The making of Cabot St. Lucia:
A hole by hole tour of the progress at the Coore and Crenshaw-designed @CabotSaintLucia. Photos taken March 2020 and November 2021.
Read on.⬇️
@CabotSaintLucia The 1st is a par-5 that climbs up one of the property's steepest parts. Bill Coore has been concerned about this hole from the beginning due to the severity and the way water will rush down and across the fairway, but it's being pounded into shape nicely. A big starting hole.
The short third into the 1st green if you can hit two solid shots up the fairway.
The par-4 2nd isn't on the water but it might be the best hole on property at one of the highest points. Certainly one of the most natural. Big lovely fairway movements and a one-of-a-kind green setting in an old rock quarry. A mesmerizing place on the course.
Another look at the greensite at the par-4 2nd.
The par-4 3rd is a big hole back uphill in the other direction into a grove, also very natural. Not a lot of finish work done on this hole yet. The grassy mound in the fairway on photo 3, probably covering rock or debris, was there and Coore decided to keep it.
Looking back from the par-4 3rd green back to the tee and 2nd green set on a high bluff.
More to come later.
The par-3 4th plays downhill about 200 yards in a natural bowl. The green is banked into a hillside and angled over bunkers. I watched Ben Crenshaw talk to Keith Rhebb about how to shape the putting surface saying he wanted the slope to run away Redan-like.
More to come tomorrow.
The 5th is a short downhill par-5. It's one of several holes that's required hurculean engineering--minimalism this is not. Drives must fight to stay left as everything kicks right. I simply could not envision how a green was going to fit into the hill, or how to get a fairway.
A couple more looks at the 5th at Cabot Saint Lucia. A remarkable piece of construction.
Cabot Saint Lucia will have three short par-4s closing out the first nine, 5, 6 and 8. The 6th also plays downhill across a more open basin toward the shore. A cross bunker cuts in on the left to give driver pause, and the perched green falls off into the cove on the right.
Looking back up the fairway to the heights of the 6th tee and fifth hole all the way up the mountain. The fall from 5 tee to 6 green must be 200 feet or more.
Cabot Saint Lucia's par-3s will be among the world's most thrilling. 16 and 17 will get the lion's share of attention (and they should), but the short 7th might be the best on property. I call it "Tightrope" as it falls away left and right off a windly little spit of land.
A wonderfully simple hole that will give people fits, especially if players try to fly it all the way to back pins. You could almost putt it to the green, and on some days that might be the best play. Looking back, a hidden "Ben's Tee" is benched up on the hillside.
The par-4 8th plays back across the cove from a promontory tee beyond the 7th green. It's about 310 on a direct line to a kind of horseshoe green benched into a slope with all kinds of ramps and movements around it. A tantalizing driving hole considering wind, angle, fw lies etc.
The first pic is Cabot Saint Lucia's 8th from about 50 yards short and right of the green, where a majority of drives will end up. Anything short on this line will roll back down leaving a delicate semi-blind pitch back up to the green. Nice bunker. Then, looking back to the tee.
One more from Cabot's 8th hole, looking back across the bay to the tee and 7 green.
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