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Matt Varney

Severe Slopes and Natural Materials
« on: May 29, 2008, 11:40:45 PM »
GCA,

We are building a mountain course and I have some ideas about the slopes around some holes that could be a safety hazard for golf carts.  I really deep inside believe that no one can be so dumb as to drive a golf cart over the slopes but, for safety and liability we have to address these areas with some type of natural material that creates a barrier.

The use of natural rock all the way down the length of a fairway is just too much and I would rather use something low profile maybe 12" to 18" tall max.  Anybody have any images that you could post showing this type of barrier?  I am considering using a railroad tie standing it tall about 8" back filling soil behind it and growing native grasses and wildflowers beyond the railroad ties about 2' tall.  The railroad tie would be anchored using rebar and would allow the rough to grow right up to the edge so that a weedeater could easily maintain a clean edge line.

Peter Wagner

Re: Severe Slopes and Natural Materials
« Reply #1 on: May 31, 2008, 09:30:09 AM »
Matt,
Would it make sense to have the railroad ties behind the natural plants?  Sort of a hidden roadblock.
- Peter

Bill_McBride

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Severe Slopes and Natural Materials
« Reply #2 on: May 31, 2008, 09:58:13 AM »
Matt, you could make it like Pebble Beach and put those 6" curbs on the dangerous side of every cart path.

Matt Varney

Re: Severe Slopes and Natural Materials
« Reply #3 on: May 31, 2008, 03:19:08 PM »
I have thought of placing the railroad ties back in the tall grass beyond the primary rough.  The problem with that is the guy driving the golf cart that has had about 8 beers in 14 holes taking that cart into the tall grass and hitting those ties.

I want the lock to be natural without using tons of rock.  I even considering take the smaller pine trees that were taken down duing clearing trimming all the branches off them but leaving the bark and creating a low barrier maybe 18" high that would be irregular looking so it doesn't look like a fence or guardrail.


Kyle Harris

Re: Severe Slopes and Natural Materials
« Reply #4 on: May 31, 2008, 03:24:34 PM »
I have thought of placing the railroad ties back in the tall grass beyond the primary rough.  The problem with that is the guy driving the golf cart that has had about 8 beers in 14 holes taking that cart into the tall grass and hitting those ties.



In any sort of vehicle, that's called DUI.

Matt Varney

Re: Severe Slopes and Natural Materials
« Reply #5 on: May 31, 2008, 03:40:38 PM »
Kyle,

This golf course is a Pete & P.B. Dye design in the mountains of Tennessee.  They have done a gret job shaping the golf holes we just have some areas where I don't want to take chances when it comes to liability.  The Dye Course is going to be a resort facility so you know that beer flows like water on these facilities especially during tournaments. 

I am not worried about the golf carts as much as the people driving them going for one hell of ride tumbling down and hill getting hurt on our property.  I really believe that golfers avoid severe slopes and just assume the ball is gone so drop and play another ball.  Still you see people looking all the time for lost balls in 2' tall grass like they are going to play the shot if they find the ball. 

The big thing we are trying to do is let the course design stand out and shine on this property.  The last thing I want to do is have a 200 yard long rock wall down one side it will look weird and take away from the golf hole design.  I like the idea of placing the barrier back in the tall grass maybe 3' so that the tall grass grows up and covers this barrier but, it would be in place to stop / catch any carts that might go over the edge on these slopes.

Kyle Harris

Re: Severe Slopes and Natural Materials
« Reply #6 on: May 31, 2008, 03:56:20 PM »
Kyle,

This golf course is a Pete & P.B. Dye design in the mountains of Tennessee.  They have done a gret job shaping the golf holes we just have some areas where I don't want to take chances when it comes to liability.  The Dye Course is going to be a resort facility so you know that beer flows like water on these facilities especially during tournaments. 

I am not worried about the golf carts as much as the people driving them going for one hell of ride tumbling down and hill getting hurt on our property.  I really believe that golfers avoid severe slopes and just assume the ball is gone so drop and play another ball.  Still you see people looking all the time for lost balls in 2' tall grass like they are going to play the shot if they find the ball. 

The big thing we are trying to do is let the course design stand out and shine on this property.  The last thing I want to do is have a 200 yard long rock wall down one side it will look weird and take away from the golf hole design.  I like the idea of placing the barrier back in the tall grass maybe 3' so that the tall grass grows up and covers this barrier but, it would be in place to stop / catch any carts that might go over the edge on these slopes.

Matt,

I can understand that. But the fact that such negligent behavior on the part of the golfer is both tolerated and expected is incredibly sad.

Who ever thought the combination of alcohol and the golf cart was wise in the first place?

Matt Varney

Re: Severe Slopes and Natural Materials
« Reply #7 on: May 31, 2008, 04:14:45 PM »
Kyle,

Believe me it is a damn shame that I have to think about things like golf cart barriers for people driving carts.  We have really nice concrete paths and yet I don't want the Dye design features to be diminished by some guard rail so I am thinking outside the box on how to hide this safety feature.  If I never see it that would great but, in the event it is needed and it stops the golf cart from going over a hill or down a slope it has done its job as planned.

The best features of this course design is just how natural the ground flows and what obstacles we have run into have either been tweaked or incorporate into the hole designs.  It also helps that we have tons of natural rock so we can use it at will to create rock features and then use none at all to make the holes look natural in the landscape.

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