Ladue C.C. (Members/Tourney Eds.) - OG Classic Design Series

[mayday_golf83]

Welcome to Ladue C.C., my first quasi-RCR in the TGC series, and part of the OG Classic Design Series put on by theclv24 .



This is a real course rendition of St. Louis Country Club, site of the 1947 U.S. Open, located in the suburb of Ladue, Mo. The course was constructed in the early 20th century by Golden Age architects Charles Blair MacDonald and Seth Raynor. True to their from, their course features several template holes -- including Biarritz, Eden, Road, Punchbowl, Short, Cape, Long and Redan -- along with some angular, geometric shapes for greens and fairways.

The real course measures less than 6,500 yards from the tips. So Ladue C.C. has been updated to accommodate TGC distances, with the tips playing a little more than 7,000 yards. Additionally, without any firm green data, had to take a few liberties and guestimate the best I could using pictures and Google Earth.

The course won’t be easily overpowered. Position and angles are key off the tee, and leaving yourself on the proper portion of the greens, and below the hole is vital on the greens.

I have published a members version, which features slower and softer conditions, along with some easier pin positions. The tourney version is meant to challenge the game’s best. It’s unapologetically fast and firm with some devilish pin positions. The settings are as follows.

Ladue C.C. (Members Ed) -- Par 71. Tees: 7031/6686/6262/5456. Greens 153/0.60 firm. Fairways 0.7 firm/0.7 roll, Light rough 0.6 firm/0.6 roll. Heavy rough 0.5 firm/0.5 roll. Bunkers 0.5 firm/0.5 roll.



Ladue C.C. (Tourney Ed) -- Par 70 (Hole 9 converted to Par 4). Tees 7210/7022/6686/6262/5456. Greens 173/0.70 firm. Fairways 0.8 firm/0.8 roll. Light rough 0.6 firm/0.6 roll. Heavy rough 0.4 firm/0.0 roll. Bunkers 0.3 firm/0.3 roll.



Look for more information about this course to be published at a later date at theoriginalgolfer.com. Enjoy!

** DISCLAIMER: While the designer believes the default settings provide the best playing experience, if you choose to customize your conditions, the designer recommends you do not set green speeds beyond fast or firmness beyond firm. **

[Airik3333]

Great course !!.. Extremely difficult on the greens.. The very best players will enjoy the challenge..

[mayday_golf83]

Oct 2, 2018 0:32:30 GMT -5 Airik3333 said:

Great course !!.. Extremely difficult on the greens.. The very best players will enjoy the challenge..

Thanks Airik. Yeah, the tourney version, is set up extremely difficult on the greens, 173 is as fast as I dared make them as any faster, they'd be unplayable. Even then, there are some putts you'll need to be very defensive with, especially above the hole. Putting off the green is a distinct possibility on some pins, if you are not paying attention.

Members version isn't a cakewalk but, at 153 and with the pins cut in friendlier locations, makes for a better experience for a casual round. Glad you enjoyed!

[theclv24]

Now playing in the OG Design Series society on PC. Here is the profile to go with the course: theoriginalgolfer.com/2018/10/11/og-showcase-ladue-c-c/ 

[mayday_golf83]

Oct 10, 2018 20:44:48 GMT -5 theclv24 said:

Now playing in the OG Design Series society on PC. Here is the profile to go with the course: theoriginalgolfer.com/2018/10/11/og-showcase-ladue-c-c/ 

Great stuff, Craig! Thanks much!

[mattf27]

Set it up for one of my society's events, and played it in Craig's society as well, it's a fantastic course. The inspiration for it really shines through.

[PithyDoctorG]

This course kicked my ass in the OG society, especially in round 2. I must have had more than 40 putts. Nevertheless, there is much to distinguish this course from the other MacRaynor-style courses out there. Even if you're a bit tired of templates, I would still recommend this one since the holes are so distinctive and fit the land so well. 

You weren't kidding about those tough pins in the tourney edition, Jeremy--really tough to get it close, but the back pin on 15 was an especially fun challenge. I had a very satisfying shot into 2 (pin 4 I believe)--landed my 3 wood right in the middle of the swale and it was able to climb to about 10' from the hole. Might be the most successful adaptation of the biarritz template I've played in the game.

The one hole that didn't totally fit my eye was 18. While I appreciate the strategy in keeping to the right side to get a level lie, I thought the slope was a bit severe (I was in the light rough on the left side and my golfer was nearly taking a baseball swing). I'm also not a huge fan of super long par fours with forced carries (though there are holes that pull this off well; 18 at Pine Valley comes to mind). 

Altogether terrific work, Jeremy. I sincerely hope you consider doing another semi-RCR of a classic but under-appreciated course in the future. This one's in my favorites and I'm sure I'll be coming back to it.

[mayday_golf83]

Oct 11, 2018 10:30:25 GMT -5 PithyDoctorG said:

This course kicked my ass in the OG society, especially in round 2. I must have had more than 40 putts. Nevertheless, there is much to distinguish this course from the other MacRaynor-style courses out there. Even if you're a bit tired of templates, I would still recommend this one since the holes are so distinctive and fit the land so well. 

You weren't kidding about those tough pins in the tourney edition, Jeremy--really tough to get it close, but the back pin on 15 was an especially fun challenge. I had a very satisfying shot into 2 (pin 4 I believe)--landed my 3 wood right in the middle of the swale and it was able to climb to about 10' from the hole. Might be the most successful adaptation of the biarritz template I've played in the game.

The one hole that didn't totally fit my eye was 18. While I appreciate the strategy in keeping to the right side to get a level lie, I thought the slope was a bit severe (I was in the light rough on the left side and my golfer was nearly taking a baseball swing). I'm also not a huge fan of super long par fours with forced carries (though there are holes that pull this off well; 18 at Pine Valley comes to mind). 

Altogether terrific work, Jeremy. I sincerely hope you consider doing another semi-RCR of a classic but under-appreciated course in the future. This one's in my favorites and I'm sure I'll be coming back to it.

Thanks, Dan and I totally hear you on 18! It even has a hidden bunker, which is a pet peeve of mine. There were a couple of spots on the course where I was like, “Hmm, I probably wouldn’t do this in one on my designs,” but the goal was the stay true to the course while bringing making it translate to TGC lengths. Part of the reason I made 2 separate versions, to appease the nagging voice in the back of my head about the difficulty of certain holes in the tourney setup. If the more penal heavy rough sticks once HB gets this server-side tweak figured out, that course could really be a bear!
I’ll probably do a semi-RCR again at some point down the road, as I had fun with this one, but have a couple of other ideas clanging around right now, plus the Invicta is looming about a month out, which probably rules out me doing another one of these until some time in 2019.