Getting from Point-A to Point-B

[Dan Herrmann]

Sometimes, an architect will spend a lot of time getting from one good hole to another (getting from point-A to point-B).  Obviously there are times where the hole you need to fit in doesn't cover the best land on a site.  These days we have wetland regulations, you can have rocky areas or worse.

What does an architect do when he's confronted with a difficult scenario like this - especially when you need to fit in a hole in such a space.

Remember that every course, even the best in the world, has a "worst" hole.  I'm figuring that most "worst" holes were one of these fit-in or point-a to point-b type holes.

[Ronald Montesano]

I don't know how well you remember Genesee Street along the Buff-Niag International Airport, but there is a golf course across from the north-east end of the port now.  It is called Diamond Hawk and it was designed, mothballed, then rewritten a decade later by the same firm, Hurdzan-Fry.  In the interim, wetlands and wetland regulations increased and encroached, forcing the changes.  Here is a link to a piece I wrote, including PDFs of the original layout and the new one.  To be fair, the town of Cheektowaga also donated some ball diamonds to the course, which resulted in enhanced territory.

My correlation to your question would be the 13th hole.  It is a forgettable par three back in the corner of the property, a hole that gets you from a neat, short par four to the open spaces of the par five 10th and 14th and on to the finishing stretch (known as the squirrel trap this week!)  I think that the hole is a filler hole...it is decent and challenging but forgettable.  Of the par threes, it is tied with the 6th for lack of memorability...both the 3rd and the 17th are much more enjoyable.

Oh, here's the link:  http://www.buff-golf.com/mogolf.html#mar2009

By the way, is it only par three holes that fit this category?  Could an archie be left with so much broken, undesirable space that she/he had to design a busted par four or five over the terrain?

[Dan Herrmann]

Ronald,
In my experience, it's par 3s that get this distinction.  Sometimes they're great par 3s, but you do still get the feeling that they were a missing puzzle piece.

And you're right - that is a strange place for a golf course.   I've liked the Hurdzan-Fry courses I've played.

[Tom_Doak]

Sometimes those connector holes turn out to be one of the best holes on the course, because you are forced to deal with an interesting feature that you would normally avoid.

I think one of the tricks in that scenario is to identify the trouble spot first and go all-out to make your solution for those holes work -- even at the expense of the adjacent holes on the better ground, because on good ground, a problem hole is easier to solve.

[Tim Nugent]

I think many golfers would be surprised at how many "good" hole started off as "bad" holes.
Given good features, some "good" holes are no-brainers.  But "bad" holes are an egnigma to architects and they will spend a lot of time on them, trying to make a silk purse out of a Sow's ear.  It is strange when a par 3 ends ups being a "bad" hole.  Being short, it offers more opportunities for creative problem solving.
The ones I find the hardest to solve are when the angles and/or terrain complicate the issue - giving unfair advantage to one class of player of another.

[Bill_McBride]

On the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail in Alabama, most connector problems seem to have been solved by building a half mile long wooden bridge.      Possibly the best complex is at Auburn/Opelika, which has four of those suckers on the two 18 hole courses.  Plus a couple of other treks on cart paths.

[Tim Nugent]

Let's see, $300/linear foot x's 2,640 ft = $792,000 x's 4ea = $3.168m.  Must be nice having a pension fund paying the bills

[John Moore II]

#17 at Tobacco Road fits this description I think. It's like they ran out of holes and just needed to have an 18th hole. 17 good ones and then that one. I've said a few times what I would do to fix that, but whatever.

[Bill_McBride]

Let's see, $300/linear foot x's 2,640 ft = $792,000 x's 4ea = $3.168m.  Must be nice having a pension fund paying the bills

Yes, and don't forget the million dollar corkscrew bridge (I am not making this up!  ) that takes you from the 18th green on The Judge course up to the clubhouse in Prattville.

[Ally Mcintosh]

There are always going to be compromises with routing... so the trick is to make it seem like there weren't any...

[Ross Tuddenham]

I just played Braid hills for the first time at the weekend and I think the 18th may be tick the boxes for getting from A to B.  It is up hill all the way and over a huge gulley (about 200 from the tee) at one point.  Only about 270 yards and no doubt drivable in the right conditions.  The gulley is extreme, I was at the bottom of it and it was about 3-4 times my height.

It gets you back to the clubhouse, sort of, as it is on a hillock next to the club house and 1st tee.

[Dan Herrmann]

Of you can do it Rees Jones style.  At his Tattersall (now 'Broad Run') in West Chester PA, he leaves you 3/4 mile (1200 meters) away from the clubhouse after you leave the 18th green.  Obviously now a walking course!