[Matt Kardash]

I have had the computer game Jack Nicklaus 5 since about 1997. The game contains a course design creator. Well, after about 14 years of practice I have gotten pretty good at basically making any shapes I want. I thought it would be cool if I posted some screenshots of some holes I have created. What is interesting looking back on all the courses I have created in this virtual world is how my style has shifted. For some reason my latest course features a lot of blind elements to it. Basically, it has been an exercise in how to create different types of holes that feature some sort of blindness. More importantly, I want to make them interesting and playable! So here is the first one I am going to show you all. If people are interested I will keep showing more holes. The resolution isn't incredible however...remember, this program is from 1997!

Par 4 - Approx. 500 yards.
Ok, for this first hole, which actually falls as #5 on my course, I wanted to create a ball-busting par 4 with a semi-blind tee shot. The hill about 100 yards from the tee obscures the vast majority of the landing area, a landing area which is VERY wide. From the tee you see the left 40% of the fairway. More importantly, I make the golfer look at the step fall-off left of the fairway with those nasty bunkers. Essentially, the blindness obscures where you should be hitting it and I am forcing the golfer to look straight at the trouble. There is about 20 yards of fairway short of the green so you can still land the ball short and run it on. The green isn't huge, but there is a lot of room left and the pitch from there is not very tough.

Here is the layout of the hole.


Tee


Start of fairway on line with tee


Center of fairway in landing zone


100 yards from the green


View from behind the green


Hope you enjoyed it!

[Ian_L]

Why have golf computer games regressed in the last 14 years?

[Kalen Braley]

Why have golf computer games regressed in the last 14 years?

Cause all the kids want to play these...   

[David Harshbarger]

Matt,

Everytime I hear Beck I think of that quote (thanks to you).

That blind view from the layup at 100 yards seems excessive, given a player who laid up there conceded shot 2 at the green.  Given I've lost a shot on par to the layup, I'd like a good look at the green.

does the program give you the ability to play with depth perception, like with bunkers that appear next to greens but aren't?

Dave

[Anthony Gray]

  Looks good to me. Depth perception could affect the 2nd shot.

 Anthony

[astavrides]

good.  not a lot of turfgrass.  saves water.

[Matt Kardash]

Matt,

Everytime I hear Beck I think of that quote (thanks to you).

That blind view from the layup at 100 yards seems excessive, given a player who laid up there conceded shot 2 at the green.  Given I've lost a shot on par to the layup, I'd like a good look at the green.

does the program give you the ability to play with depth perception, like with bunkers that appear next to greens but aren't?

Dave

I thought the bunker short of the green was in fact a depth perception bunker. From the middle of the fairway it looks like it is up against the green when in fact there is a good deal of room between the bunker and green.
I would say the 100 yard layup zone isnt blind at all. You see the flag and green almost perfectly.

[Matthew Rose]

I've been designing courses for the Links game for several years. I used to dabble in the Nicklaus series (first 5 and then GBC) for some time before the Links APCD came out.

Would you all believe this site has actually influenced my design style, in the game? The latest course I'm doing has a Biarritz!

[Matt_Cohn]

How far from the back tee to the bunker on the right?

[Matt Kardash]

How far from the back tee to the bunker on the right?

About 320 to reach the very beginning portion at the front right. Online with the tee shot it would be at least 335. So it would only be in play if the hole was really downwind or the player was superlong.

[Tom_Doak]

Matt:

Your work on the computer program is really well done.

It's hard for me to relate to the exercise, though.  Everything you are designing is "pie in the sky" instead of based on a piece of ground.  Using your first hole as an example, I would never just decide on a partially blind tee shot; I'd be weighing that against whether the same ground would work better in reverse for the 18th hole ... even on a totally man-made contour plan as for The Rawls Course at Texas Tech.

[Michael Whitaker]

Matt:

I'd be weighing that against whether the same ground would work better in reverse for the 18th hole.

But, you look to put your greens on as many high spots as possible don't you?

[Matt_Cohn]

Matt there's no downside to just pounding it over the hill, forgetting about the left danger, and having a reasonable shot to the green right?

[Matt Kardash]

Tom,
Thanks for the compliment. I have no doubt you would have a hard time relating as this is a work of pure fantasy. It kind of is the exact opposite of what it is like to be a real course designer. Actually, what i usually try doing is creating a random terrain and building my hole on top of that. This hole has more "man-made touches than most I make". I will probably post me.
Matt,
Actually, if you hit it way over on the right side of the fairway you have a bad angle to the back right pin as there is a hollow on the right side of the green that protects the back right pin. But, beyond that there is no real threat for deciding to hit it over the mound...only the uneasyness of the shot being blind.

[Sean_A]

Matt

I really like the look of the tee shot, but I don't understand the first bunker.  It seems to act as an guide of where not to play the drive.  Plus, the bunker acts as a bit of a deterrent from taking aim at the flag.  Isn't the sharp divide with the green on view meant to be a temptation to go further left than one ought to?

Ciao

[Mark McKeever]

I had one of these games a while back too.  I could never get the elevation to work correctly though.

Mark

[Matt Kardash]

Sean, the first bunker on the left is just a straight up hazard and intimidation bunker. When I made this hole I wanted you to look right at it, and the mound forces the eye to focus on it.

[Sean_A]

Matt

Interesting.  For me it works the exact opposite.  My thoughts are that the bunker is there because that line can be carried, but is risky.  I then would ask can I reach the green by not taking on the bunker?  Your diagram seems to show that this is possible.  So to that bunker just says "stay right and Bob's yer uncle.  Why road map the safe line right of the bunker instead of just leaving the golfer to hang on deciding his line especially if the right hand fairway bunker can be seen from the tee?

Ciao

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