[Duncan Cheslett]

A house has just come on the market down the road from me. Not only does it have a detached outbuilding big enough for me to run my cabinetmaking business from, but it also has a huge back garden extending 180 yards x 40 yards behind the house.

Now this is pure fantasy time for me as only a lottery win would allow me to buy the place, but I can't help imagining building my very own full size par 3 hole in a suburban garden - or even two holes out and back!

Does anyone have any instances of this being done?

[Ally Mcintosh]

Hi Duncan,

Taking a glass half-empty approach, if the garden is only 40 yards wide then you should expect to have some serious complaints / law suits from neighbours... And the maintenance cost for a couple of golf holes never makes business sense...

Taking a glass half-full approach, I'd say go for it.... Good luck

[Scott Warren]

Duncan,

Brett Morrissy has done just this:
http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,43795.0.html

[Michael Goldstein]

Common in NZ where there is plenty of space.  Examples range from 4 hole courses with 2 staff through to unkept farm paddocks.

I grew up with a couple of paddocks to hit in with a maximum length of around 150m.  I'd mow targets / greens to hit at but nothing more serious.   What I will say is that it does help the short game!



 

[Dónal Ó Ceallaigh]

Duncan,

When I was 12 or 13 years old, I build a little pitch and putt course on a rocky hill behind my parents house. I built the greens and tees (forward and back  ) and seeded two greens. The holes were short, but it was a lot of fun doing it. I even lined the bunker faces with heather.

As an adult, I'd definitely do it again if I had the space and time. I'd have a par three that I'd rebuild every couple of years. Start off with a Redan and follow with a Biarritz  It wouldn't matter to me if the green didn't have a perfect surface; it would just be fun to shape a green and surrounds whichever way I wanted.

[Thomas Dai]

I've done this kind of thing a couple of times both as a kid as when older. Great fun designing it, laying it out and building it. Hassle to maintain though - probably more time spent maintaining it than actually playing/practicing on it. If I were to do it again, money permitting, I'd probably go for a synthetic green for short game and putting plus a shed with a high roof and a wide opening side door to hit/chip balls out of or hang a net in. Great idea though, especially if you've got the space and kids who are keen on the game.

All the best.

[Mark McKeever]

I had an 80 yard par 3 in my back yard with two pot bunkers in front that I dug by hand.     Had a dirt/sand green that actually rolled pretty true with a nice little kickpad short/right of the putting surface to hit creative punch shots.

Mark

[Criss Titschinger]

There was a place in Cincinnati that some guy had set up 3 greens with varying tees. It was called Mulberry Golf Club and opened in 2010. I'm not sure if it's still open though. The website doesn't work anymore.

[jeffwarne]

Three Ponds across from Atlantic may be the ultimate full size version.
4 greens, 9 and 18 hole layout. very cleverly done and definitely 9 holes is not repetitive.
yours for $75 million

I had one in my backyard-18 holes,  6 greens, one rye grass I planted annually, 3 hard packed dirt, 2 St Augustine grass-stimps ranging from 2-12.
Weaved in and out of abandoned formal gardens, 2 of the greens were protected by streams and lakes created by abundant heads left over from garden, as well as 2 small bunkers. Monkey grass predominant hazard, although trees, basketball hoop and windows created additional hazards.
spent a lot of time maintaining and held weekly tournaments for friends.
$3 entry fees winner take all  
Got called to the Catholic School elementary principal's office for "discussing gambling on school's grounds"
I assued her I wasn't gambling ..... but that it was entertainment not unlike bingo.....

[Matthew Rose]

The house I lived in from age 7-15 had a vacant lot across the street for the first 3/4 years I lived there which was kept mowed; my older brother and I took an old manual reel mower and cut three circular "greens" and then sunk empty Cool Whip containers into the ground. Then one day the bulldozers came.

I haven't attempted anything remotely as ambitious as that since. With two very young sons in the house now, one who already can putt halfway decent, I've been looking to set something up.

I've flirted with the idea of putting in a real green in my backyard, but I can't seem to keep my lawn from going half dead every summer, so I'd probably never get the thing to grow properly. I'm also too lazy to mow it six times a week.

[Brett_Morrissy]

Duncan,
my advice would be to go for it - if you can - but it is a ton of work, and every waking spare minute will have you thinking about it. At the top of your list should be the two most important things from my experience.

1. Whatever you do, do it the best you can afford and have time for - if that means a 40-80 yard short game area only - that will be just fine, as this is the element that improves your game, and kids etc love it. Consider your budget and don't stretch it just so you can have 180 yard shot, the extra is not worth it!

2. Probably supersedes number 1 - make ALL your plans with maintenance foremost in your mind - you must be a practical guy building & selling furniture, same principles apply,  cost it as though you want to make a profitable piece of furniture, if the numbers don't add up, don't do it, there is nothing sadder than looking out your window (everyday) at a poorly maintained golf landscape, because a) you haven't had time to maintain it b) don't want to pay someone to look after it for you OR c) you didn't think it through at the design stage.

I have a mate of mine who is half way thru his own, he now says he wished he had bought my place, as he cannot believe the amount of work and cost.

[Rich Goodale]

When I was 10 or so I built a 3-hole hidden gem in my back yard, using nothing but a spoon and couple of tin cans to make the holes.  The 1st was a short (50yard) par 4, from near our back door uphill (grade ~1:100) to the far corner of the yard, with OB right (stone wall) and left (timber fence).  Given the lack of modern day maintenance practices, no putt was a gimmie, and a 5 was a good score on that hole.  The 2nd (Long--~70 yards) hugged the stone wall property line and headed towards the woods where we playedTarzan and explored hidden springs, when we were mere youths of 8 or 9.  The 2nd shot was framed by an old dogwood that went all pink in the Spring and later on spawned little dogwoods that eventually constricted the hole to the disgust of myself and the other purist wing-nuts that played the course.  The last was a driveable par-4 (40 yards), with a green placed over the septic tank which meant that it never stimped at more than .6.  We played with cut down hickories inherited from my grandfathers as well as balls of the same vintage and the course record was 17.

Those were the days....

Rich

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