I'm going to start with the end. Was anyone else a little disappointed in the conclusion of the book? I finished chapter XIII and was wondering if that was it. The book definitely needs an epilogue in the reprint.
From my perspective the chapters covered this week are full of interesting information and topics.
One of the first images in the book that caught my eye was an irrigation schematic seen here:
The thing that was interesting to me is the larger lines were not down the fairways but instead between fairways. I kind of expected the irrigation to follow the routing of holes somewhat. I think the design on Mike Nuzzo’s blog seen here
http://nuzzogolfcoursedesign.blogspot.com/2007/07/irrigation-as-built.html follows the holes a bit more.
Is most of the design of the irrigation system done by an outside contractor (like the company who installs it) or is that part of the architect’s responsibility?
In the "Remodeling Old Courses" chapter page 302 discusses adding bunkers to slow a hole down and ease congestion. If slow play is an issue my first thought would be to remove bunkers at the point of congestion. Anyone know of the addition of bunkers to slow play down?
Prior to reading the "Arbitrary Values" chapter I was unaware the USGA has guidenlines for par based on hole lengths. Interestingly the current guidelines aren't all that different from the guidelines published in this book. The par 3 guideline is the same and the par 4 guideline has increased only 25 yards. Obviously the guidelines don’t apply to professional events or many USGA amateur events. Unfortunately the associated decision link at the USGA website does not work. Does anyone really know what these guidelines are in place for? Doesn’t the slope and rating compensate in the handicap system if a course makes a 310 yard par 3 (outside the listed guidelines)?
The same chapter has probably the most interesting topic, half pars. The chapter outlines Thomas's views and there are a number of previous threads that cover the topic (
http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,1036.0.html &
http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,6262.0.html). How do people feel about the proposed changes in scoring?