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Brett_Morrissy

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Sequatchie Valley ?
« on: May 02, 2012, 06:50:55 AM »

I have just noted this Tweet from Ron Whitton - I am not very knowledgeable with twitter, so I can not find a way to find more info...

...does anyone know anything about this course? I have searched GCA.com as well with zero results.

Ron Whitten (@RonWhittenGD)
5/2/12 8:44 AM
Sequatchie Valley, now being grassed, has a Himalayas par 3, a drivable 4 with an outrageous green and a fabulously bunkered Redan 9th.

Ron Whitten (@RonWhittenGD)
5/2/12 8:46 AM
Other six holes are just as different & interesting. 7 & 8 share 100-yd wide fairway full of ridges, bunkers & trees. Fairway cut everywhere
@theflatsticker

Adam Lawrence

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Re: Sequatchie Valley ?
« Reply #1 on: May 02, 2012, 07:34:05 AM »
I was also there this week (like Ron, I was attending the ASGCA annual meeting). Quick summary:

* Located about thirty minutes west of Chattanooga
* Old, pasture type nine hole course in very attractive location
* Owned by family behind Sequatchie Concrete Co - so free sand available for construction!
* Being totally rebuilt by King-Collins Golf Design, new firm founded by Rob Collins (ex design coordinator at Gary Player's firm) and Tad King, whose other company, King Golf International, is a construction management firm and has built courses in Morocco, Egypt, Portugal etc as well as the US

See http://www.kingcollinsgolf.com/home for more details on the project, including some really good hole plans. I am going to cover it in print so should probably not throw too much detail around here, but I think it is going to be a lot of fun. Rob and Tad are basically building it themselves, and as their first project together are really throwing themselves into it. Central bunkers a-go-go, hugely contoured greens, a cool driveable par four, you name it. They'll start grassing next week and aim to have it open in the fall. I am looking forward to going back.
Adam Lawrence

Editor, Golf Course Architecture
www.golfcoursearchitecture.net

Principal, Oxford Golf Consulting
www.oxfordgolfconsulting.com

Author, 'More Enduring Than Brass: a biography of Harry Colt' (forthcoming).

Short words are best, and the old words, when short, are the best of all.

Garland Bayley

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Sequatchie Valley ?
« Reply #2 on: May 02, 2012, 10:45:30 AM »
A Redan green on a hole that maxes out at 112 yards?
"dictate strategy"?
"I enjoy a course where the challenges are contained WITHIN it, and recovery is part of the game  not a course where the challenge is to stay ON it." Jeff Warne

Rob Collins

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Sequatchie Valley ?
« Reply #3 on: May 08, 2012, 08:34:51 PM »
Adam,

Thanks very much for the nice synopsis of the golf course.  Tad and I had a great time touring the site with you last week.

Garland,

The 9th hole is shown as being 112 yards from the back tees on the 'plans', a term that I use loosely as I like to do the vast majority of my design work in the field.  Accordingly, the hole was field adjusted to play anywhere from about 105 - 140 yards depending on the tee and pin location.  This distance is still, obviously, much shorter than a traditional redan, but the extreme contours on the green help the hole maintain the playing characteristics that make well built redans so enjoyable. 

The green, which is approximately 9,500 square feet, has around 3,000 square feet of pinable area and falls 10+ feet from the highest point on the high right side of the green to the lowest grade, which is on far left edge.  Additionally, there is an intimidating front bunker and a back bunker, which can be severely penal if you land in the wrong spot.  Given these characteristics, I believe that many people  will choose to avoid the front bunker by playing a low running shot up the right side in lieu of attempting a direct route to the hole which would need to be spot on the yardage or a high score could become a distinct possibility.  I am personally very fond of our version of the hole because of the length, which allowed us to construct a green that would, otherwise, make a redan of a more traditional distance nearly unplayable.

If you are ever in the Chattanooga, TN area, I would be more than happy to show you around.  I think you would like what you see.

Rob 
Rob Collins

www.kingcollinsgolf.com
@kingcollinsgolf on Twitter
@kingcollinsgolf on Instagram