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Bryan Izatt

  • Karma: +0/-0
The Center-line Bog - A Unique Architectural Feature?
« on: June 06, 2015, 02:22:30 AM »
Came across this aerial of a golf course while I was searching for a pre-BUDA hotel.  The 18th looks intriguing (?) for there is a round bog hole in the middle of the fairway.  In the spirit that if one is good, then two are better, the feature is replicated closer to the green.  I presume that there must be a natural spring or two here - surely you wouldn't create such a feature.

Is this good or bad design? 

Is there another like it somewhere?

In the aerial the hole plays right to left to a tiny green and is a 345 yard par 4 from the back tee.









Ben Lovett

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: The Center-line Bog - A Unique Architectural Feature?
« Reply #1 on: June 06, 2015, 05:17:15 AM »
17 at Royal County Down

jeffwarne

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: The Center-line Bog - A Unique Architectural Feature?
« Reply #2 on: June 06, 2015, 06:35:15 AM »
Bryan,
Most courses would simply take the right fairway away, greatly reducing width.
And then the naysayers would be happy that there longer was a bog in the "middle of the fairway"
and further homogonization would continue, to the satisfaction of the vocal,thoughtless, uninformed minority
"Let's slow the damned greens down a bit, not take the character out of them." Tom Doak
"Take their focus off the grass and put it squarely on interesting golf." Don Mahaffey

Jason Thurman

  • Karma: +1/-0
Re: The Center-line Bog - A Unique Architectural Feature?
« Reply #3 on: June 06, 2015, 11:12:31 AM »
I played a course last week with an almost identical green-fronting bog. It didn't have a similar centerline feature in the driving zone though. There's also a course in my hometown with a pond in the landing zone for really big drives, with small strips of fairway on both sides. Amazingly, this pond IS manufactured, as it sits above grade and is lined with rocks and has a big fountain in the middle of it. It's the worst hole I've ever played. The tee shot is a joke:



And on the other side of the tree, you have the pond:



The feature may not be totally unique, but as Jeff mentions, I think most architects routing around a similar feature end up going with a narrower fairway. The result plays like more of a forced carry than a true centerline feature that can be realistically played around on short grass. That's certainly the case for the hole above, and looks to be the case at County Down too. I actually think the example from the original post could be fun to play. Bunkers in place of the bogs would look better, but with tons of room to go around, I think it's perfectly playable. And if the bog on the tee shot is at a distance that can be carried with a good drive, I'd be tempted to take it on.
"There will always be haters. That’s just the way it is. Hating dudes marry hating women and have hating ass kids." - Evan Turner

Some of y'all have never been called out in bold green font and it really shows.

Bill Brightly

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: The Center-line Bog - A Unique Architectural Feature?
« Reply #4 on: June 06, 2015, 01:04:20 PM »
Jason's hole may be the worst I've ever seen! How in God's name do women play it from the forward tees?

Jason Way

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: The Center-line Bog - A Unique Architectural Feature?
« Reply #5 on: June 06, 2015, 02:45:55 PM »
It's not quite the same as your Bryan, but the 6th hole at Mike DeVries's Diamond Springs has a small pond ("pond" might be overstating it) in the middle of the fairway.  It definitely struck me as odd when I played it.

"Golf is a science, the study of a lifetime, in which you can exhaust yourself but never your subject." - David Forgan

Jon Wiggett

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: The Center-line Bog - A Unique Architectural Feature?
« Reply #6 on: June 06, 2015, 05:00:24 PM »
I thought it was going to be a toilet block out in the middle, now that would be an original GCA feature ;D  I suppose if it is natural and not easy to drain then why not.

Jon

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