2012 was a good year for me.
Highlights
-Playing Peachtree in October. This is certainly the best course I have played since Pebble Beach and the best course I have played in the Southern US.
-The Hundred Hole Hike in July. This was both fun and painful. Walking 100 holes in a day was very difficult. But the reward that came from raising over $2000 for charity was great.
-Playing Oxmoor Valley and Ross Bridge in June. This was a lot of fun and the first time I'd played 4 different golf courses in a single day. I don't expect to top that any time soon, if ever.
-Played a total of 30 new golf courses and 6 of those ended up in my personal Top 25.
-TPC Louisiana in December. This course exceeded expectations. I didn't expect the course to have so much variety and interest.
-Ross Bridge in June. Greatly exceeded expectations. For the course to be so long it has great interest and is quite fun to play.
-Met some great guys both through internet groups and random pairings on the course.
Upcoming Plans
-Currently planning to play at least 9 courses in January. 8 different courses on the RTJ Trail and East Lake.
-Hopefully I can take advantage of the Trail offer of $21 on the 21st this year like I did this past year. After January, I'll have 3 Trail sites to play (Hampton Cove, The Shoals, and Highland Oaks) plus 1 course at both Cambrian Ridge and Lakewood. Hopefully I can finish all those this year.
-And hopefully I can meet some new friends on and off the course while playing some new rounds.
Thanks to all my readers here, I hope to grow this site over the next year to greater size than it is right now. The growth over the last half year has been great. I greatly appreciate all of you that read here. Any suggestions for content will be considered. Thank you and here's to next year.
Sunday
Thursday
Designing for Weather and Location
It seems like such an obvious statement. Golf courses should be designed for the meteorological and geographical conditions of the given area. But digging deeper, what does that mean? I look back on a fine course I played about a month ago, The Dunes Golf & Beach Club in Myrtle Beach. The weather when I played was fairly rough, 55 degree temps, winds 20-25 miles per hour out of the north and rather slow fairways due to rain the day before. Catch is, this course was not really designed for conditions like that, at least not from a specific set of tees designed to cater to a specific type of player.
A set of holes that come to mind readily is the stretch from holes 10-13. The 10th hole is a 380 yard par 4, 11 is a 430 yard par 4, 12 is a 245 yard par 3, and 13 is a 590 yard par 5. These holes provide a substantial challenge to the player even in standard conditions when temps are in the mid-80's, the fairways are much more firm and the wind is gentle to moderate out of the south. However, on the day I played, given the conditions above, they were incredibly difficult. Typically, given driver off the tee, I would have approached 10 with a lob wedge, 11 with a pitching wedge, 12 with a 5 wood, and 13 with a sand wedge after a 3 wood second shot. However, given the conditions, I approached with 6 iron, 3 wood, 3 wood (from 185 yards, not 245) and 6 iron after a 3 wood 2nd. So the effective lengths of these holes, based on how I play, were 480 yards, 550 yards, 260 yards (from the 185 tees, I played those because I had just hit a 205 yard drive on 11 that was very well struck and was rather certain I would be unable to clear the water even if I hit a perfect driver) and 730 yards. So because the holes were not really designed to be played from the back tees in conditions like I faced, the effective length of the holes was astronomical.
But the conditions I faced there are not standard there. In fact, there are likely very fews days in the course of an entire year that fit those conditions.
I had a similar thought the first time I played a golf course in Alaska. The Creek course at Moose Run was the first course I played in the state, back in 2009. I played it from the back tees, around 7400 yards. But I played on a day when the temperature was in the mid-70's, a very warm day up there. I couldn't figure out why Golf Digest had ranked this course among the 50 most difficult courses in America. However, when I returned to Alaska in 2012, I played more courses and playing them in "standard" Alaska conditions opened my eyes a bit to why that course might be so difficult. The first two rounds I played were played when the temperatures did not get out of the 50's. On a day like that, which is not uncommon in Alaska even in the peak "heat" of summertime, 7400 yards becomes a incredible length for even the longest of golfers.
Altitude is also something that must be considered when designing for conditions. Edgewood Tahoe plays 7,555 yards from the back tees, but the course sits at 6,200 feet elevation. So it plays effectively much, much shorter than that. I recall hitting driver off the tee on #2 and having less than 50 yards left to the green; #2 is 417 yards from the back tees. On #18 I hit driver off the tee then had yardage that dictated a 6 iron (I had to lay up due to a strong wind coming off the lake to the right and a pond to the left of the green) and #18 is 572 yards long. So obviously with numbers like that, the 7,500 yards becomes more manageable.
But the standard conditions for an area must be used to determine overall course length and individual hole length. This was a concept that I failed to understand for quite some time. While I do still believe that courses of astronomical length are needed to challenge professional golfers and elite amateurs, courses designed for member play, even high level member play, can be designed with a reasonable effective length in mind. Perhaps that number is 6900 yards, perhaps more, perhaps less. Either way, all the conditions must be taken into consideration, by the owners/developers more than the designers (the designer all ready knows the "right" yardage), when determining what length the course will play. After all, 7,195 yards at The Dunes, played at effectively sea level, with temps of 55 degrees and a strong wind is quite a bit longer than 7,555 yards at Edgewood Tahoe, at 6,200 feet above sea level on a 75 degree day with no wind, though the raw numbers indicate the opposite.
A set of holes that come to mind readily is the stretch from holes 10-13. The 10th hole is a 380 yard par 4, 11 is a 430 yard par 4, 12 is a 245 yard par 3, and 13 is a 590 yard par 5. These holes provide a substantial challenge to the player even in standard conditions when temps are in the mid-80's, the fairways are much more firm and the wind is gentle to moderate out of the south. However, on the day I played, given the conditions above, they were incredibly difficult. Typically, given driver off the tee, I would have approached 10 with a lob wedge, 11 with a pitching wedge, 12 with a 5 wood, and 13 with a sand wedge after a 3 wood second shot. However, given the conditions, I approached with 6 iron, 3 wood, 3 wood (from 185 yards, not 245) and 6 iron after a 3 wood 2nd. So the effective lengths of these holes, based on how I play, were 480 yards, 550 yards, 260 yards (from the 185 tees, I played those because I had just hit a 205 yard drive on 11 that was very well struck and was rather certain I would be unable to clear the water even if I hit a perfect driver) and 730 yards. So because the holes were not really designed to be played from the back tees in conditions like I faced, the effective length of the holes was astronomical.
But the conditions I faced there are not standard there. In fact, there are likely very fews days in the course of an entire year that fit those conditions.
I had a similar thought the first time I played a golf course in Alaska. The Creek course at Moose Run was the first course I played in the state, back in 2009. I played it from the back tees, around 7400 yards. But I played on a day when the temperature was in the mid-70's, a very warm day up there. I couldn't figure out why Golf Digest had ranked this course among the 50 most difficult courses in America. However, when I returned to Alaska in 2012, I played more courses and playing them in "standard" Alaska conditions opened my eyes a bit to why that course might be so difficult. The first two rounds I played were played when the temperatures did not get out of the 50's. On a day like that, which is not uncommon in Alaska even in the peak "heat" of summertime, 7400 yards becomes a incredible length for even the longest of golfers.
Altitude is also something that must be considered when designing for conditions. Edgewood Tahoe plays 7,555 yards from the back tees, but the course sits at 6,200 feet elevation. So it plays effectively much, much shorter than that. I recall hitting driver off the tee on #2 and having less than 50 yards left to the green; #2 is 417 yards from the back tees. On #18 I hit driver off the tee then had yardage that dictated a 6 iron (I had to lay up due to a strong wind coming off the lake to the right and a pond to the left of the green) and #18 is 572 yards long. So obviously with numbers like that, the 7,500 yards becomes more manageable.
But the standard conditions for an area must be used to determine overall course length and individual hole length. This was a concept that I failed to understand for quite some time. While I do still believe that courses of astronomical length are needed to challenge professional golfers and elite amateurs, courses designed for member play, even high level member play, can be designed with a reasonable effective length in mind. Perhaps that number is 6900 yards, perhaps more, perhaps less. Either way, all the conditions must be taken into consideration, by the owners/developers more than the designers (the designer all ready knows the "right" yardage), when determining what length the course will play. After all, 7,195 yards at The Dunes, played at effectively sea level, with temps of 55 degrees and a strong wind is quite a bit longer than 7,555 yards at Edgewood Tahoe, at 6,200 feet above sea level on a 75 degree day with no wind, though the raw numbers indicate the opposite.
Wednesday
Stonehouse Golf Club-Toano, VA
Another of the few golf courses that Mike Strantz designed. This one, sadly, lacks that "it" that the other courses have. That said, this is a quality golf course and certainly one to play. This course is simply a normal golf course, if there is such a thing. It does not reach the extremism seen at Tobacco Road and Tot Hill Farm. It does not play extremely difficult like Royal New Kent. This course plays somewhat similar to many other housing based membership clubs. In most cases this would be a fine course, but compared to Mike Strantz's other work, it falls a bit short.
Ranking
Variety of Design: The par 3's have only modest variety, ranging only from 172 to 204 yards. The par 4's virtually all fall in the mid-400 yard range, none being very short nor very long. And the par 5's have only moderate variety as well. Directionally, the holes would seem to balance out well, having 6 holes playing right, 7 holes playing left and 6 playing straight (the 7th doglegs both left and right), yet upon digging a bit deeper one finds that the holes on the front nine are broken down as 6 holes right, 1 left, and 3 straight, while the back nine is 6 left and 3 straight. The overall balance is fair, the by each nine, quite skewed. 5 3/4 out of 10
Flow of the Course: This course has limited flow. None of the holes stand out as exceptional to give high points to the round. But none are so poor as to give extremely low points. 5 out of 10
Course Conditioning: In most places the turf is solid. A few greens had some dead spots due to heat and lack of air flow, but in general, the conditions were what one would expect give the fees. 5 3/4 out of 10
Ease of Walking: Not good. Significant distances between many of the holes, road crossings and hilly terrain makes this a difficult walk. 3 1/4 out of 10
Atmosphere: Mike Strantz being the designer gives a bit of a boost, but other than that, not much atmosphere here. 3 out of 10
Total: 50 out of 100
*All photos property of and used with permission from The Buffalo Golfer www.buffalogolfer.com*
Holes to Note
Hole #1: Par 4, 401 yards
This is likely the easiest opening hole from Strantz that I have played. The play off the tee is fairly simple. The bunker on the right can be easily carried, but the player must be mindful of the fact that the fairway ends at 285 yards from the back tee. Longer players may be able to run the ball through the fairway. But in general, the tee shot should not be overly difficult given that the fairway is over 60 yards wide. From the fairway, the player will have an open approach shot to a green cut into the side of a large hill.
Ranking
Variety of Design: The par 3's have only modest variety, ranging only from 172 to 204 yards. The par 4's virtually all fall in the mid-400 yard range, none being very short nor very long. And the par 5's have only moderate variety as well. Directionally, the holes would seem to balance out well, having 6 holes playing right, 7 holes playing left and 6 playing straight (the 7th doglegs both left and right), yet upon digging a bit deeper one finds that the holes on the front nine are broken down as 6 holes right, 1 left, and 3 straight, while the back nine is 6 left and 3 straight. The overall balance is fair, the by each nine, quite skewed. 5 3/4 out of 10
Flow of the Course: This course has limited flow. None of the holes stand out as exceptional to give high points to the round. But none are so poor as to give extremely low points. 5 out of 10
Course Conditioning: In most places the turf is solid. A few greens had some dead spots due to heat and lack of air flow, but in general, the conditions were what one would expect give the fees. 5 3/4 out of 10
Ease of Walking: Not good. Significant distances between many of the holes, road crossings and hilly terrain makes this a difficult walk. 3 1/4 out of 10
Atmosphere: Mike Strantz being the designer gives a bit of a boost, but other than that, not much atmosphere here. 3 out of 10
Total: 50 out of 100
*All photos property of and used with permission from The Buffalo Golfer www.buffalogolfer.com*
Holes to Note
Hole #1: Par 4, 401 yards
This is likely the easiest opening hole from Strantz that I have played. The play off the tee is fairly simple. The bunker on the right can be easily carried, but the player must be mindful of the fact that the fairway ends at 285 yards from the back tee. Longer players may be able to run the ball through the fairway. But in general, the tee shot should not be overly difficult given that the fairway is over 60 yards wide. From the fairway, the player will have an open approach shot to a green cut into the side of a large hill.
The fairway runs from the center of the bunker on the right to a line pointed towards the lone tree on the left. Anything in the fairway will give the player a solid look at the green.
The green is cut deeply into the side of the hill. Shots missed more than a fraction in any direction will be done no favors.
Hole #5: 431 yards
This hole plays fairly long with a blind tee shot and then an approach shot to a Punchbowl green. The best line off the tee is to favor the right side, even with a line over the shorter tree. The green is fairly open in front and could allow for a run-up shot, though that would not be the preferred option.
From the tee, the player is unable to see the fairway. The stake visible in the middle of the fairway is not the 150 yard stake, indeed that stake is more than 225 yards from the green. Any shot left of that stake will not find the fairway.
The green is surrounded on 3 sides by the bowl. Shots hit a slight distance up on the hills will kick down onto the green. The wide opening in front may allow for a roll-up shot, but there is a depression short of the green which likely prevents that.
Hole #14: Par 4, 402 yards
This is a solid hole even though is has an awkward green site. The bunkers visible off the tee are completely out of play unless the player tops a shot. The tee shot is blind and the best line is directly over the two bunkers seen on the left side of the image; the orange bunkers in the foreground to be specific. That will leave the player with 150 or less yards into the green. To a certain degree, the farther right the players tee shot is played, the better, due to angle and being able to see the pin or the green, but this is certainly not a green that one will want to approach with a long iron.
From the tee, the best line is directly over the grass that separates the two orange sand bunkers in the foreground. That will allow the player a clear view of the green.
From around 150 out, this is the look at the green. This is certainly an aerial only approach and any miss hit shot will be severely penalized.
A closer look at the green shows the jungle surrounding the green on all sides.
Hole #18: Par 4, 453 yards
This is a difficult closing hole. The fairway is over 100 yards wide before part of it comes to an end 265 yards off the tee. The shortest line to the green comes from playing the tee shot close down the treeline on the left. This is where the fairway runs out. Playing over to the left, over the large shrubby tree in the center of the below image will give the player more length for the tee shot, but will also leave a longer approach. To the green the player has multiple options. From the shorter route, the player must fly the ball all the way to the green. From the longer route to the right, the player is able to bring the ball in low with a run-up shot. Very solid finishing hole.
The shortest line to the green comes from playing close to the treeline on the left. Players who hit the ball more than 275 yards off the tee will need to play less than driver when playing down this side. From there, the player will have around 170 yards to the center of the green, but the ball must be carried onto the putting surface, there is no run-up option. Players who choose to play to the right, over the shrub, will be left with about 190 yards to the center of the green even if they are able to hit the tee shot 300 yards. This shot, however, can be played with a run-up shot if desired.
From the center of the fairway, both approach options are visible. Anything left of here will not have the option of playing the shot on the ground. Anything right will need more club to reach the green but is able to be played to the green by rolling the ball up. The bunkers serve as saving features for players who slightly miss their approach shots.
Overall, this course is good but not great. It does provide a great break from the ordinary however, and is worth a look because of that. 5 out of 10
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