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Your most idiotic ideas for course designs

PetuniaSprinkle

PetuniaSprinkle

Le Roi Soleil
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I have a dreadful time getting to sleep, so I play a lot of little mental games to help me doze off. One of them is designing idiotic golf courses in my head (though, at the time, they seem brilliant). What follows are some of my favorites.

A par3 course with no fairways. Instead of fairways, there would be bushes and trees of varying heights (kind of like that first par3 at The Pit, may it rest in peace).

A par3 course on which every tee can be made to accommodate one's driving avg. (all the holes would be the same length). The shortest tee would be about 220 and the longest about 300. So, you'd just bring your drivers, wedges and a putter. (If your ball lands woefully short, you'd just move up to the tee that reflects your actual avg. and hit again.)

A rooftop par3 course where one would tee up on one rooftop and hit to a green on another. Perfect for city golf, yes?


So, what are your brilliant notions?
 
Orange Hog said:
The 15th hole at my home club is a par 4 that plays 325 yards from the white tees (2nd from back). The hole plays straight forward and just slightly down hill. Problem is there is a HUGE tree on the right side of the fairway around 250 yards. Even if you're a big stick there's really no chance to carry the tree and try to get on the green. Problem is even if you're in the fairway less than 250 yards the tree will be in your way for your approach to the green. You'd have to punch the ball low under the tree from the middle of the fairway or hit a 50-70 yard fade wedge shot in order to hit the green. I've rarely hit this green in regulation. Just a stupid design IMO.
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Is it a Dan Maples course? He pulls that all the time.
 
have a dreadful time getting to sleep, so I play a lot of little mental games to help me doze off. One of them is designing idiotic golf courses in my head... Sorry about this. I go thru spurts of bad sleep too.

2nd) any course that requires a "forced"'carry. Talk about a log jam during a round. These type of holes always make for a long day when course is busy
 
Can't believe no one has posted "windmill" or "clown head" yet.
 
deuce said:
Can't believe no one has posted "windmill" or "clown head" yet.
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PetuniaSprinkle said:
I have a dreadful time getting to sleep, so I play a lot of little mental games to help me doze off. One of them is designing idiotic golf courses in my head (though, at the time, they seem brilliant). What follows are some of my favorites.

A par3 course with no fairways. Instead of fairways, there would be bushes and trees of varying heights (kind of like that first par3 at The Pit, may it rest in peace).

A par3 course on which every tee can be made to accommodate one's driving avg. (all the holes would be the same length). The shortest tee would be about 220 and the longest about 300. So, you'd just bring your drivers, wedges and a putter. (If your ball lands woefully short, you'd just move up to the tee that reflects your actual avg. and hit again.)

A rooftop par3 course where one would tee up on one rooftop and hit to a green on another. Perfect for city golf, yes?


So, what are your brilliant notions?
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I take Ambien........
 
How about a par 5 that you can not hit a driver from? I'm thinking a landing zone about 180 from the tee box. U turn to the green about 280 from the landing zone. Of course you'd have to have trees or something between the two sides of the hole.

A par 4 at about 305 with a green that slopes hard to the pond behind it. Hit driver just right and you've got a shot at eagle, miss it just a hair and the ball rolls in the water, miss it short you're stuck in something nasty, marsh or trees or cacti. Playable but not fun.

My theory is that pros nowadays are so long it's not fun any more, let's make them work for it. Make them have to be nearly as accurate with their drivers as they are with a 9 iron.

Us mortals could still enjoy those types of holes as well, just greater risk for us.


Sent from the magic know everything box in my pocket
 
bunkers so deep you need a ladder to get into

pencil thin fairway lined with brick walls to get the ping pong effect
 
I've actually just come back from playing a couse that has exactly that. A 90 degree dogleg left, with about 210 to the corner. Trees all down the left side, and a 150 yard lake just round the dogleg to stop people going over the trees and cutting the corner. Have to play hybrid down to the corner and then a long long second shot it. Is a tough but fun hole..
 
Nicegy525 said:
bunkers so deep you need a ladder to get into

pencil thin fairway lined with brick walls to get the ping pong effect
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I like this. But can we have the bricks kick the ball backwards somehow?


Sent from the magic know everything box in my pocket
 
hows about a course just like in Caddyshack 2? when it was a crazy fun house? Lots of color, and crazy holes. Just seems like hat would be an interesting way to play every now and again.

But if I were to design my own hole, I'd love to do a dogleg slight uphill par 4, no way to cut the corner, trees and a water hazard on the right, bunkers if you went too far on the left, bunkers around the front of the green. best tee shot would have to be up the middle to about 180 - 190 but still about 170 -180 out. tight green where you had specific flag placement that if you didn't get to within 8 feet, it would be a an up and down mound on the green to get over. Hit the sweet spot on the green, and you had a chance at making birdie or par. It would be that hole that you dread playing, but that you would love the challenge of hitting the ball right where it needed to be. Its a very doable hole, but would leave very little room for error.
 
Orange Hog said:
The 15th hole at my home club is a par 4 that plays 325 yards from the white tees (2nd from back). The hole plays straight forward and just slightly down hill. Problem is there is a HUGE tree on the right side of the fairway around 250 yards. Even if you're a big stick there's really no chance to carry the tree and try to get on the green. Problem is even if you're in the fairway less than 250 yards the tree will be in your way for your approach to the green. You'd have to punch the ball low under the tree from the middle of the fairway or hit a 50-70 yard fade wedge shot in order to hit the green. I've rarely hit this green in regulation. Just a stupid design IMO.
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Well...........I don't know exactly what it all looks like but your basically saying the tree is about 75yrds out from the green. This would suggest to me that one needs to be about 50-70 yrds or so prior to the tree which would mean a 180 to 200 yrd tee shot and then leave perhaps a PW or 9i, whatever to get over the tree and on the green. Instead of a stupid set up, perhaps its just a matter of them wanting to avoid a stupid easy hole by forcing a lay-up well short of the tree and therefore making it a nice hole to manage. Would be no different if the fairway ended at 200 and then you had to take an approach from there. All im saying is don't hit a driver there and just do what the hole is asking. Its a shorter par4 but they are making it play longer by forcing lay-up tee shot. Perhaps not so stupid after all.
 
The tree in the middle of the 17th Fairway at Mission Inn is a gimmick that makes me mad
 
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Played on a course where you have a road right in front of the tee box. So, you have to keep any eye for traffic before each drive. Not a busy road, but still gets used.

The course where we have our league play has a train track going through the middle of it. Doesn't really effect play much, except for the constant train noise and whistles. Work with what you have, I guess.
 
I've always wanted to play a course with some concrete patches slanted toward the green in the middle of the fairway...if you hit one you get a generous bounce toward the green. This is probably a product of my ever present need for more distance off the tee.
 
Layups. Off the tee. On every par 5. And not metal wood layups. Irons. Then have to carry a 150 yard hazard with bunker lined landing areas.

Gosh that was incredibly infuriating yesterday.
 
Annhl8rX said:
I've always wanted to play a course with some concrete patches slanted toward the green in the middle of the fairway...if you hit one you get a generous bounce toward the green. This is probably a product of my ever present need for more distance off the tee.
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On one hole on a course I used to play, if I hooked it just right over the trees, I'd nail the cart path every time.
 
Orange Hog said:
To clear this tree, which is massive, you'd need to be around 140 yards out and would still need to hit a high 9 iron. I fully understand the concept of a par 4 that forces a lay up off the tee but hitting a 6 iron off the tee with no hope of reaching the green with a driver is stupid.
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I'm not sure what you mean by saying "no hope of reaching green with driver is stupid". I'm not sure I follow.

But that aside, whats wrong with playing a hole to 140 out or even 150 or 160 if that's what it takes? Whats wrong with a 8, or 7 iron approach if that's what a hole calls for?

I don't really know if this tree thing on this hole is indeed stupid because I just don't personally know it for what it is and you do. But I just think that in general a 325 hole may indeed be a very nice hole which holds some good integrity by forcing one to stay 150 out. If the course was designed with this tree and is rated accordingly than it is what it is. Two irons to play an otherwise short par4 sounds pretty cool to me. But again I can only speculate because I havnt been there or seen it.
 
There are some courses nearby where they look like someone took a bulldozer and mowed down trees and planted grass. Tight fairways. Thick woods. Small greens. I think I'd play the courses with my 9 iron.
 
InTheRough said:
There are some courses nearby where they look like someone took a bulldozer and mowed down trees and planted grass. Tight fairways. Thick woods. Small greens. I think I'd play the courses with my 9 iron.
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Sounds nice (seriously).
 
NoLine said:
Interesting you say that, I seen more stupidity in Dan Maples designs that any other designer that comes immediately to mind.
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I must be a mental case because I love his courses (everyone I know hates them). Blocking greens with willow leaf oaks seems to be his signature.
 
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