For what it's worth, here are some thoughts I had on
designing strictly to improve the pace and/or flow (i.e. reduce wait times) of play.....a few of these would probably never be adopted at most courses, but maybe they should.
· Design for Every Day Player, not Tour Pros who will never show up, i.e.,:
o Decrease difficulty, and increase playability, especially at public courses.
o Eliminate as many hazards as possible in areas like short right of greens.
o Widen fairways and play corridors
o Remove brush from wooded areas to reduce lost golf ball search time.
o Make sure turf reductions consider shot dispersion patterns of “C and D” players
. Shallow Rough (just deep enough for visual contrast to fw)
· Reverse the 1980’s-1990’s “Country Club for a Day” trend, where more public courses were designed with private club difficulty, and even muni courses were no longer golf’s version of the bunny slopes.
· Shorten your course from the middle and forward tees to eliminate 5-10 “unnecessary shots.”
· Design greens with easily read contours and moderate slopes.
o Long Constant Breaks vs. Random, subtle changes of elevation.
o Reduce green speeds! (9-10 is the most average golfers can handle)
· Easy holes play fast. Hard holes play slowly. Rather than a “rhythm” of easy, medium, and hard holes, strive to make holes of similar overall difficulty, with varying challenges:
o Hard tee shot followed by easier approach and/or putting.
o Medium difficulty tee shot with harder approach and/or putting.
o Easy tee shot followed by medium approach shot and easier putting.
· The fastest course to play would be one with 18 par 4 holes of similar difficulty.
o A par 3, so technically the wait to play is not counted in the time it takes to play the round
o The hardest, with every hole getting a bit easier……in theory, players will move away from the previous hole, increasing flow.
· Combat Par 3 hole backups by:
o Making Par 3 holes easy, no hard hazards (esp front right, and gentle putting surfaces)
o Harder holes before
o Easier holes/tee shots to get group away faster, opening up the tee for the par 3 group coming on)
· Reduce distance and travel time from green to next tee.
· Circulation - Design travel routes:
o Direct Routes (don’t skimp on bridges that lengthen route)
o Based primarily for the busiest tees.
o Keep cart path access to rear half of greens
o NEVER locate next tee short of and off to one side of previous green, it causes walk backs making the next group wait.
· Are reachable short par 5’s and drivable par 4’s really a good idea?
· The fastest play hazards are (in approximate order):
§ Ponds, with few golfers looking for their “deep sixed” golf balls.
§ Green side sand bunkers (always use Sand Wedge)
§ Greenside chipping areas maintained at fairway height - tricky for many, but misses are quick.
o Deep rough (extensive ball searches) and fairway sand bunkers (difficult shot for most, indecision in club selection) slow play.
· While most courses should accommodate all players, some may consider tailoring design to narrower market segments, which may speed play.
l Spreading out tee times is proven to reduce congestion. Go from 6-8 minutes to 10-15 minutes. At daily fee facilities, you’ll likely be able to charge more for what will become a better experience.
l Adopt the relaxed USGA rules of play and other time saving policies.
l If the Rules of Golf allow, replace “O.B.” areas with “Penalty Areas.”
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