Desired Elements: Members Course

[Mike Hendren]

To create a fun, yet challenging course for a membership with varying handicaps, rate the desirability of the following elements from 1 (essential) to 3 (indifferent):

Length
Wind
Width
Water
Rough
Trees
Topography
Firmness
Bunkering
Green Speeds
Green Contours

Mike

[Daryn_Soldan]

1 - Width, Topography, Green Contours, Firmness (to a degree)

2 - Length, Bunkering, Green Speeds

3 - Wind, Water, Rough, Trees

[Doug Siebert]

Same as my answer for the championship test, except I'd move width from indifferent to desireable, and green speeds from essential to desireable.

[ed_getka]

1's  Topography, firmness, green contours

2's  Bunkering(deep enough to be a hazard), length, wind, rough, green speeds and width.

3's  Trees, water.

[Garland Bayley]

Why does a members course have to be different than a championship course? Remember, a championship course should have nothing to do with defending par and everything to do with variety, which can hardly be bad for a members course.

I imagine myself playing Friars Head every day.  

[Bruce Katona]

How about playability in general.....members courses also include family play (spouses and children) and the course needs to be designed and set up for their enjoyment as well.

[ed_getka]

Garland,
    Name 5 courses that you think are good championship tests that are also courses that a wide variety of golfer abilities can be accomodated.
   I think it is very difficult to design a course that can host a top-flight championship and still have a course that can be played by mortals. Most great championship courses I'm thinking of, as an 11 handicap, would give me a headache to play. It would be a great test of my game for sure, but I don't think I would want to be a member at a course like that.

[Garland Bayley]

Garland,
    Name 5 courses that you think are good championship tests that are also courses that a wide variety of golfer abilities can be accomodated.
   I think it is very difficult to design a course that can host a top-flight championship and still have a course that can be played by mortals. Most great championship courses I'm thinking of, as an 11 handicap, would give me a headache to play. It would be a great test of my game for sure, but I don't think I would want to be a member at a course like that.

I guess I don't get the difficulty of your question. Notice that my championship test has nothing to do with difficulty (defending par) and everything to do with variety. Perhaps you did not see my answer on the parallel thread.

[Ken Moum]

To create a fun, yet challenging course for a membership with varying handicaps, rate the desirability of the following elements from 1 (essential) to 3 (indifferent):


Mike

Length = 3

6,300-6,500 is plenty for regular tees, with 5,900, 4,900, and "Family tees" at 3500. If you want to challenge longer hitters, 4/5 par on each side .

Wind 2

Most golfers I know can't or won't play in the wind, and I haven't seen many American courses that are truly playable in it either.

Width 1

Width is great. And I think it having plenty of it off the tee actually confuses a more players than people realize.

Water 3

Water in moderation is fine with whisky, but it often spoils the golf

Rough 2

Too much or too tall rough makes for play slow, so keep it under control

Trees 3

I hate abundant trees, and nearly all the courses I play have them much too close together. It amazes me that people can plant a tree without ever once considering how big it will be in 30 years.

Topography 1

Good topography, well-used is a joy--even if it apears subtle at first.

Firmness 1

Us popcorn-hitters with good short games love it when the course is fast.

Bunkering 2

Bunkers are essential, but too many becomes a maintenance cost issue, and cost is one of the things that is problematic in the game.

Green Speeds 1

Fast, but not crazy. I think Pelz has it right--every course has a green speed that provides the most entertainment for the largest number of golfers. I just wish we could standardize a way to measure that.

Green Contours 1

I wish I could play "Mackenzie greens" every day.

The course I play in Kansas is almost my ideal member's course. Except for it's relative lack of strategy, it has elements that make it loads of fun to play.

It's 6,300 yards from the white tees, par 71, and easy for most 16+ handicappers to get around. But no scratch golfer thinks it's easy.

But it's real genius is that almost every bad shot leaves the player with the belief that he can recover on his next swing. Of course, he probably won't recover

Someone famous once said, "The most exciting shot in golf is the recovery shot."

At my home course, you rarely think your dead, but you often are.

K

[Jerry Kluger]

My first element in a member's club is routing - a top notch member's course needs good routing which allows for walking.

[Joe Perches]

My first element in a member's club is routing - a top notch member's course needs good routing which allows for walking.

A 2 on the 3 point scale for me would be alternate routings.  Pine Valley styled complete isolation and solitude for every hole can be enjoyable, but an alternate routing, deciding where next to play as you go, with your mates can also be tremendous fun.

1: Topo, green contours, green speeds for contours, routing
2: Length, width, wind, bunkering, firmness, quirk, deception
3: Trees, water, rough

[Rich Goodale]

1.  Good members
2.  Good members
3.  Good members

If you have the first 3 the course doesn't matter.

[Mark_F]

Rich,

What happens if your good members are the bane of my existence?

Doesn't that mean I should have at least one hole to occupy my interest?

[Rich Goodale]

Mark

Change courses or ignore the members.  I've done both.

Rich

[John_Cullum]

How do you build in the wind?

[Tiger_Bernhardt]

1 to all.