Hole #26a-New Basket Installed on TOP OF THE WORLD - 2007/08/24 09:05
Yesterday, Scott 'DGA' Keasey and I placed the 'new' 26a basket on Top of the World.
Much thanks to Emrys McCormick for carrying the 80 pound bag of quickrete to the top...
We have placed the basket in the long tournament sleeve, until the new shorter position sleeve sets up.
The tee is the 'asphalt' area just up from hole 26's short pin placement.
Play on the hole will be monitored for a couple of months to determine whether it will have an overly adverse environmental affect on the area.
Therefore, there are now 28 holes available for play....
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Steve Lonhart
Legend
Re:Hole #26a-New Basket Installed on TOP OF THE WORLD - 2007/08/24 09:54
Hi Marty et al.,
I've always wished for a basket up there. But having played the hole there during tournaments, and seeing how we all sometimes shank a drive to one hillside or the other, I think it will be really important to monitor the slopes.
On the right side (north?), the hill has a large accumulation of leaves and duff, and it will take decades to (naturally) rebuild it once it has been lost. As people climb around on it, the very loose organic material will head downslope, and when it rains, the process will accelerate. If we think the city/county is complaining about erosion now, this will exacerbate the problem.
I will plan on heading up there soon with a camera to document the current state of the slope.
On the left side (south?), there's less organic material but that's in part due to the vegetation on that slope (few oak trees). Since officials have indicated that entire slope contributes to run-off, looking for shanked discs on that side will also contribute to the problem, albeit not in as dramatic a way as on the north slope. I'll also image that side of the hill.
Obviously, the best course of action is to throw it straight down the middle and avoid the slopes!
I'm glad this is considered an experiment. We've seen what happened at 8A in just a few years (loss of all undergrowth), but I don't think it has adversely altered the runoff situation there. But I'd hate to see another slope like at hole 17, and the city/county rolling in and saying "Shut it down."
Cheers, Steve
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Steve Lonhart
Legend
Re:Hole #26a-New Basket Installed on TOP OF THE WORLD - 2007/08/30 08:54
Hi Marty et al.,
I took about 70 shots yesterday, both from below (on the way up from tee #25) and from the top looking down (26a fairway).
I didn't realize the placement of the pin is in the short position--this will help a lot. Although, I am my own worst example. A little overconfident, I went for an ace run rather than an easy 2, and ended up past the basket, on the right and behind the small wall of green vegetation that is a the crest of the biker trail. I can see that this part of the hill will be trampled in short order, but that might not be too bad.
Anyways, we now have a baseline of sorts to make an informed decision.
Personally, I think it is cool to have a basket there. I'll just need to throw a bit better from here on out....
Cheers, Steve
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Stan Pratt
Admin
Re:Hole #26a-New Basket Installed on TOP OF THE WO - 2007/08/30 11:02
I moved this to the new short pin yesterday afternoon. I talked to 5 or 6 groups while I was doing this and asked what they thought about the hole. Most of them were rec players and had just gotten really beat up by the long position and were happy to see/hear that it was moving short. There were a lot of trips down the side of the hill by these rec players.
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Steve Lonhart
Legend
Re:Hole #26a-New Basket Installed on TOP OF THE WO - 2007/08/30 12:35
Thanks for the update Stan. That explains a lot. I noted (and photographed) several recent "footprints" along the duff adjacent to the long position (SW hillside). I was thinking they looked too recent, since it's been months since the last tournament with a pin there. But now I can see it was just some of the recent activity.
Cheers, Steve
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I'll just need to throw a bit better from here on out.... 
