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Daryn_Soldan

  • Karma: +0/-0
AAC III Entry 21 - Blazing Star Ranch
« on: May 09, 2013, 10:15:25 AM »
Any feedback is welcome. I didn't submit supplemental info beyond the 300 word overview. So use your imagination... you'll have plenty of time to think on those long green to tee walks :)

Also, big thank you to Alex for all the time and effort he put into coordinating this exercise. It may have been a thankless job at times but you pulled it off wonderfully.



Mike Viscusi

Re: AAC III Entry 21 - Blazing Star Ranch
« Reply #1 on: May 09, 2013, 11:43:16 AM »
Daryn,

Overall I thought yours was pretty strong.  I had you in my Top 5. 

I liked the down and up 10th hole and thought it was well done to make it a short par 5, considering the second shot would be very reachable but very demanding with the angle of the green and deep fronting bunkers.  I think the layup is too easy though.  Maybe a small center line bunker where you have the layup landing area would make players think a bit more, especially since the ground falls away around that point so it would be a visually uncomfortable layup to aim over that bunker.

I liked your par 3's and thought there was good variety within them.  I liked 7 and thought it was good restraint to leave it bunkerless.  The delicate 13th is my favorite, especially with the double tee creating two dramatically different tee shots.

I think 16 is your best hole.  Very cool green setting and I like how the ideal layup area is kind of tucked away behind the fairway bunker, which will push a lot of players down the right side leaving an awkward uphill approach over the large bunker to a green that is angled away from the player.

I really like the location of your 18th hole. I think that would be a great setting looking down from the back porch.  I really wanted to use that ridge some how but was struggling to find a good use for it and get it into my routing.  Well done.

In some spots I thought the strategy was a little off the mark.  For example, on #12 everything indicates to me that you want to stay well left off the tee due to the angle of the green and the fronting bunker.  I would rather have seen you make the right side of the fairway the preferred angle of attack and make players flirt with the steep fall off on the right side.

I don't recall if this was discussed before, but was there a reason you placed the range where you did?  It seems awkward having to cross over the third hole and not very convenient to the clubhouse or 1st tee.  I thought placing the range between the 18th green and 1st tee heading southeast would have been ideal and also would have naturally helped to break up the semi-long walk from the clubhouse to the 1st tee.

Overall, very well done!

Mike V

Daryn_Soldan

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: AAC III Entry 21 - Blazing Star Ranch
« Reply #2 on: May 09, 2013, 09:24:42 PM »
Mike,

Thank you for taking the time to offer feedback and congrats on winning the contest! A couple of my thoughts on your thoughts:

I had a feeling the range wouldn't go over so well with folks... and it didn't. The issue with my clubhouse location was keeping the range out of a highly visible location. Initially I had the range where the first hole is and 1 & 2 were routed out and back across the valley east of 18. Maybe leaving it that way would have made more sense but I thought the ground further north was more interesting. It also allowed for access to the range area from the entry road and a maintenance facility would probably be located there as well. At the end of the day, close proximity of the range wasn't the highest priority for me, especially at a place where post-round or range-only time is probably limited.

The idea on 12, one of the straightest holes on the course, was to have a wide fairway for the conservative, shorter play off the tee and use the right drop-off to narrow the fairway and make those who challenge the hole with length think a bit. The 12th green is probably one of the least accessible anyway. Also, several other par 4 holes in that stretch - 11, 14, 15 & 16 - require a tee-shot close to trouble up one side to get the best angle into the green. I know that strategic option gets a lot of well-deserved attention... I certainly like it. But some variety is worth shooting for.

- Daryn

Alex Miller

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: AAC III Entry 21 - Blazing Star Ranch
« Reply #3 on: May 10, 2013, 01:16:40 AM »
Ron Whitten writes:

   Nice double-ended practice range aligned to the northwest, so early morning golfers won’t be squinting into the sun and evening golfers wanting to practice can still keep the setting sun to their back.  Only concern is crosswinds from the south, which would accentuate slices. But on this routing, I can’t see an easy alternative location for the range.

   My pet peeve is architects who position tee boxes close to previous greens to help make the course walkable and aid in pace of play, but commit the error of placing the back tees (rarely used) as the closest tee boxes to previous greens.  On this course, the architect has done that on a considerable number of holes, but on certain holes he has the regular tees closest to the previous green, which is the way I think it should be done.  His members tee on nine is closest to the eighth green. His members tees on 13 are closest to the 12th green, and his 14th regular tees are closest to the 13th green. But those were probably not intentional.  Too bad. Would liked to have seen more of that.

   Clearly this architect was more interested in routing the course within the best available landforms and less concerned with the “sunset round” requirement (although he provided that with holes 15-18) and unconcerned with returning nines.  For this, I applaud him/her.  And while I’m not sure the opening two holes are on that dramatic a piece of land to justify the long walk from two to three, I do like that he kept his ninth hole atop the gentle rise, where other designers played up and down and up and down on it.  I don’t like that he/she has several holes in a row that encounter the same wind situation.   Three through five all move directly west, while 12 through 13 (13 from the right-hand tees) all play directly east.  Seven and eight play in the same direction. Seventeen and 18 also play in the same direction. 

I would have liked to have seen more variety in the lines and angles in this routing, which would have been so easy to accomplish.  Repositioning the tee boxes on 17, for instance, or repositioning the 17th green.

   I fear the architect, like all contestants, was fearful of creating too many long walks, but to best use the land – and provide variety – sometimes a long walk is the best solution.  This architect realizes that, as evidence by the distance between the second green and third tee.  Given that, I’m surprised the didn’t move a bit more around the property instead of stringing holes along the same line.

   I like that the par 3s play in four different directions. (Technically, the 13th from one set of tees plays due south, same as the seventh, but I’m considering the other set of tees on 13.)  I like the short, generous, downwind opening par 5, but the sixth, although longer, plays in the same direction, and the par-5 18th also finishes downwind. 

   Except for the fourth green, most greens seem very similar in size and shape, mostly ovals perhaps 35 yards deep, but without seeing green plans and suggested contours, I can’t really judge whether the architect intended such similarity or in fact has more variety intended in subtle contours within the greens.  There are a considerable number of “unguarded” greens in this design, which I don’t find to be a flaw. I like that.  Most holes on most courses are overbunkered. It’s encouraging to find a course that uses ground contours around some holes as the primary hazard.

CONCLUSIONS TO ENTRY 21:  The basic routing is sound, and with some adjustments, the strings of holes in one direction could be remedied.  The bunkering is nicely random yet strategic, and the course seems fairly easily walked.  If this architect were hired, I’d urge him to relocate the clubhouse and cottages to a less intrusive locale and to adjust some holes to change wind directions more often.  I’d also want details on what he/she envisions for each green in terms of size and contours. 


Tommy Naccarato says:

Too many holes one after another running into the same direction makes for an incredible unmemorable course. (In my experience)  Don’t get me wrong, but some  of my favorite courses like the Old Course can get away with it, but then again, how many people really talk about holes #2 through 6 there?  You did use some great portions of land though, and that’s big in my book! I also liked the fact that #3 is back at the clubhouse after the round gets started. It makes for an interesting opening loop!

I think you rely a bit too much on sand—all 65 bunkers, which isn’t a lot unless the holes are already in a field of sand which they are. You must show restraint and not overpower the golf course.

The clubhouse vista of #18 is outstanding! Very unique.

Great job all in all!

Garland Bayley

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: AAC III Entry 21 - Blazing Star Ranch
« Reply #4 on: May 10, 2013, 01:01:55 PM »
1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,  8, 9, 10, 12, 13,  16 are the holes I liked.
"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

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