Courses Within The Course

[Sean_A]

In my third reading of Golf Architecture I became engrossed with George Thomas's idea of alternate holes on golf courses.  In an effort to create some of the unpredictability found on links, Thomas had the idea of significantly rerouting holes on a day to day basis at LACC's North Course.  This idea was later narrowed down to alternate tees and hole locations.  

I rarely come across this sort of design where radically different tee placements alter a hole completely.  Two of the best examples I can think of are Tobacco Road's 6th and Burnham's & Berrow's 8th.  Though to be fair, the 6th at Tobacco Road is designed with a green in mind which will enhance the alternate (or in this case mega wide tee) tee shots.  Burnham's is just a fluke of time and the green isn't designed to accompany the alternate tee.

I have always thought this sort of design is fantastic, but under-used.  I could be wrong and there might be hundreds of examples.  Can folks name some and show pix with an explanation of how the hole differs depending on the tee and section of green used?  

Ciao

[Mark_Rowlinson]

Many Japanese courses had separate winter and summer greens.  They may still have.

[Philip Gawith]

Mark is right re Japan - but the alternate greens are not really a recommendation. I think they are there so as to stop greens getting damaged from over-use, but the alternate greens are generally pale imitations of the main thing, so you would not thank anyone for inviting you to play them rather than the real thing!

[Jim Sweeney]

Haig Pointe on Dufuske Island SC has a number of holes with radically different hole locations. They significantly change the course; for example, there is a par three which when played one way is a 135 yd fairway par three. The alternate tee makes it a 195 yard carry over a marsh.