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Course Changes

Golfers Anonymous

Golfers Anonymous

Just Decent
Albatross 2024 Club
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Jul 3, 2020
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Ohio
Curious as to what physical course change or changes you would make to your home course or courses to make it in your opinion more enjoyable. Curious to as if it is a specific hole route, bunker layouts, rough cut height or the like. Already assuming all the golfers play fast and the rangers are fantastic at there jobs.
 
flip the 9s so #1 isn't a blind/drivable par 4.
stop taking out fairway bunkers.
let the rough grow a bit higher in the summer.
level the tee boxes and move tees around more, there's a few tee boxes that make some cool angles that rarely get used.
 
I would add some fairways bunkers to the one I'm playing today. It's no cakewalk. Rates almost 2 over par on a fairly short par 71, based on really tough greens. If they took away some bail out and run off areas off the tee with well placed bunkers it would be a true challenge. They can stretch it to about 6650 or so as is, but by my estimation when I look around there at least 4 holes where the tees could be pushed further back with the space available. It's known as a very challenging course, but that could help keep it a little more relevant to today's player.
 
For my parents course that I play led most often and still play regularly, they need to do some general upgrades to the course features revamping traps and reshaping some course features. It’s not a long course at 6,500, but they could probably stretch it a few hundred more if they really wanted to. They sold some land off the driving range and plan to put a good sum of money into the course. They’ve already done significant drainage work on the course with very positive results in wet and dry stretches, I’m looking forward to what comes next.
 
At my course I would level and re-sod many of the tee boxes. There's also a few stretches where I would take out and trim some trees. Not to make it easier but so that the grass could grow. These areas would need to be re-sodded as well. On our front 9 I would drain a couple of the ponds as they are really shallow and bring in an excavator to dig them out a little and clean them up. Part of this is to take out the reeds that grow in one and become a hazard as you can't see carts in the fairway if you cut the corner.

The biggest thing that my course needs though is to replace the irrigation system. It is the original system from when it was built around 1985 and I've been told was basically a heavy duty residential system. It is also an old hydraulic system and it constantly leaks in multiple places.
 
To be cost effective, I wouldn't suggest any radical changes. Changes that would mean closures on the course.

Leave the basic layouts, and hazards alone.

Instead, let the mowers make the changes. Change up the size of the greens every month, or so. Make some forced carries with longer fairway grasses. Grow the rough longer. Maybe change sand bunkers into grassy depressions to save replacement sand costs.

The mowing equipment, and the grass is always there, and in use on a daily basis. Utilize these two to make changes, with minimum effort, and costs.
 
WLG1952 said:
To be cost effective, I wouldn't suggest any radical changes. Changes that would mean closures on the course.

Leave the basic layouts, and hazards alone.

Instead, let the mowers make the changes. Change up the size of the greens every month, or so. Make some forced carries with longer fairway grasses. Grow the rough longer. Maybe change sand bunkers into grassy depressions to save replacement sand costs.

The mowing equipment, and the grass is always there, and in use on a daily basis. Utilize these two to make changes, with minimum effort, and costs.
Click to expand...
How well would the greens react to the different cut heights would it effect the root system or top growth adversely?
 
my home course is built in along a "creek" main drainage area for north PHX. In the monsoon season this means flooding. It make for really interesting forced carries. as 15 of the 18 holes make you play over it. But there is a drainage issue with most of the dunkers. Not only does that mean swamping of the bunkers, but they also do not drain as good as they should.

So I would redesign the majority of the bunkers to fix those issues. (THankfully they have started that work)
 
I would take a chain saw to my home course. There are A LOT of trees.


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Ironically, I just printed some large aerial maps of the local course for the owner. He said the were going to work on some bunkers and routing issues. He likes to play with his equipment, the bobcat & backhoe...
 
Architex said:
I would take a chain saw to my home course. There are A LOT of trees.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Did the trees just mature past there use or were they added to narrow the fairways in a attempt to make it more challenging.
 
DaBuckBoys said:
Ironically, I just printed some large aerial maps of the local course for the owner. He said the were going to work on some bunkers and routing issues. He likes to play with his equipment, the bobcat & backhoe...
Click to expand...
Close enough to me so now I’m curious Majestic or Elks?
 
Golfers Anonymous said:
#2 and #3 are my favorite back to back holes in the area.
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#2 is something else... I just hate the backups... I've posted about it in other threads, the 2 beer wait...

If they ever get the back-end of the tee box on #3 to grow some decent grass it would be fun to play it at 120 instead of 105...

Have you been down to Snow Hill?
 
I’ve driven by a few times when I’m down that way but I think it was private so I never tried.
 
Golfers Anonymous said:
I’ve driven by a few times when I’m down that way but I think it was private so I never tried.
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It hasn't been private in many years but still has the country club vibe... a little pricey (under $50 still) but its a course you can actually get around in under 4 hours on a weekend. For that reason alone I think we'll be going out there more often.
 
The course I play the most?

Blow it up and start over again. :ROFLMAO:
 
I'm a
Golfers Anonymous said:
How well would the greens react to the different cut heights would it effect the root system or top growth adversely?
Click to expand...
I have no idea what the effects on the grasses would be, if any, using different cuts.

I know on the two courses I frequent, for maintenance reasons they relocate (temporary) greens from time, to time. It seems to be an easy, quick process, with no left over issues.
 
I play a little 9 hole muni, and would add more bunkers greenside. Also we have one par three that would be perfect to surround the front with water.
The the rough needs a first cut, we only have fairway and rough.
 
We lost quite a few tress a few years ago during a bad wind storm. The county said they were going to replace them, but they still haven't. I would like to see more trees on the course.
 
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