, the two of us were the only full-time employees. The company has grown tremendously since then, and today I'm thrilled to serve as the Head of Architecture Content. I work with our talented team to produce videos, podcasts, and written work about golf courses and golf architecture.

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