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[Jim Colton]

Here's the course tour of my amateurish armchair effort.  Ballysnoop is named after the two most influential things in my life: Ballyneal and Snoop Dogg.  Actually, it's probably more of a Pete Dye-ish design, inspired by numerous road trips over the years from Chicago up to Kohler to play Blackwolf Run.  I would've like to have had a more amorphous style of bunkers, but couldn't achieve that look in Sketchup.  In any case, I enjoyed trying to come up with a coherent routing.  Kudos to Charlie for organizing the contest and picking an interesting site in Erin Hills to work with.  Like I said in an earlier post, I have the utmost respect for those who do the real thing, and that respect has only grown after participating in this exercise.

[Jim Colton]

1st Hole - Par 4, 405 Yards - "G Funk Intro"

Pretty straightforward starting hole.  Wide open fairway and flat lie if you want to hang back, or challenge the bunkers for a closer approach to the uphill green.

[Jim Colton]

Hole 2 - Par 4, 468 Yards - "Upside Ya Head"

Long dogleg right par 4.  The urge is to probably flirt with the right bunker to shorten the hole, but a drive near the far left bunker will leave a better approach to the green

[Jim Colton]

3rd Hole - Par 3, 196 Yards - "Lay Low"

[Jim Colton]

4th Hole - Par 4, 335 Yards - "Who Am I?"

Risk reward short Par 4.  Downhill tee shot, driveable for an agressive long hitter.

[Jim Colton]

5th Hole - Par 5, 588 Yards - "The Shiznit"

Uphill dogleg left par 5.  A couple centerline bunkers to deal with off the tee.

[Jim Colton]

6th Hole - Par 4, 434 Yards - "Gold Rush"

Downhill par 4 that bends left to right.

[Jim Colton]

7th Hole - Par 4, 429 Yards - "Deep Cover"

Plenty of room left, but the drive from the elevated tee wants to hug the right side to get the best angle into the green.

[Jim Colton]

8th Hole - Par 5, 608 Yards - "Gz Up, Ho'z Down"

Long par 5 that winds it way back up the hill.

[Jim Colton]

9th Hole - 216 Yards, Par 3 - "Gin & Juice"

Par 3 to end this side.  The green sits on top of this little ridge, sloped right to left and accepts a shot from that direction.

[Jim Colton]

10th Hole - Par 4, 430 Yards - "Dogg(Leg)Fatha"

Long, uphill par 4 to start the back nine.  It's 430 from the 2nd tee box, so can be stretched out another 40 yards or so for tournament play.  Fly the two bunkers on the right for the best angle to the green, or hug the left side to shorten the hole but have a potentially blind approach shot.  The green sits in the exact spot as the real 6th green at EH.

[Jim Colton]

11th Hole - Par 3, 205 yards - "Drop It Like It's Hot"

This green sits in almost the exact spot as the love-it or hate-it 'Dell' hole at EH.  I used the taco shell in the same manner but instead of having it completely blind, you can see most of the green in my version.  Depending on where you tee off, the left 1/3 of the green might not be visible.  Personally, I like this version a lot better than hitting over a white rock.

[Jim Colton]

12th Hole - Par 4, 476 Yards - "Step Yo Game Up"

Pretty much blast away on the long par 4.  Green sits in a natural amphitheater.

[Jim Colton]

13th Hole - Par 4, 365 Yards - "Sensual Seduction"

A couple options off the tee here.  Play it safe to the right and you'll have a much tougher angle to a shallow green and over some deep bunkers.  Or carry the ball over the bunkers on the left and have a much better angle to the green.  I enjoy a good false front -- come up a yard short or hit a wedge with a little too much spin here and you're rolling back down the fairway.

[Jim Colton]

14th Hole - 538 Yards, Par 5 - "Freestyle Conversation"

Reachable par 5.  I took a page from Ballyneal and put a little tee box behind and above the 14th green to lengthen this hole if necessary (this tee could also play over the water to the 4th green as a drop shot 135-yard par 3, if you wanted to play a 10-hole loop of 10-13, then 4-9).  Although at Ballyneal the likely scenario would be to take two steps off the 14th green and just blast away, so I suppose you could do that here too.  

A good drive will put you in 'go' range, but this green is well-protected.  A center line bunker messes with the 2nd shot if you decide to lay-up.

[Jim Colton]

15th Hole - Par 4, 363 Yards - "That's That S***"

I really like this hole for some reason.  There was a cool little spot for a green nestled right in between two mounds.  Depending on your strategy off the tee, you could be left with a tricky 3/4 wedge to a shallow green.  Big drop-off if you miss long/right.

[Jim Colton]

16th Hole - Par 5, 603 yards - "Lodi Dodi"

Long par 5 to an elevated green.  The green sits in just about the same spot as the real 2nd green at EH, although it's much bigger.  If you've played EH, imagine a hole coming up the 3rd fairway in reverse to the 2nd green.

[Jim Colton]

17th Hole - Par 3, 181 yards - "Beautiful"

This was the last hole I built.  Originally I had the down and to the right and tee to the right of the 16th green, but I later realized this would've been a long blind shot over a giant hill.  I kind of like how this one turned out with the green perched on the side of the hill, reading and willing to accept a left to right shot.

[Jim Colton]

18th Hole - Par 4, 423 Yards - "Oh No"

One of those bite off as much as can chew par 4's to finish it up.  Room to bail out high-and-dry to the left but you bring the bunkers into play.

Congrats if you made it this far and thanks in advance for your comments.

[PCraig]

Very cool. Although I didn't actually enter the contest...I did play around with it alot.

The biggest difference between yours and mine was I used the finger of land on the bottom left of the landscape.

Well done!

[Jim Colton]

Pat,

  Thanks.  I originally had some holes in that back corner just like the real 15th and 16th, but I couldn't find a way to get out there and return the nine without simply going straight out and straight back.  I guess I could've added an extra hole like EH, but that would've probably been contest suicide.  It looks like most of the other entrants were able to get back there successfully.

[Brad Swanson]

Does the routing account for a "sippin' on gin and juice" halfway house?

Cheers,
Brad

[Charlie Goerges]

Nice job Jim. Like Gar and the others, you've put a great deal of thought into strategy...what gives!

[Garland Bayley]

I haven't look at this one much in detail yet, but the first thing I notice is that all three designs we have seen so far have routed a par 5 in the same upper part of the property. Also, if you have read my posts you know that I am against using ponds as hazards lining fairways and guarding greens. However, at least to my eye, you look to have captured a Pete Dye style in using them quite well.

[Jim Colton]

I'll take any comparisons to Petey as a great compliment.  Charlie, any way to add railroad ties to my design?