Architect routing question

[Mark_Rowlinson]

Over what kind of terrain have you found it hardest to route a course, and why?

[Ross Tuddenham]

I am no expert and have never tried to route a course but I would guess something with large elevation changes and many slopes would cause problems. Or maybe a very small site?

[Neal_Meagher]

Besides extreme topography, the most vexing problem that crops up from time to time is that of oddly shaped parcels that create difficulty in linking holes together.  If you have a big square or rectangle, even with steep terrain, you can usually make something out of it without too much difficulty, but add in a big slice of an out-parcel or a series of utility easements and you have your work cut out for you.

[Melvyn Morrow]

Mark

Fancy asking a question like that on this site. I though you might have noticed its nearly always about the top best 100 courses in the world.

Anyway what would we know about routing, many on here spends more time resolving the route of the cart tracks than the serious business of routing. Some even give up and design greens in the middle of big ponds or lakes as they seem to have run out of ideas. Others tend to think that well manicured courses with useless bunkers (for decoration I presume) are the way forward  and there are those with no ideas apart from coping holes from other great courses.

Not sure what is in recession the economy or the designers ideas.

Oops some do not seem to see the funny side of my post, but then I must say that I have not been amused either at some of their efforts on the design front, (just look at the Ugly topic to prove my point).

Melvyn

[Tom_Doak]

Mark:

The hardest sort of ground is a moderately steep site that has a steady slope from one side to the other.  Then, the only way to build holes is to bench them into the side of the hill, and it all gets very repetitive.  If the site bottoms out and comes back up a bit on the far side, and there's not a protected stream or something in the bottom, then you've got a lot more opportunity to provide variety.

The other extreme is a dead flat site with a shallow water table.

Or, a site that's extensively cut up by environmentally sensitive areas.

[Melvyn Morrow]

Tom

There you are "Land Fit For Purpose"

Melvyn