What New Strategies Work?

[Jeff_Brauer]

As much as we focus on the classic strategies here, the SS Modern Technology Age has sailed, and the SS Golden Age (RIP) won't ever make port again.

Lets think forward about how strategies - sublte, in your face, or otherwise might change in the future.

Here are some tee to green play trends that differ from the golden age:

Hit driver high no matter what for most distance.....

Hit approaches low (traj. control) to have least wind effects...

Use cavity back irons to hit straight shots, not curved....

A shorter rough approach is easier than a long fw approach...

Aim at the pin no matter what to keep up, you miss, you lose...but there is always next week.......

Get Below the hole on fast greens, but don't shortside yourself.....

Play for bunkers if you play for a miss......

Lay up to your perfect wedge distance.....



So, what golf design course features might evlove to create new strategies to counteract or challenge these play types the way optional carry bunkers did to low flying shots in the Golden Age?  Here are some first thoughts, which I have seen or heard talked about:

Unlevel Tees, or eliminate the pegs?

Really punitive hazards at least one side of fw at 300 yds plus?

More variety to green slope?-

 some side to side, (encourage hitting curved shot into slope for control)
 some reverse or flat, (encourage high spin)
 some steeply pitched front to back (encourage low spin)    

More fw contour about 90-120 yards from greens on par 5, creating option of laying up further back?"

Tighter "Sunday Pin" areas?

Collection bunkers on the short side of greens?

Any other creative ideas?

[Brent Hutto]

Unlevel Tees, or eliminate the pegs?

Unlevel tees seems out of keeping with the traditions of the game. Eliminating pegs ain't gonna happen

Really punitive hazards at least one side of fw at 300 yds plus?

Sure, no downside I can think of.

More variety to green slope?-

 some side to side, (encourage hitting curved shot into slope for control)

Sounds great

 some reverse or flat, (encourage high spin)
 some steeply pitched front to back (encourage low spin)    

Yes and yes. I love greens pitched away from the approach shot.

More fw contour about 90-120 yards from greens on par 5, creating option of laying up further back?"

For the strongest players maybe make that 90-150 yards if you don't want them hitting sand wedges. You can always put rough across the fairway instead of just contour, although I'd prefer contour. Heck, just put a ridge down the middle of the fairway inside from 150 yards in. That might look ugly on many hole, though.

Tighter "Sunday Pin" areas?

I don't think you can take this far enough to matter to the very best players and still be practical.

Collection bunkers on the short side of greens?

Only if they're very pitched or have poor-quality sand. A perfectly groomed bunker doesn't scare good players nowadays. No matter how much on the short-side it is situated they'd still rather be there than on a tight lie.

[Bill Gayne]

All of these ideas are penal. The strategy will be to distract with great landscape architect, fountains, waterfalls, gardens, and stuff outside the boundary of the golf course.

[Garland Bayley]

During the PGA at Whistling Straits, I read or heard Pete Dye discussing the philosophy of making a hole harder the longer the ball is driven off the tee. I just bought "Bury Me in a Pot Bunker" and haven't read it, so I don't know to what extent he discusses this philosophy there.

Am I right in deducing that many of the strategies here would fall into Pete's philosophy?
Does the discussion in his book add any strategies to those here?

[Brent Hutto]

It's not possible to design a course that's more difficult for a long hitter than a short hitter. All you can generally do is design the course to be "less easier" the further you hit it off the tee, right?

[JWL]

Jeff,

If the new strategies you are discussing is about making the playing field more difficult for the pros in order to stop with the unbelievable low scores they are shooting each week, let me add a couple of thoughts that would do that and also might turn out to be a strategy in the future.

Rather than have all 18 greens one speed, have 3 sets of green mowers set at 3 different heights that might have a stimpmeter reading variance of 1-2 feet.   That will have a major affect on the amount of putts made.

Rather than placing the most playable draining sand in the bunkers, place sand that is more prone to fried egg lies and even consider using furrowed rakes.   This will stop players from firing right at some of the tight pins on the course.   At present, they just fire away because they know that if they go in a bunker, they have a decent chance of recovery, and they know they need as many birdies as possible to win an given week.   This info came directly from a top 10 tour pro.

Rather than cutting the rough grass higher everywhere, begin raising the rough height at the 300 yard marker from the tee.
If they can hit the fairway at 300, then fine, they deserve to be rewarded.   But, the 270 yard player would find less rough if he missed the fairway, thus giving him a better chance at recovery, even though it would be with a longer club.
This might slow down the blast and find mentality that is pervasive on tour these days.   The game has become a power game first and foremost, and most of shotmaking has been eliminated from the winner's games.

These might not seem fair or feasible, and they might not be, but they are some potential ways to slow down the onslaught on par and a way the shorter courses can defend themselves.     Just some thoughts to mull over....and I think that is what you were asking for.   Cheers

[Bruce Katona]

Slow the green speed down and bring more grain into putting.  Slower grainy putts are more difficult to make than faster putts struck on a pool table top surface.

[Philippe Binette]

JWL, you're getting normative... variety is the best way to ensure good golf...

If you grow rough higher at 300 yards, long hitters will hit more 3-wood, hit more fairways and make less costly mistakes...

[Jim_Kennedy]

Jeff,
Remove collection bunkers on what might be the best 'short' side and let the green fall away so the ball rolls well off the surface into a tightly mown area. It always seems the Pros have more trouble trying to get a shot close enough to save par from this type of area than they do from a bunker.

Favor bunkers on the high side of greens so the shot is downhill. Bunkers on the low side, maybe more deep and steep when possible.  
 
Gradually start widening fairways from 270 out but increase the contours. Make the ball move in something other than a straight line when it hits the ground. Use collection bunkers, occasional pot bunkers, small berms, grassy swales, etc., here.  

Occasional use of greens that slope away from the line of play, high in front, low in back. Firm them all up. We have a stimpmeter, why not a firm-meter?

We've all encountered a shot from just outside a bunker where the rough is deep but sparse and mingled with a lot of sand. Can be a nasty shot to get right. Create some areas like this in the 'shorter rough approach is easier than a long fw approach' regions of the course and it could be effective.

[cary lichtenstein]

At 300+, make the bunkers real bunkers, so that the best they can do is get out with a sand wedge.

[Mike Nuzzo]

As much as we focus on the classic strategies here, the SS Modern Technology Age has sailed, and the SS Golden Age (RIP) won't ever make port again.

What do you mean by "won't ever make port again."?

It sounds to me like all your suggestions - less uneven tees and the 300+ yard hazzard are golden age traits.

The problem with the 300 yard hazzard is that is will catch the bogey player more often on their 2nd shot than the scratch player on their first.

[JWL]

Philippe

I didn't realize I was abnormal.   Wow, the things one can learn on gca.

I don't care if they play 3 woods and make less mistakes, I just want to see them hit something more than a wedge into all the par fours.    Cheers