[Tim_Weiman]

Now that I'm going to be living full time in Nashville, Tennessee, I am looking at joining a club that is due to open this summer and happens to be about three miles from where I bought a house in Franklin.

About a week ago I went out and walked the property of this new course, Westhaven Golf Club and though not designed by one of my favorite architects (Arthur Hills), I generally liked what I saw.

Now the kicker: as I reviewed the routing I noticed the course might be ideal for a few holes in the evening after work.

There are four natural ways to play a few holes:

3 holes - #1,2 and 9
3 holes - #7,8 and 9
5 holes - #10, 11,12,13 and 18
7 holes - #10, 11,12,13,14,17 and 18

I doubt the routing plan had this in mind, but it sure is a nice feature.

Would anyone judge a routing plan more favorable that had this feature?

All other considerations aside, would this feature make you more likely to want to join a club?

[Tom_Doak]

If I lived very close to the club, absolutely that would be a factor.  However, the two back-nine loops you mentioned are not going to be so helpful, because they are likely full of golfers at the end of the day.

Crystal Downs has a couple of great little front-nine loops, but since it's 50 minutes' drive from my house    I don't get to use them that often.

[Dan Herrmann]

That's one of the things I love about my home club, French Creek.  There are a bunch of little routings you can play after work.  It's a lot of fun, and when I get back home, I feel like I've been on vacation.

PS - The great Golf Club Atlas.com "sunday" golf bag makes it even more enjoyable.

[John Mayhugh]

Lots of fun discovering these mini-loops, especially when you come up with a new one.  One of my favorite memories of a trip to Ballyneal comes from Wyatt Halliday and I figuring out how to squeeze in a few more holes before dinner.

[Jason McNamara]

Tim, it's definitely a nice bonus - it turned out my club had the possibility of any number of "emergency" routings for between 1 and 12 holes, all of which began and ended within ~100 yds of the clubhouse/parking lot.

[TEPaul]

"Would anyone judge a routing plan more favorable that had this feature?"

Tim:

Definitely. That's what I did for about twenty years when I wasn't playing tournament golf. I used to actually drive onto the course and park my car out there somewhere to play various little "sets" of holes in the evening.

We feel Flynn did this kind of thing so often in many of his routings that he just had to be actively thinking of this very thing.

[Steve Pozaric]

My home course also has a setup that allows for this and it is nice.  Anywhere from 2 holes on up.  My two girls (ages 8 and 6) and I played the two hole "loop" recently and they had a blast playing the "big course".  I foolishly took my clubs when I had my time occupied keeping track of the two of them!  Wouldn't have traded that experience.

Also, when we played SFGC and Cypress a couple of years ago, our caddies at both places referred to these less than 9 hole loops as a "whiskey".  I hadn't heard that term used before.  I mentioned it to others here in StL, but it doesn't seem to be common here.

[Mark Pritchett]

At my home course the nines do not return to the clubhouse.  You can really play a good mix of holes, ranging from:

1 and 18
1-2 and 17-18
3-4 and 16-18
1-5 and 15-18
1-7 and 15-18
or 1-7 and #11-18
1-9 and 14-18

Some of my favorite times on the course are playing these loops in the late afternoon, ofter with just a 7 iron and a putter.

[Greg Murphy]

My home course is five minutes away from door to tee. It has three loops of holes that return to the clubhouse: 1-5, 6-9 and 10-18. On the course there is also a mini-loop of 14-16 and it's very easy to jump from 3 to 14 (to play the mini loop of 14-16) and 13 to 4. Another mini-loop is 10-11-18.

There must be a dozen 18 hole permutations and far more partial round combinations. I am often able to bounce around and complete all eighteen in the couple hours before sundown, even on relatively busy days and without getting in any one’s way. The routing allows me to probably double the number of holes/rounds I am able to play each year. It is absolutely one of the best things about the course and I think a very legitimate (though not a commanding) consideration to have in mind when routing a course.

[JohnV]

My home course is right out the back door of the office. 

Poppy Hills' front 9 does give us some options:

1, 7-9
1-3,6-9
1-7
1-3,6-7 (the favorite before daylight savings time kicked in)

The back has fewer options although I have played 10, 14-16 or 10, 14-18.  Also, as Tom said about back 9 options, they are usually less available due to heavy play.

[Tiger_Bernhardt]

This is one of the joys of life for e. Oakbourne has a few great ones 1,2,8 and 9. Or 1,2,3,5, 16,17,18  Olympic Lake 1,2 and 3,4,5,8. Champions 1,2,6,7,8,9. Mountain Lake anything for a round is 2 to 3 hours lol

[Tim_Weiman]

Tom Paul,

Wow! If Flynn really had this feature in mind, I'd be impressed.

By the way, the Old Course at Ballybunion has a nice little loop especially when you consider how what is now holes 6-8 played originally as 1-3 and was real close to town.

Overall, it sounds like there is agreement. The more mini loops, the better.

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