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Kalen Braley

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Fossil Trace, Golden Colorado
« Reply #25 on: July 02, 2008, 10:55:18 PM »
Jay,

I love quirk just as much as the next guy but based on the pictures it looks more gimmick than quirk to me.  That slot to the right can still exist, and it can still be a "secret" path to the green. I just don't see why the rocks need to be there as a patch of rough would seem to have the desired effect.

Thomas MacWood

Re: Fossil Trace, Golden Colorado
« Reply #26 on: July 02, 2008, 11:04:11 PM »
Is there any thought of moving this feature into the clubhouse?


Michael Dugger

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Fossil Trace, Golden Colorado
« Reply #27 on: July 02, 2008, 11:06:10 PM »
Nice enough course, it's just weird.  All Engh's course seem to look the same.  I've seen that drop shot par 3 numerous times.  I wonder the point of the punchbowl when the long rough probably will not allow a ball to camber towards the green.

To each his own, but at least nobody can say gca.com has gotten politically correct anymore.
What does it matter if the poor player can putt all the way from tee to green, provided that he has to zigzag so frequently that he takes six or seven putts to reach it?     --Alistair Mackenzie--

Tim Pitner

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Fossil Trace, Golden Colorado
« Reply #28 on: July 02, 2008, 11:18:50 PM »
Tim, the point of the rock pile is optical illusion.  Look at the two pix again.  In the top one...IT LOOKS LIKE THE FAIRWAY ENDS THERE...but it doesn't the right side, behind the rockpile is a hidden, secret way to get to the green.  You can take advantage of this option.  Its a secret the course reveals to you upon multiple plays!  Isn't that what a great course is supposed to do...give you options?  Have some character?

Jay,

I get it--I'm just not that impressed that aiming for (or missing and then winding up in) a 10-yard stretch of fairway to the right of the rockpile may allow you to hit the green.  If that's the upside, the downsides to me are the aesthetics (I think it looks goofy and is unnecessary) and the risk that shots hitting the rockpile could go absolutely anywhere and/or end up unplayable, which I think is much more unfair than say, a bunker (I wouldn't be in favor of a stretch of rough).  The cons outweigh the pros in my book. 
« Last Edit: July 02, 2008, 11:25:25 PM by Tim Pitner »

Kirk Gill

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Fossil Trace, Golden Colorado
« Reply #29 on: July 02, 2008, 11:50:00 PM »
Kalen - your post made me look up the word gimmick, just because it's one of those words where I feel like I know the meaning, but also know that there might be something more to it that I'm not considering. From Dictionary.com:

1. an ingenious or novel device, scheme, or stratagem, esp. one designed to attract attention or increase appeal. 
2. a concealed, usually devious aspect or feature of something, as a plan or deal: An offer that good must have a gimmick in it somewhere. 
3. a hidden mechanical device by which a magician works a trick or a gambler controls a game of chance. 
4. Electronics Informal. a capacitor formed by intertwining two insulated wires. 
–verb (used with object)
5. to equip or embellish with unnecessary features, esp. in order to increase salability, acceptance, etc. (often fol. by up): to gimmick up a sports car with chrome and racing stripes. 

I think you meant 5, while Jay might pick 1.

Tom - I hear you. Honestly, that is a really good par-5, and the chimney doesn't add anything, in my opinion.
"After all, we're not communists."
                             -Don Barzini

Sean_A

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Fossil Trace, Golden Colorado
« Reply #30 on: July 03, 2008, 03:30:54 AM »
I don't recall seeing pix of such a jarring course.  It doesn't look to be my bag, but I applaud the thinking outside the box.  Engh strikes me as the sort of guy who is gonna hit a home run if he can get the right piece of land. 

Thanks for posting Kirk. 

Ciao
New plays planned for 2024: Nothing

Mike Bowline

Re: Fossil Trace, Golden Colorado
« Reply #31 on: July 03, 2008, 10:10:12 PM »
Mike, point taken. I was making a point about it as a municipal course, but you're right, many of the customers are not Golden residents, and are paying a lot more than $41. It's not the cheapest public option around. But they still appear to be doing pretty good business.

Have you been out and played it? I'm still wondering what a longer hitter thinks of the course.....

Kirk, I have played FT two times, and although I am a "medium" hitter, I enjoyed both my rounds. Both rounds were business rounds paid for by others, so the green fee pain was transferred to others  :).

Some holes are narrow off the tee (#2, #4, #12, #15,) and some are wide (#1, #6, #9, #10, #18) and I liked that variety. I really enjoyed the three longer par 3s and disliked #5 immensely. Holes 5-9 left my uninterested, but the rest were fun golf.

My favorite par 3 is number 11, with #14 right behind. My favorite par 4 is #13, and my favorite par 5 is #1, despite the chimney in the fairway.

Forrest Richardson

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Fossil Trace, Golden Colorado
« Reply #32 on: July 06, 2008, 10:04:33 PM »
Thanks for posting. This seems like a very entertaining course...I admire Jim for creating it.


— Forrest Richardson, Golf Course Architect/ASGCA
    www.golfgroupltd.com
    www.golframes.com

Anthony Gray

Re: Fossil Trace, Golden Colorado
« Reply #33 on: December 26, 2021, 07:13:37 AM »
Is there any thought of moving this feature into the clubhouse?






 I kinda like it and kinda don’t.

Mike Hendren

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Fossil Trace, Golden Colorado
« Reply #34 on: December 26, 2021, 11:43:33 AM »
Quintessential fun golf course.  I enjoyed every hole. More greens should feature Engh’s drop-down back porches.


Mike
Two Corinthians walk into a bar ....

Tom Bacsanyi

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Fossil Trace, Golden Colorado
« Reply #35 on: December 26, 2021, 09:13:24 PM »
Quintessential fun golf course.  I enjoyed every hole. More greens should feature Engh’s drop-down back porches.


Mike


I've never had a bad time on a Jim Engh course. Try Red Hawk Ridge in Castle Rock as well.
Don't play too much golf. Two rounds a day are plenty.

--Harry Vardon

Forrest Richardson

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Fossil Trace, Golden Colorado
« Reply #36 on: December 27, 2021, 03:31:31 PM »
A log time since my post! I did play Fossil Trace during our ASGCA Meeting held in Colorado several years ago. It was engaging and fun. Since then I was asked in an interview "What course would you have loved to have designed..." And I answered, "Fossil Trace." Jim did an amazing job. It literally is 18 holes, each a child of its own.
— Forrest Richardson, Golf Course Architect/ASGCA
    www.golfgroupltd.com
    www.golframes.com