Armchair (AAC) (V) 2016 18 hole (Klinger Golf Club)

[BCowan]

A.

B.

C.
1.

2.


D.


E.

e. revised




F.


G.


H.

I.


J.


K.


L.


M.

N.


O.


P.

[Dieter Jones]

Is the scale correct on E? If it is then my course will be significantly longer than I thought it was.

Looking at version 1 of entry C nearly fried my brain. I've spent a couple of weeks looking at the contours lines the other way round (is it up / is it down). That 3D modeling effect of the contours the other way around confused the bejeepers out of me.

[Ally Mcintosh]

This is my favourite AAC to date, primarily because it's the first where there's been a restricted site with good but awkward contours...


In other words, it's a site where routing skills come to the fore.


I'm all for the odd blind shot but without some earth moving, a couple of the below plans may need the golfer to have a white cane as his 15th club.

[BCowan]

Ally,

   I'm glad you enjoyed it as much as the rest of us.  Some of the entries had notes in regards to softening ridges and so forth, others that know computers well, softened the topo lines to convey their ideas.  Waiting to hear from the rest to post their entry.  I just added two more.   

[Bob Montle]

Ben, I pity the judge - there are some NICE layouts here.

But regardless of the winners, I see several holes that I would love to play.
What HOLES do you see that make you wish you had put them in your routing?

For starters, I nominate the 7th on "L"

[Alex Miller]

FYI "I" has a name on it

[Dieter Jones]

Alex, there is more than one course with a name on it. Does it matter by the way?

Bob, After your post I went through them all and tried to work out the hole I would most like to play on each course. I found that a lot of the holes I went for were either E/W running (not prominent on the current layout) and or based around the creek in the middle of the property.

A - 17
B - 1
C - 5
D - 12
E - 12
F - 10
G - 8
H - 15
I - 4
J - 16
K - 13
L - 15
M - 3
N - 6
O - 5
P - 11

[BCowan]

Dieter,

   I really like Colton's 18th hole in L.  I can't think of any cape holes off the top of my head without water.  It also is very cool considering I know the terrain and that it could play great if built.  I'm looking forward to Rob's picks. 

[Ally Mcintosh]

Dieter,

   I really like Colton's 18th hole in L.  I can't think of any cape holes off the top of my head without water.  It also is very cool considering I know the terrain and that it could play great if built.  I'm looking forward to Rob's picks.

Funny Ben,

I like the L plan a lot. It has a lot of cool holes, a pretty decent use of the topography and features galore (plus a good looking practice area). Hated the 18th hole on it though. And the bottom section is squeezed whilst the top section has acres of space.

Still, it was one of my early leaders on a quick scan through.

[Rob Collins]

     First, I would like to thank Ben Cowan for organizing the 2016 AAC competition and all of the GCA’ers who took the time to put their thoughts on paper.  For me, personally, it was a bit of a strange feeling to judge the work of others given that I have been on the losing end of similar contests.  I had high hopes after entering several Lido Competitions.  I also had the opportunity to interview for Tom Doak’s internship position in 2003.  His team sprung a surprise routing exercise on me and the other candidates as part of the interview process.  While I was unsuccessful in the aforementioned endeavors, the primary point is that I know very well the feeling of wanting to do a good job, but being uncertain of how the work would be judged by others.  So, thank you all for your thoughtful entries and hard work.  I was very impressed with what I saw, and there is no question that there are some really good, perhaps great, golf holes waiting to be created from the plans that were submitted.  The excellent holes were spread across most of the entries, and weren’t necessarily confined to the top three.  For the sake of time and the rules of the competition, I will only select a top three.

     The site itself was promising in many ways, but one that also has a number of serious limitations, which basically makes it similar to what we usually see in our professional lives.  Specifically, how does one create sustained interest on a tight piece of property that is bisected by an awkward drainage canal?  How do you incorporate the bold natural landforms into playable, strategic, and interesting golfing ground? How do you create variety on a linear piece of property that is essentially begging you to design a series of parallel holes?

    It was very interesting for me to see how the entrants wrestled with these, and other, issues.  Like many projects, the designers were often forced to make the “least-worst decision.”  I enjoyed seeing how each entrant addressed the fundamental issues & problems presented by the site.  One interesting side note is that for each of the top three entries, I remarked in an email to Ben that “we have a new leader.”  As I delved into the designs further over the last few weeks, each entry in the top three spent some time in the top spot in my mind.  In the end, it came down to splitting hairs and the bias of my own personal preferences, an unfortunate reality in any competition.  Like an East German Olympic judge or Randy Jackson who encounters a contestant who “gets a bit pitchy, dog”, I am a sucker for certain personal pressure points. In GCA terms, I was looking for the entry that had the best combination of the following: strategy, routing, options, variety, and use of natural contours.  Based on these parameters, my top three are as follows:

1.Colton Craig
2.Andy Gray
3.Bob Brightly

Colton Craig:

      Coming in at only 5,598 yards and a par of 69, Colton’s entry was one of the shortest of the bunch, but what his design lacked in distance and a common “par” was more than made up for by an abundance of strategic and playable holes that made excellent use of the natural terrain. Further, Colton excelled at breaking away from the very natural tendency to align the holes along the linear axis of the property.  As such, he managed to present the greatest degree of variety in the direction of the playing corridors.  He also did a terrific job in creating width and a variety of strategic scenarios throughout the layout, and his finishing flourish of holes was second to none.  His tough fifteenth plays to a fascinating punchowl green complex, the sixteenth is a great looking half par hole with a green complex that takes full advantage of the natural contours, the seventeenth is an all-or-nothing short par three, and the Home hole is a strategic gem full of options and potential outcomes.  The Tiger golfer could make an eagle or easily find him/herself in a hell of a lot of trouble with a misplayed shot.  Overall, the excellent match play qualities of the course stuck out to me, another of my personal “weak spots.”  It should also be noted that his routing has the flexibility to incorporate a full 18-hole round, a 12-hole round, or a short, 6-hole “whiskey loop.”  I ended my analysis of the course openly pining for it to be built so that I could experience what it has to offer.  A fantastic entry!




Andy Gray:

       I really enjoyed this entry.  I feel like it has perhaps the best bunkering of the bunch along with a slew of well-placed greens, the end result being a golf course that uses the natural contours to full advantage.  An example is the well placed ninth hole with its redan-like green that tips out at 231 yards.  With the well placed bunker and the proximity of the creek to the green, I can imagine players using the natural kick plate to full advantage. Watching balls hug the ground as they work around the fronting bunker toward back left pins would be a thrill, but you would need to ensure that the green didn’t get too severe in the shaping process or a number of well-played shots could end up in the creek – minor details! In an elegant use of ‘give and take’, Andy’s next hole looks to be an extremely fun & strategic short par four.  He also incorporated a dry ditch into the routing that created interesting playing scenarios and strategic options on at least half of the holes.  This low cost, low maintenance use of a natural feature was very clever, and it addressed in an economical way many of the site’s negative drainage issues.  His finishing stretch was also quite good, with the last six holes having a three, two fives, and three solid, strategic fours.  All in all, another great entry.  Well done, Andy!





Bob Brightly:
     
       At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I thought this was also a terrific entry.  In fact, it spent more time as the leader in the clubhouse in my mind than any other.  Bob’s entry comes in as a par 69, 5,966 yard course.  As with the other two entries in the top three, Bob made very good use of the natural features and worked in a tremendous amount of variety.  I especially liked his template holes.  The redan fourth, Biarritz eighth, & the road hole green complex on the eighteenth are all fantastic.  I particularly like how the “road” bunker on eighteen doubles as a feature for the ninth hole. Really cool!  I was also very fond of the shared green on the fifth & fourteenth holes, and I feel like the fifteenth is one of the best looking holes that I saw in the entire contest.  My only negative comment would be the double forced carry on the tight sixteenth hole.  Sandwiched between the excellent fifteenth and two great looking finishing holes, I feel like it was a missed opportunity.  I think Bob was on the right track with placing a short four in this area, but the execution was missing for me.  As I noted in the introduction, the contest came down to splitting hairs, and that hole was a tipping point for me on an otherwise great looking course.  Overall, a great job!



       In the end, I should also mention Robert Montle’s entry.  Thank you for making the extra effort to create a 3D model of the site.  It was instructive and a lot of fun to see the contours expressed in that way.  Well done!

[Andy Gray]

Rob,


Thanks for taking the time and making the effort to judge these, it is a really great exercise for us amateurs made all the better when someone from the industry can comment on our efforts. And thanks for regarding mine so highly, very pleased with that!


Hopefully we can kick off some discussion in here.


Congratulations to the winner (is this a combination entrant?)! That was also one of my picks out of all the entrants. One of the things that I struggled to do when I was routing the course was include holes running across the main axis, and when I did I often found myself trapped. The other problem was that those holes would often cut off access from the north to the south of vice versa and I would find myself with long green to tee walks. So well done for incorporating angles so well.

[Bob Brightly]

Rob,
Thank you for taking the time to review all of the entries. The amount of thought and detail in describing just 3 of the plans indicates the large effort it must have been.  With regard to my routing, the "road" bunker between 9 and 18 is from Hackensack Golf Club (Banks).  You are spot on with the 16th. I waffled with that hole and was unable to align the tee more parallel with the creek like some others figured out. I do have a question for you if you don't mind:

If you are stuck with an awkward hole, as in my case here, would it be better to have it as the 7th hole instead of the 16th? Or go with back-to-back par 3's, par 68? I originally had the 9's reversed, which I thought was a good finish,  but I felt I had to end with the road hole tee shot over the corner of the building.

Also, Ben thanks again for putting this one together. Definitely a fun exercise. There were so many great plans and individual holes it's like my NCAA bracket; 8-10 teams could win it all, you could go many different ways.

[Rob Collins]

Bob,


That's a great question.  I think it would be better to have an awkward hole earlier in the routing rather than toward the end.  To me, the finishing flourish is incredibly important and any misfires are a letdown. By contrast, the best golf courses have an incredible stretch of finishing holes.  Perhaps making it back to back par 3's would've been a good idea.  I'd always hedge toward creating the best possible hole rather than focusing on the number attached to par or the yardage.  If you could've pulled off the back to back par 3's, it could've possibly moved your entry all the way up to first (I liked it that much). 


I encountered a similar situation as to what you are describing at the Montane Club, the course we were hired to build in Fernie, BC, which unfortunately never came to pass.  Originally, we had a somewhat awkward 16th hole crammed into the corner of the property, and there was an issue with an entrance road on the front nine that caused us to have to adjust the location of the original first and eighteenth holes. So, in the end, we had to find room for two additional holes. We ended up adding the 13th along the creek and went with back to back par 3's on 16 & 17, which totally eliminated the previously awkward 16th.  In the end, the road issue on the other side of the course forced us to address a weakness in the routing, and the course would've been much better for it, as I was extremely fond of the finishing holes.  The lesson that I took from it is that its advantageous to try to find the best holes regardless of par, back to back 3's, etc.

[Bill Brightly]

As a point of information, Bob Brightly's Road Hole (entry J) is modeled after Charles Banks' 18th at Hackensack,  Oradell, NJ. This  was Banks first solo design, Raynor died a few months before the contract was awarded to build a new course 8 miles north of the city of Hackensack in 1926. Banks chose to build his "road" as a bunker located between our 9th and 18th greens. Here is how it looks today, Road Hole on the left:






When our club unwittingly chose to "modernize" the course in 1960, this bunker was reduced by 75%. It was restored two years ago. With obvious favoritism to my little brother, nice job emulating a Banks' original!

[BCowan]

Congrats to the winners.  Colton has some Tony Packo's to look forward to if he makes the journey to Toledo.  Thanks again to Rob for taking the time to grade these and take his job as judge seriously.  Cheers.



  I thought I'd give my 2 cents.  I hope others who submitted give their opinions and anyone in general.   

1. Bob Brightly
2. Andy Gray
3. Colton Craig

Bob,

   I echo what Rob said in regards to 9 and 18.  It is really solid what you did with the 10th hole.  I definitely agree that 16 would have been better as a par 3 and the nines reversed.  Still this entry was #1 for me, holes #1-6 were very solid.  Swil-cowan burn very cool  .  Not only did your routing shine your strategic values were spot on in regards to bunkering and use of natural/man made features. 

Andy,

    2nd hole was really solid with routing of ditch to property border enabling hillside on right to be exposed and used!  That is the weakest area of existing course and you made great work of it as did Bob.  #11 and #16 are really cool.  #9 and #14, and #17 are in a low area and can't remember if you mentioned greens would be built up.  Those are the holes I didn't care for.  Best holes- 1, 2, 6, 8, 10, 11, 12, 15, 16, 18.  Really a strong finish on 18!  I like many of the ways you used the dry ditch in your routing. 

Colton,

   This entry had the most highs and lows in it for me.  Originally I loved it but then I examined further i found more i didn't like.  Strong holes are  1, #3 (Loved), 4, 8, 12, 14, #15 (love, assuming green built up), 16, 17, and #18 (favorite hole).  I thought however that too many of the greens had to be built up and were in poor spots (flood areas).  I love that Colton was bold and took risks.  I think if he knew the land better he might of changed some things.  He definitely has talent.  The weak holes for me were 10, 11, and 13.  I'm also indifferent in regards to #7

I personally wished I'd of tweaked my submission.  The more time I spent on it, the better my ideas were imo.  My submission was E, I put a revised one below it, which i like significantly more.  A simple thing such as changing the sequence of the holes is significant in the flow of a golf course. 



Thanks again to Rob for taking the time to grade these and Congrats to the winners.  Below is existing routing and photos of the course as it is today.  It's hard for some to realize that this place was once private and had caddies.   Many areas of Toledo are sandy, this is one of them. 

Hole #1



Hole #3


Hole #7 (really solid par 5)

[Andy Gray]

Ben,


Thanks for the notes. In response to the lower holes, 9, 14 and 17, I didn't specifically write down any notes on the course, my idea of the drainage ditch is to allow for four things:
- naturally drain the area by creating low points
- reduce buried drainage pipe length as these can be redirected to the ditches (shorter distances to these ditches generally)
- act as overflow for the creek by taking up the first portion of flooding (not sure what percentage that could be but I figure it would help with the smaller and more frequent flooding events)
- add low cost strategy to the flatter part of the course.


Without the local knowledge of what parts of the property flood I had to assume all of it did and try to work back from there.


1 and 8 were the only guaranteed holes for me, everything else had to work to get those in to the routing. The diagonal ditch/undulation across the fairway on 1 was too good not to use, and I saw a few others thought the same. The low area in front of 8 green was always going to be used, and I thought the best way to use it would be on a 5 or short 4 (challenge the low point or lay up short of it?). 18 green site is inspired by Woodlands GC in Melbourne where many of the greens are bunkered on the upper side of the green with the green tilting away from the bunkers. This puts a premium on being in the correct place of the fairway and being able to shape shots and control the ball release on the ground.


I'll post about others a bit later after I've had some time to really have a proper look.


Cheers,


Andy

[Josh Bills]

Rob, thank you for taking time to judge these and Ben for taking the time to get this put together.  Certainly learning more and more each time I attempt a routing.  As someone who has played this course numerous times, would love to see many of these plans put into place.  I am curious as to what software/programs everyone used to make their plans?  Many of these are professional quality and just curious as to what everyone used, if you are willing to share.  I know many of the previous threads give various software programs, and I have explored most if not all of them, but just curious if there is anything new as some of these are really good!  Thanks,


Josh

[BCowan]

Thank you Rob Collins for judging our designs. From your comments its shows that you spent a great deal of time and took this task very seriously. Also, thank you for recognizing my design in particular. It is a great honor. I will say competitions like this only go so far. It would be as if two opposing football coaches sat down before the game, showed each other their playbook and game plan, and tried to determine a winner. Golf architecture is all about execution of the small details, and that simply cannot be shown on paper. Regradless, still a great honor and a lot of fun. Thank you for recognizing my match play design style. Golf was originally played as match play, and I think we should do it more often. Match play does not let a player get discouraged from a blow up hole, It increases stratigic value hole by hole, and it increases pace of play. Sounds like a pretty good problem solver to me. Thank you for recognizing my front 12 and back 6. I think it is another problem solver in golf, and I am for sure stealing the term "whiskey loop". -Colton Craig