Examining the above four courses was an instructive exercise in many ways. While Cypress Point and Pacific Dunes have maintenance budgets and terrain that are far more conducive to world class golf than Pine Grove Springs, many of the lessons they teach can be applied on even the smallest of courses. The way in which both courses move play along without jarring transitions is particularly instructive. The routing at Pine Grove Springs is more or less set. However changes, subtle or overt, can be made to make the experience nearly as smooth as the course’s more famous cousins. At the very least it drives home the need to consider the entire round when considering changes to a single hole.
The second most valuable lesson the West coast courses teach is how they are designed from the green backwards. Both Mackenzie and Doak discovered the ideal green locations, eyeballed the strategic elements of the green complex and then moved back toward the tees, laying out hazards as they went. This is evidenced by how on most, if not all, of the holes on the two courses the location of the flag dictates the play from the tee. This is true even on the longer par fives. On many holes a left hand pin position calls for attack from the right side, which means that a player seeks to find a small area of an otherwise vast fairway. This can make a hole, which might at first glance appear easy from the tee, play much more interestingly, even after repeated rounds.
Often the most important lessons in design come from learning what not to do. In large measure this is true of the study of Cherry Hill. While there are a few bright spots strategically, and the second hole hoards most of these, the course is repetitive and does not stand up well to repeated play. The primary lesson to be learned from Cherry Hill is that it is imperative for a course, especially a lower budget nine hole operation, to provide its players as much variety as is possible with the terrain and budget given. Put another way, there are innumerable ways to hit a golf ball, as many of those shots as possible should be called upon on a well designed golf course.
The final case study, Whitinsville, may serve to be the most useful for this project. The terrain is vaguely similar to that found at Pine Grove Springs; it is a nine hole routing and as such faces challenges of interest and traffic not found on eighteen hole routings; and it faces the same challenges of climate
Case Studies Conclusion Von Plinsky
that face Pine Grove Springs. While the budget and private nature of the club allow the course to be maintained to a level that Pine Grove Springs is unlikely to reach, the course serves as a valuable goal as well as an instructive guide in the quest to allow Pine Grove Springs to reach its true potential. Its most instructive quality is probably the variety of holes found on the course, particularly the par fours. If Pine Grove Springs is to a be a great course it must improve the variety of shots called for.
One possible way of ensuring variety is to examine the differing pars of holes, and design them in such a way that they play as dissimilarly as possible given the terrain. Assuming that the average nine hole course has a pair of par threes, five par fours, and a pair of par fives, then there are certain hole types that should be represented. Firstly, the par threes should be as dissimilar as possible. Much like the short fifteenth and intimidating sixteenth at Cypress Point, which are alike in only one way, they play over a portion of the Pacific Ocean. Likewise, the par fives should not ask for similar shots of the players playing them. A dogleg left paired with dogleg right is enough to maintain interest on the longer holes. Additionally, a par five which commonly provides a chance at eagle used in concert with a par five that even the longest of hitters has no chance of reaching in two can be quite stimulating.
This leaves the par fours to design. Length can, and should, be varied, from under three hundred yards to nearly five hundred yards (though holes of this length must use a number of tees to ensure that they are not so long as to bore the weaker players). Next, there should be two-shotters that play into the prevailing wind and with it; up hills (if present) and down them; and turn left and right. Par fours are often the best places to push a player to attempt a shot that is beyond his capabilities; so a course with an incessant run of nearly identical two-shotters is at least guilty of missing an opportunity. The challenge to improve is a central theme of good design and perhaps the single biggest way to ensure a player wants to come back for more.
Now that the tenets of golf course design have been identified and examples found displaying their use (and misuse) it is time to move into the application portion of this project.
Von Plinsky The Story of the Site