The 3rd of 11 Par Fours

 

The holes continue to go from longest to shortest.

 

This hole was pretty straight forward. There was an opportunity to place a tee high up affording a great view of the entire hole. The key to the hole is the three very large trees well spaced to the mid-point of the hole. Because of the spacing they come into play for all the hitters and remove the need for bunkering. The most majestic is the massive Maple on the left, but the key for long players will be the large Willow on the right that is set just beyond the tip of the pond. The green site is a small natural plateau at the end of the fairway which features a nice backdrop of Pine and Spruce in the distance.

 

The trees set the challenge off the tee and so we decided that only the green should be examined for any additional work. The height of the existing plateau was ideal so the only work we considered was bunkering. We actually deferred the decision to the end and even considered the idea of not adding bunkers to this green site and surrounding it with short grass.

 

Since the slope in front of the green angled to the left and there is a pond on the right of the landing, the hole had a simple but effective strategy. We matched the angle of the green to the alignment of the slope to reinforce the strategy at the green and then added a bunker on the left slope to reinforce the strategy.

 

The hole favours an approach from the right side of the fairway which brings the main Willow and pond in play off the tee. A successful tee shot to the right side will open up the green. The remaining surrounds are all short grass allowing for fairly simple recover shots which will allow for some aggressive play.

 

The hole may be complicated by the combination of length and trees, but it’s intentionally intended to be more subtle and simple than many of the others. Simpler holes like this one are just as important as the spectacular ones. They create a moment to take a breath before the architect presents something more spectacular or though provoking. Great architecture often comes through the contrast in the way the holes play and the decisions that the golfer must make.

 

 

Rollercoaster Design is similar to Golf Design. The best rollercoaster has intention lulls in the action designed to bring the heart rate back down and prepare you for the next thrill. The thrill is then enhanced by the break and the anticipation of the next thrilling section. Golf design works the same way, sometimes a break before a spectacular hole adds to the excitement. Golfers experience golf courses emotionally and it’s up to the designer to understand how to play those emotions to make a better golf course.

 

 

Ian Andrew

 

 

February 8th, 2010

 

 

 

The 2nd of 11 Par Fours

 

The fours are going to be presented from longest to shortest as we go.

 

The tee shot is played uphill to the very top of the rise where there is plenty of room between the trees. From there the hole tumbles and drops all the way down to the green site which is set on a natural plateau located at the bottom of the hill.

 

The ground falls strongly from right to left and we will use this natural fall in the land to create options for the players. The red arrows indicate how a player can use the strong slope on the right to direct the ball back to the left and towards the green. Since we want players to utilize this option we will also angle the green to the left and slope the green from right to left to run the ball in. This makes the running approach not only feasible but for many a desirable way to play the hole.

 

One of the greatest influences on this hole is the second shot to the 13^th at Pine Valley. The 13^th offers the player the choice of playing directly over the waste areas to the green or playing a little draw right of the trouble and using the natural fall of the land to feed the ball onto the green. By adding a front left bunker we have created essentially the same strategic concept. One new idea that we did add was to include a small swale at the back right that will collect a ball hit through the feeder slope and send it down into the chipping area leaving a tough recovery.

 

We designed the approach shot and green site before we addressed landing area. The landing is quite open but does have a subtle problem for the players to deal with. The tree on the left at 300 yards out really encroaches in. The players in the left rough will have serious issues unless they play a running hook which they can because of the slopes inn the fairway. We also added a rare fairway bunker to the right that will only catch the very longest of hitters who try and take this long four down to a short iron approach. We didn’t take away the ability to be long and aggressive, but we certainly wanted to put a premium on accuracy. This also creates a nice twist in the shape of the fairway too.

 

What we have is a hole that can be approached in multiple ways. Since the player is well above the green and fairway they will be able to clearly see their options and then watch the results of either approach.

This will definitely be one of the more fun holes to play despite the length. Here is an image of the approach shot from the landing.

 

 

Ian Andrew

 

January 2010

 

 

 

 

 

The 1st and Longest of 11 Par Fours

 

The fours are going to be presented from longest to shortest as we go.

 

As I mentioned yesterday, architects look to establish a mixture of lengths on our par fours. One of the most important holes to find in a routing is a location for one or two long dominant par fours. It they are built on interesting land they often become the most memorable holes on the course. When they are built on dull land they usually become the least interesting point of the round.

 

Finding a natural hole for the longest fours is more important than finding terrain for the holes that are just a bit shorter. Holes with a little less length offer the architect a chance to introduce options for the players. What makes a long dominant four is the “lack of options� beyond playing to the green in three shots and trying to get up and down for par. The player generally finds they must hit driver in order to have a descent chance to reach the green in regulation. It’s the pressure to make par that makes the hole so valuable in the overall context of the course.

 

This corridor was ideal for a long four. The tee shot plays uphill through a natural draw in the land and into a slightly bowl shaped landing. The hole turns mildly right and continues up the hill but at a slightly reduced gradient. The green is set on a small ridge at the highest point of the hole. The hole is long and uphill the entire way making this easily the hardest two-shot hole on the golf course.

 

We choose not to add bunkers in the landing since any attempt to make the bunkering visible would involve an exaggerated landform. Missing the fairway will be penalty enough because of the length of the shot and lie it will be hit from. What we chose to do instead was to tighten up the approach to demand accuracy from the tee.

 

We seriously considered going without bunkers, but we already had a couple of greens like that and we worried that the green would be hard to distinguish because of the rise in the land. The green was tilted to the left and a flanking bunker was added up the left. The front right bunker was cut into the diagonal ridge in front of the green which meant we could add fairway beyond to feed the shot in. Players have the option to play a high cut into the green slope, a runner up the middle or use the feeder slope beyond the right bunker to find the green. The hole may be tough, but it does come with options.

 

Around the green all kept short and the fall offs are fairly subtle meaning most recovery shots from beyond will not be too complicated. The approach shot is shown in this image.

 

 

 

The Par Fours

 

One of the fours being conceptualized on site

 

 

The final installment will be the collection of par fours.

 

The par fours are the backbone of any golf course. It’s the collection of par fours that usually play the most significant role in determining how well you play. While the short ones do present an opportunity to score, the majority represent the place in the round where the player generally looks to hang on.

 

There is no such thing as a par 5½. For the better player a par five will always be an opportunity. There are definitely par 3½’s which are made up of short fours and very long and tough par threes. Architects work to hard to create variety in the threes, so there is little likelihood of there being more than one per round from the par threes. In fact there is a greater chance that there will be more 3½’s made up by par fours than by par threes. This leaves the par fours to do most of the work to create difficulty within the round.

 

When Mike and I design we always look for a couple of shorter fours to create balance, but when you consider the average number or fours is eleven, that leaves nine more that are not short. So let’s assume that two are of the shorter variety and then add two more in the early 400 yard range and call them mid-length. That leaves us with seven long par fours of varying distances. Well let’s once again take away two holes, but this time we are going to remove two very long and arduous par fours of exceptional difficulty. They are the dominant fours which are designed to test the player’s mental toughness and game. That still leaves five long par fours.

 

The Road Hole - the greatest dominant par four I know 

 

 

So that’s seven holes where the scoring average is expected to be above par for the scratch player. That also means that we are looking at five to seven holes of similar length that must be differentiated through either landforms or by architectural decisions.

 

One side note: If you want to make the course more fun, you simply add in more short fours like a course such as Pacific Dunes where the addition of more short fours adds to the fun and the ability to score. If you want to increase the challenge, you simply remove almost all the short ones and in essence create anywhere from seven to eleven par 4½’s.

 

 

Here’s our basic breakdown for a course with 11 par fours:

 

One drivable par four

One drive and pitch par four

 

Two mid-length par fours where accuracy is rewarded over strength

They should reward the ability to think and work the ball

 

Two very long and tough dominant fours

These should play either uphill, into the wind, or involve a testing long approach.

 

Five holes will all be of the longer variety

They should balance out the player’s ability to work the ball in both directions

They should each have a different setting and different task from the last one

 

 Tomorrow I’ll begin presenting the par fours.