"Shot Values"

[Kalen Braley]

I'm a bit confused about the negative comments regarding using every club in the bag. I was under the impression that a course which more or less required that was a GCA virtue?  As opposed to one where it was predominately use a driver, 3 wedges, and a putter.

If the mark of a good course is lots of variety with long holes, short ones, wide open, narrow, etc...then by default I'd expect to use 'em all if not most.

[Kyle Harris]

I keep flip-flopping on whether courses should be designed in this way or whether most courses should be for everyone. I can't seem to make up my mind.

Finding my niche was key to the success of my career.


You could say the same thing for Mike Keiser's success.  His "retail golfer" was not "everyone," he had a pretty specific demographic in mind [which just happened to be, guys like him  ].


The problem with most modern courses is that they don't have a good enough idea of their target audience.  Just for starters, they keep putting in back tees that almost nobody is going to play, which throw off the balance and the walkability for the other 95% of customers, just because they think the other 5% are going to make or break their reputation.

5% is awful generous.

[Charlie Goerges]

I keep flip-flopping on whether courses should be designed in this way or whether most courses should be for everyone. I can't seem to make up my mind.

Finding my niche was key to the success of my career.


You could say the same thing for Mike Keiser's success.  His "retail golfer" was not "everyone," he had a pretty specific demographic in mind [which just happened to be, guys like him  ].


The problem with most modern courses is that they don't have a good enough idea of their target audience.  Just for starters, they keep putting in back tees that almost nobody is going to play, which throw off the balance and the walkability for the other 95% of customers, just because they think the other 5% are going to make or break their reputation.

At the architect level, I'm sure that you're right, and even most courses should probably be done this way. But I still sometimes worry about the quality of courses for the significantly shorter hitters (who might be good, consistent players). For instance, the resort courses where I worked as a kid. The much shorter course was also the much worse course. So short-hitting old ladies were either relegated to the crappy course or had to deal with a long slog. Eventually, they put in some very short tees on the bigger course and the older ladies instantly took to them. That experience had a big effect on my outlook (my boss at that course was one of those old ladies). I think the short hitters deserve the same quality as the average to long hitters. That said, I realize with the ever-widening difference in distance between the shortest and longest hitters, this often can't be achieved on the same course without major compromises which might lower the overall quality.

[Daryl David]

The problem with most modern courses is that they don't have a good enough idea of their target audience.  Just for starters, they keep putting in back tees that almost nobody is going to play, which throw off the balance and the walkability for the other 95% of customers, just because they think the other 5% are going to make or break their reputation.



Amen +1000