Routing with consideration to the boundaries

[Joe Hancock]

I was thinking of Siwanoy CC(Ross) and pondered the fact that all the boundary holes have the boundary on the left.

Is that a routing flaw? Or smart, in favor of keeping the right-handed slicers in play? Perhaps a one-of-a-kind thing, where most routings mix it up more?

If you have(or could) route a golf course, how would you deal with the boundaries, especially if the boundaries are roads, houses, or otherwise occupied by humans?

[John Kavanaugh]

I've never seen a Bendalow not routed this way.

[Anthony Gholz]

Joe:


Port Huron GC's original Bendelow course routing of 1912 ran the perimeter first and then back and forth in the middle.  A positive was that the course changed direction with each hole, a significant issue one block from Lake Huron.  here's my (terrible) sketch of that routing.


Tony
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[Jim_Kennedy]

Ross' Wannmoisett CC and Rip Van winkle GC are both routed in that fashion.

[Peter Pallotta]

Joe -

I've not thought of this before, but one benefit of having boundaries on the left is that those roads, houses and humans you mention are not in the right hander's "field of vision" as much, either from the tee or from the fairway.

And if boundary lines are a must, and houses and humans likely (as they are on many new courses, save for some of the modern greats we all know about), I think this aesthetic/visual consideration is more important than ever. 

Modern-day club technology has helped reduce the frequency and severity of slices, even for the average golfer, and so that particular benefit of left-side-instead-of-right-side boundaries is less important now than it used to be.

At the same time, however, the left-side boundary line continues to make the right side the "safe" side -- which means that most greens will "open up" better from the left. To my eye, greens that open from the left simply look nicer/cooler, but they also serve to reward (appropriately) the long draw over the short fade.   

Peter     

[Bill_McBride]

The famous Muirfield routing has the front nine clockwise around the perimeter, all OB left, and the back nine counterclockwise inside the front nine.   The only other perfect example I've played is Sonoma Golf Club in Northern California.   Chicago Golf Club has all the boundaries left but not just front nine. 

[Tyler Kearns]

Joe,


A number of clubs in Melbourne, namely Victoria & Royal Melbourne East have holes with property boundaries on the right side and in the case of RME have been forced to alter their original design to limit potential conflict with neighbours.


How to deal with boundaries?


1. As long as the majority of players are slicing righties, then keeping the boundary to the left of the hole is prudent. 
2. Designing a boundary hole to strategically favour the fairway side furthest from out-of-bounds.
3. Placing tees tight to the boundary and aligning them to have golfers play away at a slight angle from the out-of-bounds.
4. Keep existing vegetation to serve as both a visual screen and to help keep balls in play.


TK

[Peter Pallotta]

Tyler - you will know about such things much better than me, and your list/suggestions seems spot on - except maybe for no. 3. I'm a bit better golfer now than I used to be, but I remember that "aligning [tees] to have golfers play away at a slight angle" only caused me to (inadvertently) open my stance even more, and thus produced an even greater slice!
Peter

[Benjamin Litman]

All of the boundary holes at Quogue Field Club, the nine-hole course that Bendelow designed in 1900 (it opened the following year), have OB on the right. Interestingly, most holes at QFC move left to right, thereby presenting the right-handed fader with both comfort and fear.

[Tom_Doak]

The real solution is not to build holes right along the boundary.  Make your holes start at the boundary and play away on the diagonal, and keep playing away instead of doglegging back to the boundary, if feasible.  Then bring another hole back alongside.  Donald Ross did this in many routings.


I've visited several courses in recent weeks with boundary problems along the right side:  Rochester, MN [Tillinghast], Bel Air [Thomas], Hillcrest [Willie Watson], and Royal Melbourne East [Alex Russell].  Note that Royal Melbourne West has its boundaries on the left -- MacKenzie, like C.B. Macdonald, hit a fade.  Perhaps Alex Russell hit a draw?


EDIT:  A second note is that, generally, when you have a boundary [or a feature, or a steep hillside] on one side of the course at the beginning, it is not as easy as it sounds to mix up the side on which it comes into play.  Sometimes you can do so if you introduce an awkward tee-to-green crossover, but it rarely works out smoothly.

[Mike Tanner]

The design firm that remodeled a course I once played frequently, but no longer play at all ignored the boundary fundamental. They routed the back nine counterclockwise which lead to sliced shots flying off into public roadways and housing. It didn't make sense to me even before I knew anything about golf course architecture.

[Jeff_Brauer]

I usually start routings at the boundaries and work in, at least on tight sites.  I can't bring myself to do all boundaries on one side or the other, but aim for 2/3 left and 1/3 right, for more safety of outside property, but with some variety.

While there is some variation in thought as to how to place holes along boundaries, I usually believe in cramming the tees to the property line to increase the angle of play away from the boundary, based on many years of collecting studies, etc., on such things. 

Typically, even "D" handicap golfers who hook keep most shots (maybe 95%) within 17 degrees and 150 feet of target line.  Obviously, 165-175 feet boundaries help some, but the amount of shots beyond that is small, and really big hooks are really big, and it would take over 200 feet to contain nearly all of those.

Typically, "D" handicap golfers who slice keep most shots (maybe 95%) within 23 degrees and 205 feet of target line. The biggest concentration of misses is from 180-210 yards or so.  Oddly, the A, B and C players, while typically within a narrower band, have bad shots that stray further than D players.  Perhaps they apply that much more power to a really bad swing propelling the shot further wayward....

You must consider internal safety, too.  It varies, but it might just be that you use less land with an adequate outside slice boundary and closer together inside hook boundaries.

[Joe Bausch]

Apparently George Thomas at Whitemarsh Valley didn't worry about having 4 holes (9 thru 12) running along public roads, each having the road to the right!


http://xchem.villanova.edu/~bausch/images/albums/WhitemarshValley/pages/page_4.html?

[Jim Sherma]

Two different Findlay courses I've played recently, Lebanon and Green Pond in PA, have OB all along the left. 7 and 8 holes respectively with no OB on the right on either course.

[Sean_A]

Or...you can hang the safety concerns and go the insurance route...there are many a fine a hole which could be had!



Ciao

[David Whitmer]

I've never seen a Bendalow not routed this way.

John, I've got one for you. Western Hills CC, a Bendelow design in Cincinnati that opened in 1912, has all its OB on the right. It's not an expansive property, so a few holes are quite tight to the OB fence. Holes 2, 3, 7, 11, 12, 16, and 17 all have OB right.

[Wade Whitehead]

One golf course in southwest Virginia has out of bounds to the right on every shot beginning with the approach on #2.

Literally.

Seriously.

WW

[BCrosby]

Interesting topic.  At Athens CC (Ross, 1925) all of the boundary line OB is on the left. Which is the side where I think the preponderance should be.

At Peachtree its three left (all front nine), two right (all back nine). At ANGC its the reverse -  three on the right (all on front nine), three on the left (all on the back nine).

Bob