Elephant Path

[Padraig Dooley]

Elephantpath by Padraig Dooley

Elephant path is a name for a path that is formed in space by people making their own paths and shortcuts.
How often do we see different unexpected routes becoming the main route for a hole in golf? Is it good or bad design? Should the hole be changed as a result?

[Thomas Dai]

The path of least resistance.
There's an historical angle to this trend as it's frequently seen on older, long established courses often in the form of narrow sometimes raw and rugged paths notably on courses where carrying a bag was the norm for decades but morphing into trolley width over time.
Sometimes paths leading in strange directions result from significant foursomes play.
Alas a trend to smooth things out has diminished some examples as has greater buggy use and then theres hard surfaced paths plus the recent trend of irrigated grass paths (ugg).
Oh how a simple ball, stick, hole walking game has 'progressed'.
atb

[Ally Mcintosh]

Generally it’s neither good nor bad design.


Most architects want to keep more formal tee exit paths out of the eyeline of the golfers tee shot. I’d like to think that before I make that decision, I can pre-empt whether routing the path in that way will also generate a short-cut walking path. Thus I can make the decision with all information to hand.

[Charlie Goerges]

Padraig, I wonder if you're not just talking about walking paths like the one in your photo, but also playing paths/strategies. If so, you'd be talking about a variety of things like doglegs where people take a non-traditional route to the green or medium-ish par 4s that were thought to be undriveable, becoming so with technological advances, or even cases where things like casual water cause players to alter their preferred path to the green (playing-wise).


It could be a fascinating discussion, I'll try to think of any examples where the designed-in play gets superseded for some reason.

[Dónal Ó Ceallaigh]

If I'm not mistaken, I think Padraig is using the example of the Elephant Path as an analogy.


Would hitting a drive down a parallel fairway be an example?


At my home course, we have a par 4 (slight dog-leg left, 380 yds) where I usually aim my tee shot (3-wood) into the left rough on purpose. If I hit it straight, but not so well, I risk landing in deep central fairways bunkers. There's a pond just short left of the green and trying to reach the green with a 150 yard bunker shot is too risky. If I lay back short of the bunkers, my approach is a semi blind shot of around 170 yds, which also brings the pond into play. The drive into the wispy rough left of the fairway is the shortest and most direct route, and also the safest option, in my opinion.


It's hole no. 10 here:
https://bbgk.se/spela/banorna/18-halsbanan/

[Sorry, I'm too lazy and I've given up trying to post photos on this site]

[Ally Mcintosh]

Charlie, Donal, you are correct. I read too quickly and followed the lead of Dai…. Carry on….

[Charlie Goerges]

Here's my elephant path.


Below is an aerial image of my home course as a kid, the Breezy Point Whitebirch course in Minnesota, 15th hole. It's a short par 5 with like 50+ feet of elevation change. First, the letter "A" in the image below is about 20+ feet above position "B" (and it is a very narrow ridge). Additionally the green is about 20+ feet higher than position A. Also, it could sometimes be wet in the low area left of A, so they marked that area as a hazard, denoted by the red line.


Breezy Point WB 15 by goerges_family, on Flickr




What I learned through experience is that you had an almost equal chance of par from position A in 2 shots as position B in 1 shot, just because of the height difference and shorter angle. So I'd shoot for position A and if I stayed out of the hazard, I had a pretty easy shot at the green in 2 and a chance at eagle and a very possible birdie. If I overcooked it into the hazard, I'd take my drop and hit my mid-iron to the green (in 3) and often make par. Position B was also a likely par because the height difference, likely hanging lie and mid-long iron I had to hit, almost always meant a wedge third shot and a couple putts, because if I didn't somehow get it on the green, it would roll way back down.


In honesty, not a great hole design, but could be fun, and discovering a kind of golf hack was pretty cool to me as a young teen. Hopefully that makes sense as a conceptual elephant path...


Edit: I should also say that tee placement on the day would affect whether I would use this strategy or not. I might be able to track down some ground-level shots if anyone is interested.

[Tommy Williamsen]

“Hope can be neither affirmed nor denied. Hope is like a path in the countryside: originally there was no path—yet, as people are walking all the time in the same direction, a path appears.”
Lu Xun

I look for paths when I play a new to me golf course. Many of them lead to creeks, which tells me where the brave but foolish dare to go. However, many offer hope of a better way to play the hole.