Golf Course Design

In my last article, I discussed golf course architecture in terms of the changing nature of today’s game. Quite a few readers enjoyed the topic, so I want to explore the field a little more this week.

Have you ever considered what makes a golf course good or great? What distinguishes one course from another? How did some golf courses become more renowned? How many times have you heard someone say, “I played a GREAT course.” What do they mean by that?

Among the many things that make golf a great game is that it’s played on the earth. Literally, we play on ground that was originally shaped by Mother Nature and later developed into a golf course. Some developers reshaped the land minimally, others quite extensively. And therein lie the beginnings of establishing a basis for rating courses. 

It’s one thing to establish the outline of a course - 18 tees, 18 greens, some bunkering, the sequence of the holes, etc. and quite another to do these things more extensively and with defined precision. For example, compare Augusta National to your local municipal course and you get some idea of how differently ground can be contoured. So, let’s dive into the difference. What IS a great golf course?

Conditioning: Very simply, in what kind of shape are the greens, tees, fairways, bunkering? Did the greens roll fast and true? Are they fair? Were the fairways cut to such a height that would allow a good player to spin his/her approach shot to the green? Were divots replaced or filled in? Did the greens have unrepaired pitch marks, or were they carefully repaired? Were the bunkers fine sand sans rocks and pebbles? Augusta National is a clinic in turf grass management!

Challenge: How difficult is the golf course for the scratch player from the championship tees? Oakmont might be the most difficult course I’ve ever played. Every time I drove the ball into a fairway bunker, I took my sand wedge and played back to the fairway. Very penal!

Playability/Fairness: As opposed to a challenge for the expert, does the course have tees that allow the average player to enjoy it as well? 

Shot Variety: Does the course offer a wide variety of shots to play it? Driver, short irons, long irons, left-to-right, right-to-left high, low, etc.? Simply put, do we have to use “all 14 clubs” to play it? Risk/reward is a major factor here. Pine Valley-like, where the par 3s play from 230 yards to 130. Six holes play straight, six dog-legs left, and six right. 

Layout variety: This is my first observation when I play a golf course for the first time. Do the par-3s have a long one, a short one, a medium one, etc.? Do the par 4s offer a good variety of left-to-right and vice versa? Are there long ones, short ones? Do they play in different directions as opposed to city or municipal courses that have limited acreage and were forced to play up and back, back and up? Is the prevailing wind taken into consideration: longer holes downwind, shorter ones into the wind? Is there variety yet continuity where each hole is unique but somehow, they belong together? Merion Golf Club in Philadelphia is built on 105-110 acres! It is the best use of land I have ever seen!

Memorability: The best way I can describe this is by asking this question:  after playing one of the world’s top courses, have you ever walked away and remembered most, if not every, hole? I know I have-and still do. If a golf course shimmers in your memory after just one play, there was something very special about it! Cypress Point by a country mile here - it is like a mystical experience. I can’t explain it any other way,

These are just some of the qualities that make a golf course great. There are plenty of finely manicured courses that lack some of the other elements, and there are some very well-planned courses a little rough around the edges. A golf course needs pretty much all of the elements above to enter the “great” status. The next time you are given the opportunity to play one of the top 100 courses, look around. And keep some of the above criteria in mind!