What follows are my favorite single page and 5 basic principles spelled out below.
Page 133.
A principal never to be lost sight of, in the construction as well as in the up-keep of a golf course, is this: no matter where the ball comes to rest a player should have a chance to swing the club and to hit the ball. Nature may, with impunity, present to us obstructions which cannot be overcome. If we do not wish to battle with them we can go elsewhere for our golf. But an architect should neither choose ground with such obstructions nor create hazards from which no shot can be played. The rules permit us, it is true under certain conditions to lift and drop the ball, but this EVIL PRACTICE SHOULD BE DISCOURAGED. The essence of golf is to play from tee to cup – over hazards and difficulties of all sorts – with one ball, which should neither be touched nor moved except in making the stroke. The ideal golf course should have no out of bounds, no water hazards, no unplayable lies, no places to lose balls, no fixtures on tees, near greens, or in bunkers under which balls may lodge, nor any other spot from which the ball cannot be played.
Page 58.
Doctor A. Mackenzie, the distinguished British golf course architect, lays down in his most suggestive little book on Golf Architecture the “essential features of an ideal golf course.” As a preface to the following suggestions, he well says that “the truest economy consists in finality. 1. The course, where possible, should be arranged in two loops of nine holes. 2. There should be a large proportion of good two-shot holes, two or three drive-and-pitch holes, and at least four one-shot holes. 3. There should be little walking between the greens and tees, and the course should be arranged so that in the first instance there is always a slight walk forward from the green to the next tee; then the holes are sufficiently elastic to be lengthened in the future if necessary. 4. The greens and the fairways should be sufficiently undulating, but there should be no hill climbing. 5. Every hole should have a different character. 6 There should be a minimum of blindness for the approach shots. 7. The course should have beautiful surroundings, and all the artificial features should have so natural an appearance that a stranger is unable to distinguish them from nature itself. 8. There should be a sufficient number of heroic carries from the tee, but the course should be arranged so that the weaker player, with the loss of a stroke or a portion of a stroke, shall always have an alternative route open to him. 9. There should be infinite variety in the strokes required to play the various holes, viz., interesting brassie shots, iron shots, pitch and run up shots. 10. There should be a complete absence of the annoyance and irritation caused by the necessity of searching for lost balls. 11. The course should be so interesting that even the plus man is constantly stimulated to improve his game in attempting shots he has been hitherto unable to play. 12. The course should be so arranged that the long handicap player, or even the absolute beginner, should be able to enjoy his round in spite of the fact that he is piling up a big score. 13. The course should be equally good during summer and winter, the textures of the greens and fairways should be perfect, and the approaches should have the same consistency as the greens.
#10 - Maybe I am just cheap but I HATE losing golf balls.
Page 60.
In conclusion, let us summarize the points worthy of consideration in laying out the golf course. 1. Modern standards require that the full eighteen holes should be of at least 600 yards; and that each nine should start and finish at the club-house. 2. Plan to walk forward to the tees, so that the course may be extended in the case of need merely by putting in back tees. The longest courses these days are approaching 7,000 yards. 3. Holes of quality, providing interesting play and calling for a variety of shots, will make any course popular. 4. The two nines should balance each other in yardage, in interest, and in quality; but the last nine should be the severest as a test of golf. 5. Avoid blind approaches and blind short holes. A blind tee shot is excusable, but blind shots of any kind are rarely interesting. 6. Where there is a prevailing wind do not lay out holes on its direst line. Play it as often as possible at an angle. 7. Eliminate as far as possible parallel holes. 8. Do not lay out holes toward the west, especially one-shot holes, and those coming in the last nine. 9. Do not have holes of the same character immediately following each other. 10. See that each hole presents to the player some problem of interest; and that the whole course presents many interesting problems of various kinds. 11. Wherever possible make and easy and secure route to the hole for the poorer players; but lay this out so that and extra stroke will be required in the play. 12. Have as few penal bunkers as possible, only enough in fact, to protect the quality of the hole. 13. The hazards should be so placed as to test the best shots of the best players. They should be close to the positions most desirable for those seeking to play the course in par figures. They should be so arranged as to call fourth a variety of the best long shots and every variety of approach. 14. The following schedule of holes has been found satisfactory: Ten holes calling for two long shots to reach the green. Two holes calling for three shots. Two holes for a drive and either a pitch or a run-up. Four which can be reached in one shot. (Par 70) No one should be bound by rules in this matter. All the best courses vary greatly. The point is to get variety. 15. When laying out holes of these various lengths, careful attention should be given to the prevailing wind, the slopes of the course, the quality of the turf obtainable, and the average amount of rainfall.
#10 - Just a good sentence that sounds easy but is much more difficult to execute.
Page 65.
Without advising any club to adhere strictly and invariably to the following principles in the building of its greens, I believe they are worth careful consideration. 1. Construct every green so that surface water will readily drain from it, and be careful to see that the water is not carried off into a bunker. Preferably the drainage should be carried over the side of the green and not over its entrance. A slight slope will accomplish this. If the green lies so that a surrounding area is bound to drain over it, cut this drainage off by a grassy hollow. 2. At the edge of a green, sharp down slopes and abrupt rises are in most cases inadvisable, although gentle undulations may often be an attractive feature where one cannot hope to reach the green on the carry, or where it is desired to call fourth some unusual shot. 3. Undulations on a few greens are most desirable, but ridges are almost always bad. They are usually ugly and it is difficult to grow good turf upon them. Furrows and ridges are bad types of undulations. Pimples, chocolate drops, and carbuncles are no less objectionable. The kind which should be moulded is difficult to describe. Those found in the vicinity are often worth imitation. As sand blows up into little swells, or as the waves softly playing on the beach in long graceful curves, so should be the undulations on a golf course. 4. Unless the contour of the ground makes it unavoidable, it will usually be wise not to build terraces on your greens. Where they are necessary the green must be large, and the incline from one level to another very gradual. 5. Let there be no place on the green proper where the ball will gain momentum after it is under way; but if this is unattainable, see that all such pronounced slopes be kept as far as possible from where the hole is to be cut. 6. On most greens about three-fourths of the area should be made available for cutting the hole. To change the cup frequently is necessary if the green is to be kept in perfect condition. A green may have many slight undulations, but it should also have many small areas which are almost flat. One should not be required to aim outside the circumference of the cup when making, let us say, a putt of three feet. 7. Greens should not be banked up so high at the back that every shot will hold; and in the up-keep, greens should not be kept so soggy that every pitch must stop. 8. It is advisable that all slopes to the green and most of the slopes on the side of bunkers should be made gradual so as to permit of their being cut by a triplex or horse drawn mower. There are many good arguments in support of this method of construction. Economy of up-keep and the elimination of weeds are two of the more important. Fringes of weeds around the greens and on the banks of bunkers, which must be cut by hand, are nearly always neglected, and they always punish that neglect by sowing with every wind over green and fairway weed seeds of every kind. From the golfing point of view there is much justice in Duncan’s criticism of many of the abruptly rising mounds which abut the greens on some of the courses in California. Your greens, he remarked, too frequently have mounds around the edges, often turning a poor shot into a good one. The ball almost misses the green, strikes one of those mounds, and maybe runs dead to the hole. Not only this, but all sorts of other ridiculous things happen to the ball when playing to greens so constructed. 9. Each green should be built with a particular shot in mind. Its size, contours, bunkering, and opening should be considered in relation to that shot. 10. Not all greens should be built with the entrance coming in a line with the dead center of the fairway. Some should be entered from the right and some from the left. Still others should have no opening at all – that is to say they should be entirely surrounded by traps.
#9 - Again, another good sentence that sounds easy but is difficult to execute.
Page 128.
Not only beauty but utility must be served when constructing hazards. Careful attention should be given to their shape, position, size – including depth – and the angle at which they are placed in the course. Certain common faults in construction make it worth while to emphasize the following points. 1. Be careful not to place bunkers where surface water will drain into them, or heavy rains wash the sand out of them. If such situations are so desirable that one is loath to give them up, protect them if possible by grass hollows. 2. The inside contours of all depressions should be so moulded that the ball will roll away from the faces of the cavity. 3. Where the banks of the bunkers rise above the level of the ground, make the outside slopes so gradual that a power-mower can cut up to the edge of the depression. 4. See that the side banks are so built that no ball is lying in a hazard will be unplayable. This means that there should be no sharp angles at the bottom or at the turn of the banks. 5. Little hillocks or abrupt rises may often be made into charming hazards by scooping out the faces and placing sand there. 6. It is advisable, but not always possible to place hazards where they can be seen. Where a depression cannot be seen hummocks may often be seen, and they serve equally well as hazards. 7. All mounds should be built so that they will not appear high. The tops should, of course, not be pointed, and their shapes should be as irregular as possible. 8. As a rule – there are exceptions – the bunkers through the fairway should be wide and shallow, and those about the green should be deep. 9. Ridges and hollows lying at the entrance of a green should not rise or fall abruptly, unless it is decided to force they players to run the ball or to pitch well up to the pin. 10. By depressing a large area around a bunker its efficacy is greatly increased, but if the ground rises at the entrance of a bunker many balls will leap over it unless it is made very wide. 11. Grassy hollows, mounds, and the banks of bunkers should be sowed with good seed and not allowed to grow wild, as otherwise they will become breeding-places for weeds. The club which can afford to do so should plough up its rough and sow it also. 12. There are few natural hazards which do not require treatment to make them fitted for golf. No matter where the ball is found, one should be able to play it. 13. Easy access to and egress from all depressions should be arranged. To have to jump into pits and clamber up over their banks makes it impossible to keep them in good condition; and ladders should be used only as a last resort. 14. When it is found necessary, or it is thought advisable, to have traps directly back of the pin, they should, by all means, have sloping banks so that the ball will invariably run to the bottom of the trap. A grassy hollow or a shallow sand-trap from which one can often putt is usually sufficient punishment for a straight shot which is a bit too bold. 15. Care should be taken to make bunkers of adequate depth and width. If they are too narrow the ball will often bound over them, and if they are too shallow the ball, which has not entirely spent its force at that point, will run through them. Wide, shallow bunkers are usually quite effective. I have even seen efficient hazards made by dumping large quantities of sand on portions of the fairway.
#12 - Simple and true.
#13 - Getting into and out of a bunker should not leave you feeling like your knee or shoulder are sore on the next swing or tee box.
Justin