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Routing a golf course?

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Tom_Doak:
Jonny:

I will relate a story that Bill Coore told me about the routing of Sand Hills.

He said he and Ben were pretty much set on a routing at one point which had the same first hole, but turned a different way at #2.  Ben had to leave, and Bill went out the next morning to walk it one last time, and discovered that their proposed holes 2 & 3 played dead into the rising sun, and that without any shade out there it was just completely blinding.

Fortunately, they had a lot of other options, and eventually found a routing without those holes.  Now whether the new 2 & 3 are "better holes" than the previous version, none of us know, but clearly the environmental conditions made the present routing a better choice.

If they'd had to move 50,000 cubic yards of earth to make the current holes happen, though, I'd guess that they would have preferred to build the holes into the sun and moved the clubhouse or something, rather than move the earth.  The conception of Sand Hills was as pure of a minimalist ideal as anything since 1900.

TEPaul:
Tom Doak said:

"Jonny:

I will relate a story that Bill Coore told me about the routing of Sand Hills.

He said he and Ben were pretty much set on a routing at one point which had the same first hole, but turned a different way at #2.  Ben had to leave, and Bill went out the next morning to walk it one last time, and discovered that their proposed holes 2 & 3 played dead into the rising sun, and that without any shade out there it was just completely blinding.

Fortunately, they had a lot of other options, and eventually found a routing without those holes.  Now whether the new 2 & 3 are "better holes" than the previous version, none of us know, but clearly the environmental conditions made the present routing a better choice."

Tom D:

That's very interesting and what you just said Bill Coore told you is completely borne out on the so-called "Constellation Map".

On one itereation, hole #2 had a tee to the right of the present first green and played to a green very close to the present 6th green (it was a par 3). From there the 3rd hole (a par 4) turned dead east (and into the risng sun) to a green to the east of where the present 7th green now is.

TEPaul:
TomD:

According to Dick Youngscap and as the "Constellation Map" clearly shows, the original area of the Sand Hills golf course started about 500-700 yards east of where it now is. It got shifted to the west when Ben Crenshaw apparently came upon the landforms of holes #12, #13, #14, #15.

Before that the property line ended at right around the present 16th tee to the west.

According to Dick Youngscap, he bought around 1,000 acres and a partner (or angel) bought the remaining 7,000 or so acres that surround the course. (Dick mentioned that without that guy this whole thing never would've happened)

As Ben and Bill kept finding new and different holes Dick and this "angel" had to keep deeding land back and forth. This happened about six times while Ben and Bill did their thing, prompting that "angel" to ask Dick; "How many times are we going to have to go through this deeding land back and forth?"

Jonathan Davison:
Thank again for your comments.
The design competition was for Faldo Golf Design, on a site with rolling topography.
The brief was split into two  1, A nine hole routing & Nine natural golf holes which would require little cut & fill.
Why I asked the question - we had to identify a location and climate. I am not sure if I would change my design thoughts because of location or climate?
The site is a project by Faldo design and information regarding the design can be found on
www.ledreborgpalacegolf.dk
If I ever figure out how to post my plans I will do so, it is interesting to see the difference when you do not make site visits.

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