Texas Tech Rawls Course Pics

[Daryn_Soldan]

Here are a few pictures from late February.  I forgot the digital camera and as a result have to apologize for the poor photo quality.  Back nine pictures and comment to follow.

#2 (par 5) from 60-70 yards short of green


#3 (par 3)


#6 (par 3)


#8 (par 4) from the lower left side of the fairway, the right side is level with the green

[A_Clay_Man]

You have nothing to apologize for. These are some great pictures of a great course. TT was lucky to get TD when they did.

[Daryn_Soldan]

#10 (par 3)


#11 (par 4) approach, this picture is from the highest point in the fairway so you don't get the full effect of the skyline green


#12 (par 4) approach, this is from the right edge of the fairway and the golfer can still only see the far right portion of the green through the cut in the ridge


#13 (par 4) tee shot, extremely wide fairway with center bunker


#13 approach from right side of center fairway bunker


#14 (par 4) approach from right rough


#15 (par 4) long and uphill off the tee, this bunker 30-40 yards short of the green complicates the long iron or fairway wood approach


#16 (par 3) difficult to see the green in this picture, the ball can be played off the mound to right into this 240 yard hole


#18 (par 5) after the drive over a ridge, the golfer can play over water to the green or lay up left and have this approach

[Daryn_Soldan]

I had a great time on my first trip to the Rawls Course. Both myself and my playing partner that
day agreed that the course is just plain fun to play. It played very short the day we were there
due to the dormant fairways and a west wind that blows directly in your face on only a few holes.

If you like firm and fast then golf in Lubbock in February is not a bad option.  Pitch marks were
difficult to find on the greens ansd it was refreshing to see balls roll 40 or 50 yards after
a well struck drive, even if they were rolling into trouble  . On # 8 my drive was at one
point on the right side of the fairway with a level shot to the green but then proceeded to
roll down nearly the entire width of the massive fairway, leaving the approach in the
picture above. I was very impressed with the need to control both distance and direction
off the tee when hitting to these fairways even though they are almost all at least 40-50
yards wide.

The real fun at the Rawls Course comes around the greens.  With a gusty 20 mph wind, not
many approaches find their way close to the hole.  As a result, the dips and hollows
around the large greens got plenty of action.  As I remember, most holes had a side to bail
out on (away from bunkers or water) but this usually resulted in a pitch or putt through a swale
or over a ridge to a green running away.

I thought the long stretch of par 4's on the back nine (11-15) were particularly strong and
varied with 11 and 14 being particular favorites. On the front the par 3 6th caught my
attention.  The play to just about any hole location seems to be playing the ball to the back
of the green and letting it feed back down off the slope.  It's not very visible in the picture,
but the ball will come back 15-20 feet.  This also allows a miss right or left that clears
the bunkers and while it is a tough downhill chip, the contours can help funnel a ball to the
front hole location.  I was also a big fan of the green on the short par 4 7th with a deep
swale running front to back and the previously mentioned 8th.

The joy in playing the Rawls course is in the details.  You won't miss many fairways but
often stand on the green looking back and wishing you had found a different part of the
fairway off the tee. I can see where at too high of a speed the greens could be absolutely
maddening but was very impressed by the speed and conditioning in February.
It would be very easy to spend hours chipping and putting around any one of the 18 greens
out there. In the end, it's wonderful to see a golf course that doesn't blow your socks off at
first glance or provide an overload of visual stimulation, yet makes you think twice or three
times about most shots, makes you feel both smart and stupid on a hole by hole
basis, and is a good amount of fun to play.

Daryn

[Paul Richards]

Daryn

Be careful with these pictures.

If Golf Digest gets ahold of them, they'll for sure give this course a 4 or 5 for conditioning.  

[cary lichtenstein]

I'm kind of curious on this one...I like the pictures and the look, go I give it a thumbs up.

 But this is Doak, and not his typical minimillism. How say the CGA?

Yea or Nay.

[A_Clay_Man]

Cary- Ron Whitten compared it to Shadow Creek, I put it even higher,
 that's how good it is.

But even though there was a hell
of a lot of dirt moved to create this work of art,
most of it looks completely natural,
with little uniformity of mounding or the other random features made.

As Daryn mentioned, this course makes the golfer think
and consider his next, very carefully.


Paul, I can't tell you how saving
120k by not over-seeding made
the winter golf some of the most fun, anywhere.
Especially since Wild Horse and Sand Hills are closed.
Besides, what panelists golf in the winter?
But seriously, the conditions at TT are top notch.
The greens are rolling the same they did the month the course opened, which is now over two years.

[Daryn_Soldan]

Yeah, I almost feel bad posting pictures showing all that "ugly" brown dormant bermuda,
especially on Monday after the Masters .  Unfortunately they really don't do justice to
the amount of movement in the ground and the width of the holes. The conditioning was also
just fine. I putted several times from 30-40 feet off of the green and always got a good
roll right up to the green. The dormant bermuda seems to work a little better for that than
the dormant zoyzia we have a bit further north.

What was the inspiration for the way the land was shaped at the Rawls Course?  It reminded
me of ranchland I've seen out in parts of western Kansas that is essentially flat, but has been
roughed up by lots of wind and water erosion over the years. Even with all of the earth that
was moved, I'm impressed by the amount of restraint shown. None of it looks over the top or unreasonable.

Daryn

[Tom_Doak]

Daryn:  We were going for the eroded look, thank you very much.  The area out of town to the southeast of Lubbock is a bit like what we built ... all the sheet flow from the west starts cutting down into the soils and eventually becomes a real canyon.

The grassing plan was based on the course NOT being overseeded ... there is bermuda rough on the high spots, but bahiagrass in the lows to create some contrast.  (You can see some of it in the photos of #3, #6, and the stripe of grass between the #13 tee and the fairway ... there's actually a lot more but not much of it down the center of the holes, because it is tough to play out of.)

Looks like the landscaping still has a bit of maturing to do!

[Tony_Chapman]

These post are what I love about GCA!! Thanks for the pics Daryn. Makes me want to travel to Lubbock that's for sure. The bunker work there looks top notch.

Now, I should get off my duff and get these Wild Horse pics posted!! Played there Saturday and it's always a treat -- even if it isn't a top 100 public course.    

[RJ_Daley]

Tom Doak, I haven't been fortunate enough to get out there to see TT yet.  But, from various construction in progress photos and these, it seems that coniferous trees were used along the property boundary berm for landscaping.  There appear to be a few sprinkled around the interior of the course too.  

Have you left standing orders (so to speak) that they are not supposed to plant any more conifers and only plant deciduous trees for interior course landscaping.  

Do you agree that if they went on a tree planting binge, particularly conifers, that it could really detract from the look you have designed?

[Tom_Doak]

RJ:

Since we planned NOT to overseed the course, I thought it was essential to have some large groups of evergreens to give the course some winter contrast and to break up the bleakness of the landscape.  I can't remember the exact numbers now but I'd be surprised if we didn't plant 500 evergreens, mostly Afghan (!) pines which are one of the few to stand up to the hot summer winds and freezing winter temps.

It will probably be five years before the trees grow together and achieve the "massed" look we were after.  Even when they do, nearly all of the trees are there for background purposes and to break up spaces.  There are a few trees in closer to the tees for effect, but don't forget most of the fairways are 60-80 yards wide and the trees are well outside of them ... overall I don't think most golfers would encounter more than one tree in a typical 18-hole round.

I doubt that the University will want to plant any more anytime soon ... all the drip irrigation for those trees was a major pain in the butt.  But we are on retainer to remind them not to.

[JakaB]

Tom,

Would you say that your ability to create an artificial backdrop is the weakest part of your skill package.   Unless you are blessed with a great natural structure such as an Ocean or Mountains your courses seem to have little interior beauty looking out.  Is this something you need to work on...

[George Pazin]

JK -

Are you saying backdrops on the periphery, or any backdrops? Regardless, I'd disagree in this case, one of the few courses discussed on here that I've actually played.

Daryn -

I think these photos are totally cool. They look like you downloaded them from an old 60s TV broadcast on Golf Channel Classics. I think I even see Sarazen in the background on one of those.

[John_Cullum]

The bunker faces appear to haven taken alot of work to get the fallen in look. Are these hard to maintain?

[A_Clay_Man]

Barney, You so funny!

Actually Doaks weakness is apparent in Lubbock, for the well travelled timely golfer.

John Cullum- The bunkers have changed a little in the short two years. They have lost some of their V-like aspect and have actual bottoms, now. I don't know if it took any work, just wind.

[Don_Mahaffey]

John,
I know you like to stir things up, but make no mistake, the berm Doak and Co built around the Rawls course is brilliantly done. It would have been a lot easier to pile up some dirt, run a big drag over it and load it up with trees. They didn't do that and although obviously made by the hand of man, it is, IMO, a great feature used to set the theme for the entire course.

[ed_getka]

Daryn,
   Thanks for the post and pics. What is going on in each of the holes you showed? What shot is required, what are the challenges, what are standout features?

It is definitely on my want to play list.

[Patrick_Mucci]

Adam Clayman,

Functional, yes.  Natural, ?

[Mike Nuzzo]

The bunkers have changed a little in the short two years. They have lost some of their V-like aspect and have actual bottoms, now. I don't know if it took any work, just wind.

I would guess that Tom designed many of those narrow in part to keep the mechanical rakes out.  It looked like they've been trying to get the rakes into a few of those with the newly flat bottoms.  

[Eric Pevoto]

Thanks for the pics Daryn.  Looks like fun.  It makes you wonder why anyone would want to spend the extra cash to overseed.

I'd guess Doak and Company took some practice and ideas for the perimeter berm from Stonewall.

[A_Clay_Man]

Pat- I did qualify it with mostly,
but even so, I think the randomness
of shape and size, as well as on the vertical,
is as random as nature does it.

It sure beats those Fazio looking things
 they are passing off as hazards in Augusta Ga.
 Look at the contrast between the one
Macbunker remaining, and the greenside
 one on the same hole. Even From the
 television the difference is evident.

Sheryl stuck her head in on the telecast
 this weekend.
The first thing she said was
"Who did those bunkers? Fazio?"

[MarkT]

Here's the area southeast of Lubbock that Tom was talking about. It's a geological formation known as the Caprock that stretches from the panhandle, down through West Texas.


This is Caprock Canyon, northeast of Lubbock

[Lou_Duran]

Mike Nuzzo,

I think the bunkers were designed in a narrow, steep fashion mostly to minimize the effects of the heavy winds common to the area.  Otherwise, they would be constantly having to add sand.

These pictures are not representative of how the course likely looks today, but they clearly suggest that the aesthetics may not match the gca.  Tying it to the Greywalls/Rawls thread (3/8/08), perhaps the pictures provide some explanation why the course may not be as enthusiastically received by panelists from areas with more pleasing environments.  And while Lubbock is a wondeful place with full of great folks, it is one drabby place to visit.