Braemar Golf Course in Edina, Minnesota

[Richard_Mandell]

In anticipation of the grand opening of the brand new Braemar Golf Course in Edina, Minnesota on May 15th, I will be posting a hole-by-hole tour of the golf course over the next several weeks. I'm hopeful this will generate some discussion and I would be happy to answer any questions anyone may have regarding the strategy of each hole and the design decisions that went into the creation of the new course. At the very least, it will give my northern friends something to think about besides the temperature outside!

For a little background, Braemar is a municipal golf course owned by the City of Edina, MN. The original eighteen holes on the site dates back to 1964. Shortly after, a par-three course opened and then a third regulation-length nine was added in 1994. Rounds at Braemar peaked in 1997 but then began to steadily decline over the next decade and a half. We were hired by the City in 2014 and began our Renovation Business Plan process shortly after. Throughout the process, we developed dozens of different alternatives and cost estimates ranging from smaller projects like rebuilding bunkers or greens, all the way up to total re-routing of the property. One of the alternatives was a new 18-hole course in place of the existing 27-holes and this was the option the City ultimately chose.



We created fairways that are forty to fifty yards wide that require golfers to find the best route to the hole with just a few forced carries. Many holes have double fairways with central hazards. I'm especially excited about the set of five par-5s and, while admittedly biased, think we've produced one of the best sets of "5s" anywhere.



Utilizing our Tee Shot Distance Equity process, we created six sets of tees that will range from 6,884 to 4,234 yards. In addition to shrinking the overall golf course footprint, which allowed for the creation of some other uses on the property, we also increased the environmental benefits for the City by creating over 8 new acres of wetlands with 32 acres of wetland buffer and restored 34 acres of Oak Savanna.

[Tyler Kearns]

Richard,


Look forward to seeing the work at Braemar, I actually played the course back in 1990-91 when I was in Minneapolis for a hockey tournament (I believe it was 27 holes then).  Had the good fortune of playing Keller last year before the Midwest Mashie and enjoyed it thoroughly.


Tyler

[Greg Clark]

I played a number of rounds at Braemar when my familly lived in Edina in the late 70's.  Hope to get back there one day to see the changes.  Thanks for posting.

[Tim Gavrich]

Look at that 3-5-3-5-3-5 sequence during the front nine! How Lawsonian of you! 


Photos look wonderful; best of luck with the spring weather and I look forward to the tour.

[Richard_Mandell]

Tim,


Love that big smile of yours as well.  The best combination of holes on that stretch of property led to that sequence.  Always use the best land for the best holes!

[Jake Marvin]

Richard,


Very excited to see the new course. Braemar was one of the courses I grew up on, and although I'm never happy to see a course go, it always struck me as a place where the property could've yielded a significantly better course than what was there. There's a nice mix of new interpretations of holes that were already there in some form (1, 4, 13, 14, and 15 all seem to fit the bill) and brand new holes. I'm excited to see some new angles and portions of the property that weren't explored by the old course.


A couple questions I'd be curious to hear your opinions on as you go through the course:
Is 8 going to play as penal as it looks on the plans? Obviously it's a shortish par five, so it could be fine that way, but it looks like all three shots have no decent place to miss.
How long are the forced carries in play on 8, 12, 16 and 18? And beyond that, were there any particular challenges posed by the amount and configuration of water already on the course?


Thanks for the great work you've done to help public golf in the Cities lately. Keller is a gem and it looks as though Braemar will be no different.

[Richard_Mandell]

Jake,
 
#8 will not be as penal as it looks on the plans.  In fact, I would say it is a pretty friendly golf hole with many places to "miss" shots.  If you recall from the old layout, #2 was very penal as it demanded an almost blind second shot that could end up in wetlands to the left and right somewhere in the second landing area (pending on what the golfer chose to do).  Many chose to lay up and for them it may have been a four or five shot odyssey from tee to green even though one could putt from tee to green if they chose.
 
I reversed the hole as part of the routing to specifically avoid that issue, bringing the wetland to the left and right in play off the tee, but with better visibility (from raised tees) and less carry. Of course, the area between features is fairway.  To carry the water on the left from the back tee is 194 yards, from the next six tees the carry is 168, 132, 117, 77, 55, and 30 yards.  But the carry is only in a "miss" situation.  The wetland on the right is closer to each tee and the opening between both wetlands in front is thirty yards wide.
 
From the beginning of the fairway to the green is wide open with an average width of fifty-five yards.  The exception is a small pot bunker in the second landing area.  The fairway is twenty yards wide on both sides in that one spot, but fifty or more yards in front and just beyond.  So, yes, there is little room to miss for about ten yards, but the bunker (only one on the hole) consumes just 610 square feet and the fairway is 2.60 acres of grass.  The green is open in front and the water to the left is about twelve to fifteen paces from the green edge and behind.
 
I would not characterize any shots on eight as being a forced carry.  As far as the other holes, the carry form the back of 12 is 217 yards and then 155, 148, 130, 88, and 75 yards from the other tees with no forced carry from the forward most tee.  For hole 16, the carries are as follows: 230, 215, 160, and 140 yards.  The forward two tees have no forced carry.  For #18:  230, 160, 140, 120, and 80 yards with the forward most tee having no forced carry.
 
From your question about the other challenges, you are already aware that the carries from tee to fairway based on the existing water bodies was a tough challenge.  From a routing perspective, it was limiting when it came to the area where holes 12, 18, and 10 are.  One could not route holes in that area going east/west because there was just not enough length going in those directions.  So north/south was the only option.  The good news is that there are only three holes there as opposed to the old course, which had four tight, parallel holes. 
Working without filling any ponds in was another challenge, followed by working around the wetlands as well, which we were able to increase.  The only wetland we impacted was .33 acre at the end of sixteen fairway but we added 4.37 acres of wetlands.  The final challenge was the wetland buffer, which ended up being an asset, as we were able to add much more than what we were required to do.  I started my routing process assuming the largest possible buffer and was able to adjust backward once the wetlands were confirmed.

[Tommy Williamsen]

I played both Braemar and Keller when I was in graduate school in St. Paul. I loved Keller. Thank you for upgrading those two courses. I wish I could return to play them sometime.

[Jake Marvin]

From the beginning of the fairway to the green is wide open with an average width of fifty-five yards.

Wow alright, I stand corrected. Given how that hole was, I'm surprised there was space for that kind of width. That hole tended to cause a significant back-up because of the crossing hazard, like you said, and the reversal seems like a smart fix.


Thanks for the remarkably thorough answer.

[BHoover]

I realize this thread is about Braemar, which I look forward to playing when I’m next in Minneapolis.

But with respect to Rich’s other restoration/renovation work in St. Paul, Keller, can someone please explain the massive tree between the tee and the green on the par three 3rd hole (I think it’s the 3rd hole, if not then maybe the 4th)? I can sort of see it as a quirky (very quirky) feature. But it’s not everyday you face a tee shot on a par three over a 50-75 foot tree literally between you and the green. Of course, you can always try to go under that tree.

[Richard_Mandell]

That tree on #4 was there before I started (obviously).  Whereas I would love to chop it to its knees, the public spoke so we left it.  I did work to create a run-up approach under the tree and moved the sand bunker to the left instead of directly in front. So now, someone can play under it.


I did gain a bit of appreciation for the hazard though, as it does demand a certain trajectory from tee to green.  Form the back, it plays 150 yards.  With the tree in place, it now plays 150 yards with a specific trajectory necessary.  Not any old 150-yard shot will.
There you go:  lemonade.

[BHoover]

That tree on #4 was there before I started (obviously).  Whereas I would love to chop it to its knees, the public spoke so we left it.  I did work to create a run-up approach under the tree and moved the sand bunker to the left instead of directly in front. So now, someone can play under it.

I did gain a bit of appreciation for the hazard though, as it does demand a certain trajectory from tee to green.  Form the back, it plays 150 yards.  With the tree in place, it now plays 150 yards with a specific trajectory necessary.  Not any old 150-yard shot will.
There you go:  lemonade.

Thanks for the explanation, Rich. I suspected it had long been there. I do wonder what that tree was like when Keller hosted the PGA in 1954, and what was the thinking when that tree was originally put there?


It’s quirky, and that’s not a bad thing. But I wouldn’t want to play that type of shot more than very occasionally.


In any event, I look forward to seeing your work at Braemar.

[Jason Topp]

That tree on #4 was there before I started (obviously).  Whereas I would love to chop it to its knees, the public spoke so we left it.  I did work to create a run-up approach under the tree and moved the sand bunker to the left instead of directly in front. So now, someone can play under it.

I did gain a bit of appreciation for the hazard though, as it does demand a certain trajectory from tee to green.  Form the back, it plays 150 yards.  With the tree in place, it now plays 150 yards with a specific trajectory necessary.  Not any old 150-yard shot will.
There you go:  lemonade.

Thanks for the explanation, Rich. I suspected it had long been there. I do wonder what that tree was like when Keller hosted the PGA in 1954, and what was the thinking when that tree was originally put there?


It’s quirky, and that’s not a bad thing. But I wouldn’t want to play that type of shot more than very occasionally.


In any event, I look forward to seeing your work at Braemar.

Hoover  Richard made the right call there.  That tree is an essential part of the Keller experience. 

[Jason Topp]

.  As far as the other holes, the carry form the back of 12 is 217 yards and then 155, 148, 130, 88, and 75 yards from the other tees with no forced carry from the forward most tee.  For hole 16, the carries are as follows: 230, 215, 160, and 140 yards.  The forward two tees have no forced carry.  For #18:  230, 160, 140, 120, and 80 yards with the forward most tee having no forced carry.
 

Those carries caught my eye.  I play regularly with people who would likely choose to play the back tees.  These carries force me to either insist on playing a different tee, play when the pond is frozen or only play the course when the wind is out of the South and the temperature is warm. On 16, I probably will have trouble from the next tee up in a Northwest wind.


 I'm not whining.  I should not be playing the back tees.  However, I see a lot of courses leaving back tees unused because of such situations.

[Richard_Mandell]

Jason,


Those tees may not get much action for that very reason but the cost to have them is such a small percentage of the overall cost of construction that they do provide value.  The same will be true of the back tees on the downhill par-three thirteenth, but mostly because of the walk uphill to access those tees.  On busy days, there may not be access to them just to maintain pace of play.

[BHoover]

With the recent work at Keller and now Braemar, plus courses like Stoneridge, Chaka Town Course, and Rush Creek, the Twin Cities does have a deep bench for public golf.

[Richard_Mandell]

Braemar Golf Course - Hole 1 - "Welcome" - 369 Yards



The opening hole at Braemar plays north from an elevated tee tucked into a hillside, providing the golfer with a complete view of the opening hole as well as several surrounding holes. For those of you who have played the original course, you will recall that this hole plays down roughly the same corridor as the old 10th Hole, though we removed almost all of the existing trees down both sides.



After the initial drop from the tee, the fairway is fairly flat, but we added just enough subtle roll to make it interesting without looking out of character with its surrounds on this portion of the golf course. The ideal line is to the left-center of the fairway as the further right one goes, the more they must challenge the front right greenside bunker.



Even though I wanted to start simply, I did want to create something memorable on this hole, and believe we did that with the putting surface. I began with what I would call a "Pre-Golden Age" feature for the approach which is a straight connection from the fairway directly into the putting surface that is dead flat. I've always been intrigued by the simplicity of this feature and enjoyed attempting a putt from the fairway to the putting surface with no elevation change.

The green is pinched by two mounds, middle-left and middle-right that bleed into the putting surface and serve as the transition between the lower front tier and the upper back tier. A third mound back-middle deflects balls left or right onto two sub-tiers. During construction, these mounds grew larger than originally conceived, but I felt that was necessary to provide some much-needed vertical dimension in this flat, open area.



You can view an aerial flyover of the first hole at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykc--ypo7g8.

[Jason Topp]

I love very simple holes like this. 


Richard - a conventional design would likely put a fairway bunker on the left side to challenge the player seeking a more favorable angle into the green.  Did you consider such a bunker?  What was the thought process?

[Richard_Mandell]

Jason,


That was never part of my thought process.  Foremost in my mind was a quick getaway to establish some favorable pace of play.

[PCCraig]

The first is a fine hole. The green is the most interesting part as it has a decent amount of slope. I agree with Jason that perhaps a bunker short and on the left side of the fairway would have added a strategic/visual element. But, it is a busy public course and a wide open short par-4 is a good way to get people moving.

[JJShanley]

I look forward to playing it when I visit the Twin Cities this summer!

[Richard_Mandell]

Braemar Golf Course - Hole 2 - "Creek" - 417 Yards



Donald Ross once said, "Should your property happily have a brook running through it, choice treatment can be secured by arranging one hole parallel with it and another so the drive or second shot must cross it." My plan will always be to secure the choice treatment whenever the opportunity presents itself, as it did here on the par-four second hole at Braemar. The challenge was to be careful with its use considering the water already present in other areas of the site, especially given the high volume and public nature of the course, but this creek was just too good to pass up and it became a central feature to my routing early on.



Playing back to the south parallel to the first hole, the tee shot on this hole doesn't require a long shot so much as it requires an aggressive shot willing to hug the creek that runs along the right side from the tee complex before bisecting the fairway just beyond the landing area. Typically golfers shy away from hazards that run parallel to the line of play, so I chose to dangle this "carrot of opportunity" for the golfer able to resist the urge to bomb driver down the left side.



An approach from the right side, as close to the creek as possible, can mean a two- or three-club difference compared to a longer tee shot that strays left away from the water.



A slightly uphill approach over the creek is set to this bunkerless putting surface, a feature I try to use at least once on every course I work on. An approach that comes up short will find one of several grass hollows that may kick balls down to the left toward the same creek that now hugs the left side of the approach.



You can view an aerial flyover of the second hole at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqOzgV2JF5Q.

[Tim Gavrich]

This looks terrific so far, Richard. On 2, how long a shot does it take to be clear of the last tree on the right off the tee?

[Richard_Mandell]

Tim,


A tee shot hit down the middle of the fairway will need to be hit at least 253-232-202-160-149-120 yards (from each tee) in order to get past the tree and have a view to the green.  From the tips, though, it will require a 290-yard drive to go over the tree and the creek.

[Jason Topp]

The old hole that occupied this area of the course was a short par 4 from about the same tee with a late dogleg left around a big tree.  It was an awkward hole.  This one appears to be a big improvement.