Lakeview CC 10th Hole Page

Created 3/3/07

Modified 3/15/07

As a long time member of Lakeview CC in North East, Pennsylvania, The Raptor have probably played over 1,000 rounds of golf there.  The Raptor has a genuine love for the 10th Hole at Lakeview.  The 10th has been a signature hole for Lakeview on many variations of it's score card.  

However, it was The Raptor's personal thrill to have one of his camera shots showcased on a Lakeview score card.

The story goes like this:  The Raptor had purchased a Kodak Digital DC290 Camera in the year 2000.  As luck would have it the camera was with The Raptor in the fall of 2000 at Lakeview on the especially grand afternoon of October 22nd.  

As The Raptor was cruising around the front nine, it became apparent that Lake Erie was really intensely blue.  It should be noted that one of the joys of driving to Lakeview is the breathtaking view one gathers as the Lake comes into view when the driver prepares to exit Interstate 90 in order to get on Route 89.  Just as the exit begins the driver can be distracted by the beauty of the Lake, especially when the power station is visible across the Lake in Canada.  On other occasions large iron ore carriers can be seen in the middle of the lake.

Anyhow...as The Raptor was playing the 9th Hole, he drove to a position on the 10th hole which afforded a tremendous contrast of color and shadowing which resulted in this digital photograph

I have also included a follow up photo that was taken after the greenside sand bunkers were remodeled so that the changes can be compared.

Now a couple of words about these pictures.  First, The Raptor was a novice at this point with the camera.  Therefore, the photos were taken with a weak resolution setting.  Therefore, when the photos are enlarged they tend to look crappy.  Second, there is obviously a cart in the vicinity of the green in photo #1 and both Steve Crane and The Raptor have wondered who was in this now legendary shot.

Back to the story.  Several months after the photo #1 was snapped, The Raptor was chatting with Dave Wedzik.  Dave was putting together a website about Lakeview, so The Raptor agreed to give Dave a couple of shots of the golf course in order to liven up the site.

Several weeks later, Lakeview Golf Professional, Steve Crane, was planning out a new score card for the 2001 golf season and he had Dave send over the shot of the 10th, taken by The Raptor for the signature on the card.  It should be noted that Steve was not aware that The Raptor had snapped the shot.

Here is how the card turned out.  The Raptor is partial to this card for several reason in addition to the photograph.  First, the scorecard was designed with enough fields to facilitate additional scoring considerations.  Second, there is a image of the golf course that would be useful to someone unfamiliar with the routing of the holes.

The rest they say is history.  The card was used from 2001 through 2005.  The Raptor, recognizing the unique set of circumstances surrounding the photo had a framed presentation produced by the Urraro Gallery to commemorate the event which now hangs in the grill room at Lakeview.

Part II - How The 10th Hole Looks Today.

It should be noted that the layout of the 10th Hole has changed.  The process occurred in two stages.  Stage 1 was began in 2004 when the Grounds Crew undertook a rebuilding project of the bunkers surrounding the putting surface.

The above picture, taken in July 2004, shows the redefined soon to be sand bunkers filled with rain water and looking like ultra cool mini water hazards.  There was a process that led to the design seen here.  

It seems that a committee was formed that hashed out the placement of these bunkers.  The Raptor recollects that included in the mix were Steve Crane, Gordon Seliga, Ray Massing, Rick Carlotti, and maybe Mike Capotis.

My primary bona contention with these redesigned bunkers comes together on two fronts.  First, when these bunkers are viewed from the 150 yard marker, they appear "bloated" in relation to the green.  The Raptor perceives the green as being a deep, narrow type of green so from the 150 yard marker, the green looks like a peanut.

Therefore, this bloated effect is overwhelming the symmetry required to give this hole it's justifiable elegance.  In addition, when a player mishits his approach shot into the far right portion of the forward bunker, and the flagstick is in the rear right quadrant of the putting surface, the player is faced with a longish bunker shot over the next bunker in the procession.  

While The Raptor is in no way a certified agronomist, turf care specialist or golf course architect, if I would have had the chance, The Raptor would have built in two bunkers on the right side of the putting surface.  The forward bunkers to peek around the front of the green and the rear bunker to emulate the hour glass bunker that was formerly there.  In addition, The Raptor may have attempted to create more impact by creating some exaggeration of "face" in the forward bunker to instill some fear into the upcoming shot out of the bunker.

Of course, this is now a moot point since the "blobs" are going to be there for some time into the foreseeable future.

Part III - The Loss Of An Old Friend

The golf course went through some additional changes in the Spring of 2006.  The project centered around a transformation of the tee boxes.  The holes affected included 3, 7, 8, 10, 11, 15, 16 and 18.  It should be noted that when the 11th hole tee boxes were remodeled, a large, robust tree that sat right next to the old tee was removed.  This tree is prominent in the scorecard photo #1 and if another photo were to be taken today, there would be a sense on something missing, hence,

The Loss Of An Old Friend.