Cart paths on the right side of the fairway

[Tommy Williamsen]

I may be one of the few who had not heard or known this.  Michael Breed on TGC said that cart paths are on the right side of the fairway because most golfers are right handed and most golfers slice the ball.  With the cart path on the right side of the fairway golfers can get to their tee balls more quickly.
How could I not know that?
Is that really the reason cart paths tend to be on the right?

[David Bartman]

I don't think his statement is accurate.   Most of the better golf courses I have played avoid cart paths altogether, but those that do have them , tend to have the cart paths on the interior side of the holes where a boundary fence is on the outside of the hole.  It really depends on the direction of the hole and what is on each side of the hole being played.  I think most GCA tend to dislike cart paths that could allow a shot to bounce over a boundary fence.  If a boundary fence is not an issue on the hole, ( interior holes ) , I think the GCA tends to want to keep carts out of sight lines and play lines of adjacent holes in order to have as little impact as possible. 

[Carl Nichols]

On at least one course I've played, Greg Norman's strategy seemed to be to place the cart path between the fairway and a hazard or OB (and close to the hazard/OB), thereby increasing your chances of ending up in there.   

[Jason Topp]

As a kid our course had a narrow long par five with the cart path down the middle.  Once or twice a year I would hit that path and have a shot at reaching the green in two. 

When I last visited they moved the path into the trees.  I think the hole suffered due to the change.

[Mark McKeever]

Jason, That is awesome!

Mark

[Jim_Kennedy]

Tommy,
Here's all I ever want to know about the subject.  

http://gsr.lib.msu.edu/1990s/1994/940101.pdf

"Right" or "Side" were never mentioned in the article.

[PCCraig]

As a kid our course had a narrow long par five with the cart path down the middle.  Once or twice a year I would hit that path and have a shot at reaching the green in two. 

When I last visited they moved the path into the trees.  I think the hole suffered due to the change.

Jason,

The Country Club of Brookline's 15th hole is a medium length par-4 which the entrance road runs through the middle of the hole (maybe 150-160 yards away from the green). If I really nailed a drive you could bounce your ball across the road and get an extra 20 yards leaving a flip wedge in. Artificial fun at its finest!

[Jeff_Brauer]

Until about 10 years ago, when I heard Pete Dye mention this at an ASGCA meeting, I hadn't considered left or right in cart path placement, but it makes sense, and I do it now, all things being equal.  Generally, if the next hole was on the left side of the hole, I had put the path there, figuring golfers would gravitate to that side, at least at the green area, and take the shortest route to the next tee.

Graves wrote that paths always ought to be on the inside of the dogleg, since golfers want to take the short cut, sort of a "line of charm" thing, but I have always put them on the outside of doglegs, since they become so visible on the inside.

So, there are different thoughts on the subject, including, leaving them out altogether to putting them on BOTH sides of the fw, as well as down the middle, as suggested earlier.

[Mark Smolens]

The access road to the super's house at Dubsdread in Lemont used to run across the 18th fairway. When the Tour left Butler and started playing Dubs, some of the shorter hitting pros were intentionally trying to fly their drives to hit the road, and thereby bouncing past the fairway bunkers. I saw Curtis Strange in a practice round hit the road 5x in a row. One of those drives was cutting and bounced into the bunker, but the rest hit the road and bounded into perfect position (plus, he probably would have had to take those balls out of play due to damage since this was prior to the days of the hardcovers on Pro V1s). I don't recall who else was in that group at the practice round, but all of the guys were working on the distance needed to hit the road.

[Tim Gavrich]

My home course has cart paths on the left on 12 of the holes. It's on the right side on three of the par threes. A bunch of the holes bend to the left, but I see a converse utilitarian purpose to the left-side path. An "average golfer"--a righty whose primary miss is a push/cut, is almost never going to get a good bounce off a cart path placed on the right side of the fairway.

[jeffwarne]

As a kid our course had a narrow long par five with the cart path down the middle.  Once or twice a year I would hit that path and have a shot at reaching the green in two. 

When I last visited they moved the path into the trees.  I think the hole suffered due to the change.

I've always said that's where they belong.
Faster play(esp on cartpath only days) ,fewer bounces deeper into trouble, and a power boost for the straight hitter!!!

[Tommy Williamsen]

Tommy,
Here's all I ever want to know about the subject.  

http://gsr.lib.msu.edu/1990s/1994/940101.pdf

"Right" or "Side" were never mentioned in the article.

Very interesting article. Thanks. It is all I ever want to know about cart paths.

[Tommy Williamsen]

As a kid our course had a narrow long par five with the cart path down the middle.  Once or twice a year I would hit that path and have a shot at reaching the green in two. 

When I last visited they moved the path into the trees.  I think the hole suffered due to the change.

The older I get the more down the middle makes sense. 

[Ken Moum]

The older I get the more down the middle makes sense. 

Here you go, Presho, SD, nine holes of centerline cart path bliss:

[jeffwarne]

The older I get the more down the middle makes sense. 

Here you go, Presho, SD, nine holes of centerline cart path bliss:

Kind've a problem as you get nearer to the green

[Jason Topp]

Thanks Ken.  I sometimes go to Pierre for work.  I may need to make a drive someday and file a report.

[Ken Moum]

Thanks Ken.  I sometimes go to Pierre for work.  I may need to make a drive someday and file a report.

I lived in Pierre for 23 years, and played in several tournaments at Presho.  The greens were crowned so severely, with almost no collar, that they rejected any ball hit more than a couple of feet off line.

K

[David Harshbarger]

Thanks Ken.  I sometimes go to Pierre for work.  I may need to make a drive someday and file a report.

I lived in Pierre for 23 years, and played in several tournaments at Presho.  The greens were crowned so severely, with almost no collar, that they rejected any ball hit more than a couple of feet off line.

K

Can't complain too much about that; the line's right there at your feet.

[Robin_Hiseman]

Looking over the latest design I'm doing for this course in Morocco I see that I have 8 holes with the path on the left and 10 with it on the right.  All the final five are on the left.  Being as this is a pretty hilly site, I tend to keep the paths on the high side of the fairway, so I can get on and off the fairway at something close to fairway grade and I can use the path as a cut off drain to prevent water from the hillsides crossing the fairways.  I'm not a fan of paths below the grade of the fairway, where an errant shot can ricochet even further off line from a wild path bounce.  Also easier to hide the path from view if it is above the eyeline.

[David Whitmer]

Where I used to work (a private club that was part of a residential development), the course was designed and marketed as not having any cart paths. After a year or two of operation it became apparent most of the members wanted cart paths for when it was overly wet, so paths were planned. The problem was that on many holes the best location for the path was on the side of the hole with the houses, and the homeowners who lived there threw a holy fit. They were adament that they not have to look out their back yards and see a cart path, nor have golfers park five feet from their back yards.

Therefore, on a few holes the path had to go up the less convenient side of the hole, then cross the fairway somewhere around 70 yards short of the green to find the better side for advancing to the next tee. I hated the look of a cart path crossing the fairway, and I shudder to think of how many extra thousands of dollars were spent. Best laid plans...