70 The bail-out area is crucial for that final option, as it turns what would have been an all-or-nothing shot into one where the player knows there is leeway for a miss. “Shrinking the bunker and making a chipping area means that if you miss a little bit right you can still pitch it and make birdie,” says Jones. “It’s a long one-shot hole but you have to give golfers the possibility of succeeding,” he adds. “And if they don’t succeed it’s not a complete penalty.” Powell says: “My club president was a bit sceptical when the hole was being built. He was concerned that it might be too challenging. But on the first day he played it, two of his group hit the green and had a putt for eagle, and the other two finished in the water. They had so much fun – even the guys that hit it in the water!” Design changes elsewhere were intentionally not as dramatic. While the club was keen to reduce the overall bunker area, it didn’t want to lose the course’s expansiveness. “I had a little bit of trepidation about how the bunker changes would turn out given the large scale of the golf course,” says Powell. “But one of the most pleasant surprises to me and our members was that they shrank our overall bunker square footage by 18 per cent, but have done it so surgically, and with such great precision, that it looks like it was built that way from day one. A new cross bunker in the landing area for the second shot on the par-five first will make players stop and think OLD CHATHAM “ With relatively minor architectural tweaks, we have created a more interesting and thought-provoking experience”
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