Ganglesee Golf Club (CC Contest)

[b101]

Ganglesee Golf Club - Liechtenstein's Hidden Gem



For info, this song closes the album that pretty much got me through the hard yards in planting the last 9 holes. Well worth a listen!

Gänglesee Golf Club is proud to open its gates to the world. After local millionaire and travel magnate Gust Aufderhar paid a golfing trip to Scotland, he decided that Liechtenstein needed a high-profile course to attract the world’s best and promptly purchased a large amount of the national park at Gänglesee, particularly swayed by the mountainous gorge running through the park. He enlisted renowned Scottish architect Albie McPhee to lead the course design process. It took the two a while to come to agreement on what the course should be like; Aufderhar was adamant that heroic carries and spectacular vistas were the way to get the tourists on board, whilst McPhee argued for undulating fairways and green slopes to challenge the better player’s mind. Eventually, the two decided that both were doable and McPhee set to work…

---

Liechtenstein’s premier golf club was designed around a central gorge at the turn, with holes 8, 9 and 10 the natural centrepoint for the course, but many of the other holes will stick in your mind. There is almost always more than one option off the tee and McPhee’s pin positions will likely dictate where you should play your first shot.
The course is designed equally for pro clubs and master clubs to play from the white tees (at both CC pro/am) and each pinset offers something a little different to ensure no hole plays the same each time. The pinsets were designed to not be as straightforward as 1 = easy, 4 = very tough. You will find pinset 1 a gentler ride than the others, but each subsequent pinset should offer a range of easy, medium and tough flags. I would suggest playing with default settings; you can bump the wind up to high for a challenge, but default wind is still 8-10mph.

In terms of the required elements, you will find the following: (red denotes the ones I wish to be judged - reebdoog , amended as per your suggestions)

- At least two bunkerless holes (1, 6 and 10). Judges, please consider the different types of penalty area used, how they fit into the overall course and theme and hopefully that the hole feels natural without bunkers.
- At least three holes under 400 yards (6, 8, 13). Judges, please consider the variety, strategy implications and options from the tee from each, as well as the green complexes to match those options off the tee.
- A three-shot par five (11)
- At least 5 par threes (4, 7, 10, 14, 17). 
- A hole featuring elevation change of more than 125ft (3). Judges, please consider: sightline/planting, risk/reward options from the tee, as well as need to look at the green complex to weigh up your options.
- A blind tee shot (6)
- A template green complex (the 6th - Punchbowl, inspired by Burnham and Berrow's 3rd hole). You could also argue for a couple of par threes, but this was the properly planned one.
- At least one driveable par four (13)

This is only my second publish and I feel I’ve learned a lot whilst creating it - I am very happy with how it has come together, so please give it a play and enjoy! All feedback hugely appreciated; it's why I entered. In that regard, I've nicked an idea from VctryLnSprts and added a poll. I'd really appreciate the feedback, both in terms of what works, as well as what I need to focus on next.

WIP thread here: tgctours.proboards.com/thread/19047/nglesee-golf-club-b101-wip

[b101]

Hole 1 – Gebirgsbach (Mountain Stream)

The opening hole sets the tone for the course, with three options from the tee allowing the player either to plot his approach or just go for distance. The approach shot from the left fairway gives stunning views over Gänglesee itself and the rest of the course to come. A relatively large green should welcome a well-struck approach and the possibility of an opening birdie. 

Hole 2 – Bergansicht (Peak View)

A true McPhee hole, the fairway looks wide, but the huge camber means that a perfect landing zone is actually quite small. Taking on the left fairway bunker will reward you with the flattest stance, but a longer approach, whereas driver can bring an uneven lie or a semi-blind approach into a raised green. The mountain Kirchlespitz looms beyond the three-tiered green, with three greenside bunkers and a false front also lying in wait. 

Hole 3 – Wagnis (Gamble)

As the name suggests, how brave are you? This reachable par five takes us down into the valley and offers you a choice: do you go left and risk the long carry to the ideal location over a watery grave, go right and play for the plateau and a longer approach or over the trees bringing an uneven lie into play? McPhee’s advice is that this, more than any hole, requires you to check the pin position first. The large green is receptive, but you will see eagles and bogeys in equal measure. 

Hole 4 – Eden (Eden)

A short to mid iron is all that is needed for the first par three of the course. The green slopes heavily from back to front, so try to leave the ball below the pin for a good look at birdie. On a quiet day, the hole is aptly named, but wind can play havoc here – up and downs are not easy. 

Hole 5 – Kiefernwald (Pine Forest)

The challenge on this hole is apparent from the tee – with the right fairway bunker dictating your strategy. If you play left of it, the fairway will kick you further left, with a worse angle into the green and a long approach. If you take it on and succeed, the downslope may leave you with just a wedge in hand and the ideal angle, particularly when the pin is back left (blind from the left hand side of the fairway). So, how brave are you? Once on the sloping green, take your two putts and walk off with a smile. Birdies are rare here. 

Hole 6 - Gebirgsrate (Mountain Spines)

The mountain spines that give this hole its name are the defining feature, making both tee shot and approach blind. McPhee does make this a good birdie opportunity though, with a punchbowl green feeding well-played approaches closer to the hole. The advice? Don’t be too greedy with the tee shot; closer isn’t always better.

[b101]

Hole 7 – Zwillingsschwestern (Twin Sisters)

Our first gorge hole, this uphill par three plays directly toward the two mountains on the other side of the gorge. The large green shouldn’t be difficult to find, but getting the ball close with a longer iron might be. As you head up to the next tee, enjoy the views of the gorge in all its beauty.

Hole 8 – Himmel (Heaven)

This beautiful short par four looks like a must-birdie, but its short yardage belies its difficulty. McPhee’s bunker placement and the fairway contours mean that different clubs off the tee each have their own risks and rewards – Driver through 7 iron are all valid options here. The green slopes from front to back, so look to feed the ball toward the hole. Be content with a four; better birdie opportunities await.

Hole 9 – Furchtüberquerung (Conquering Fear)

The section of land that inspired Aufderhar to build the course here, Gänglesee’s centrepiece comes at the 9th, with the signature hole requiring you to take on the gorge twice in order to get on in two. The approach shot, in particular to a front pin, will leave heart in mouth as neither long nor short are good options. With the green having some more severe slopes, you may be wise to lay up for a more controlled pitch, or figure out how to use the contours to your advantage. 

Hole 10 – Runse (Ravine)

The back nine opens with a clifftop par three across a rocky ravine to a true McPhee green with a number of slopes looking to funnel your approach closer or further from the hole. Tap in birdies are very possible on every pin position, but figuring out how will see players come back time and again. This is not the time for a slow downswing.

Hole 11 – Hügelchen (Little hills)

Little hills, long way! The longest hole on the course at nearly 700 yards, this is strategy all the way. From the tee shot, the fairway bunkers ask a question, with the direct line down the right hand side the most perilous, whilst playing safe down the left makes the already foreboding hole even longer. Or, do you play between all four? Unreachable in two, you will want to think where to place your second shot to facilitate a shot to the correct portion of the green. A four here is very doable and will leave you elated as you head to the next tee. 

Hole 12 – der Letzte Schimmer der Sonne (Sun's last gleam)

The hole looks straightforward from the tee, but the fairway runs out quickly. Unless you go further right, over the trees. Or further right still, through a tiny gap… As is true with so many of these holes, the braver you are, the more you are rewarded, but hit one of those trees and you will find an almost certain bogey. The green boasts some quirky tiering that may mean you want to cast an eye at the pinsheet before placing your tee shot.

[b101]

Hole 13 - Schaffst du es noch? (Can you do it?)

Looking back over Gänglesee and the church, the shortest par four on the course is reachable from the tee for some, setting up an eagle putt. However, deep bunkers and a tricky green protect this hole – you can even choose to drop down to a 7 iron to give a better angle in to back-left pin locations. There are multiple ways to play this hole, but you really must make birdie here. 

Hole 14 – Waldherz (Heart of the Forest)

A straightforward, beautiful par three protected by just the one bunker and a few run-offs. It’s important to get your clubbing right here as the hole can play anything from 150 yards to 180 yards and is significantly downhill. 

Hole 15 – Alpental (Alpine Valley)

This mid-length par four runs through the valley at the bottom of the two mountain ranges. From the tee, the player is challenged by two fairway bunkers which ruin the ideal line. Left gives you a shorter approach, right a better angle. This green is probably McPhee’s trickiest, sloping from front to back and left to right. The wily Scotsman does give you a few slopes to help funnel an approach, but don’t be disappointed with par here. 

Hole 16 – Rückblick (Backward gaze) 

Our final truly wide hole, 16 mirrors the opening hole in offering you multiple options off the tee, with the pin position again dictating the best angle for attack. The bravest approach is dead straight over the rocky outcrop, but is hugely penal if you miss the landing zone. Either right or left are safe, with both having advantages into different sections of the large green. Cast your last view back up the gorge and the eleventh - your round is nearly done.

Hole 17 – Bergfuß (Foot of the Mountain) 

The final par three is also the longest, with a ‘what you see is what you get’ shot over water. However, a huge green awaits you - one that McPhee has deliberately sectioned, meaning that GIR can sometimes be more perilous than missing the green. Some pins here will easily yield a birdie, whilst others bring four right into play. A two here will be well-earned.

Hole 18 – Züruck (Return) 

Gänglesee closes with a reachable par five that leaves outstanding views of the clubhouse and the opening stretch of the course. Your first decision comes with the carry of the wall of sand, inspired by Aufderhar’s visit to Pine Valley. The right hand fairway is slimmer and cambers toward the water, but will allow a better view of the green. Left is wider and may leave a more natural club into the green. Your choice is then whether to lay up or go for it. The variety of pins on this hugely undulating green should mean that you barely ever play the same approach shot twice into a green overlooked by the terrace and the watchers cheering you on. Welcome home.

[b101]

Huge thanks to ohheycat for having me on stream to play the course (just a few technical issues) and to gdog and VctryLnSprts for their stream of Ganglesee earlier. Really flattered by all the kind comments and so interesting to see people hit shots I never thought of when designing. Eric - your comment about replayability is totally what I was going for, and hope you find time to try the other pinsets, as they change things up as well.

Stream with ohheycat:



Stream with gdog and VctryLnSprts (starts at 1h03):



Do jump in and give it a shot. It's a fun little track

[Deleted]

I will be giving this a go as soon as I can!

[Australian]

G'day Ben.

Let me start by saying congratulations on this publish. I have enjoyed keeping up to date with your progress. Your positive attitude and enthusiasm for this contest have been hugely infectious. Here's my thoughts as I played through Ganglesee.

I chose to play very high winds from the white tees. And firing in on Pin 2s.

Opening picture is a beauty. Great layered planting and that stream is really well showcased. Your own mountains compliment the background ones well.

Beautiful fairway on the 2nd took my eye. Lovely humps and bumps. Got my first up close look at a bunker too. Nice sand save felt good.

Great drama on 3. Smashing one down that left hand side fairway with a tail wind was fun.

Pretty little hole 4. Your rock and plant clusters really stood out here. And your bunkers popped.

5 & 6 around the little mountains were fun. Found my first bogey. And 7 opens up to a great picture. Great sightline off the tee.

Played some daring golf through 8, 9 and 10. More fun shots to be had here. Spectacular views.

Managed to avoid all those bunkers on 11 for par, before smoking the driver through the trees on 12. This course makes you think.

Felt like I was really grinding it out 13 through 15. Wasn't finding the nice spots and left myself some nasty putts.

The run home was really nice too. 18 was easily my favourite hole on the course. Great lighting. Strategic hole. And what a backdrop. I look forward to playing it with a southerly one day.

Really nice course mate. All the best in the contest.

[linkslover]

Stunning.

[b101]

Jul 2, 2019 5:33:05 GMT -5 Australian said:

G'day Ben.

Let me start by saying congratulations on this publish. I have enjoyed keeping up to date with your progress. Your positive attitude and enthusiasm for this contest have been hugely infectious. Here's my thoughts as I played through Ganglesee.

I chose to play very high winds from the white tees. And firing in on Pin 2s.

Opening picture is a beauty. Great layered planting and that stream is really well showcased. Your own mountains compliment the background ones well.

Beautiful fairway on the 2nd took my eye. Lovely humps and bumps. Got my first up close look at a bunker too. Nice sand save felt good.

Great drama on 3. Smashing one down that left hand side fairway with a tail wind was fun.

Pretty little hole 4. Your rock and plant clusters really stood out here. And your bunkers popped.

5 & 6 around the little mountains were fun. Found my first bogey. And 7 opens up to a great picture. Great sightline off the tee.

Played some daring golf through 8, 9 and 10. More fun shots to be had here. Spectacular views.

Managed to avoid all those bunkers on 11 for par, before smoking the driver through the trees on 12. This course makes you think.

Felt like I was really grinding it out 13 through 15. Wasn't finding the nice spots and left myself some nasty putts.

The run home was really nice too. 18 was easily my favourite hole on the course. Great lighting. Strategic hole. And what a backdrop. I look forward to playing it with a southerly one day.

Really nice course mate. All the best in the contest.

Thank you for the feedback pal - I’ve really enjoyed following your progress and I think you and I are kind of mirroring each other with this in a lot of ways. I am delighted that 18 stood out for you - finishing holes are tough and I really wanted to deliver with that one.

Also, I’m not surprised by 13-15; they are deceptively tough. 14 looks nice but plays way more difficult than it looks and for me, 15 is the toughest hole on the course, although I flattened the green a bit at the last minute. Wait for 17 on pin 3 for arguably the toughest shot on the course, as well.

So, what would you nitpick?

[Australian]

There really wasn't much to be nitpicky about mate. It was a really solid golf course and I enjoyed the environment immensely. You managed to capture a really good feeling out there.

Perhaps the mountains and gorge area could have used a little finer detailing. There were a few backgrounds, and empty spaces here and there that didn't quite grab me too. And I think there was a floating/sunken tee marker along the way.

But none of that bothered me. I was enjoying my round and am already looking forward to another.

[b101]

Jul 2, 2019 8:01:49 GMT -5 Australian said:

There really wasn't much to be nitpicky about mate. It was a really solid golf course and I enjoyed the environment immensely. You managed to capture a really good feeling out there.

Perhaps the mountains and gorge area could have used a little finer detailing. There were a few backgrounds, and empty spaces here and there that didn't quite grab me too. And I think there was a floating/sunken tee marker along the way.

But none of that bothered me. I was enjoying my round and am already looking forward to another.

Yeah, Eric mentioned about the mountains as well. I did them first and so probably could have done a better job. They were a nightmare with the low lighting though, hence a few tricks with green spaces and trying to sink the edge of the plot in places you wouldn’t notice to get rid of those trees off the edge of the map and their pesky shadows.

Annoying with the tees, too - I think that must be due to sculpting the land around them afterwards. I can take the little blemishes though and glad it didn’t ruin your round!

[MyGolfGameSucks]

Hey Ben

Thank you for the kind comments in my thread. I have enjoyed being part of this contest partly due to your enthusiasm, comments, requests and updates as well. 
Now I would love to say I will follow all this with some feedback on your course. However, I dont think im good enough to give feedback and it would feel unfair if I commented on any course published as a fellow competitor.(not that Im complaining about your feedback. It was awesome. I hope that doesnt sound to negative) and that I have been too busy this week for any playthroughs as I have only scanned most of the streams to see what some of the courses look like. I will eventualy get to pkay yours and all the others.

What I can say about your course though, from what I saw with Geoff and Eric playing, was that it was surprisingly very good compared to what I expected from a fellow newbie. I have been saying all along that there might be a new course designer sticking his hand up in this comp. From the few holes I saw being played... well....wow.goodluck b... I personally believe you did a good job. It looks great and Im sure it will play the same by the time I get to it.

Quick notes on mine... I wanted to have holes 1 and 2 far apart as this reminds me of a course I used to play often. Walking over a major motor way to the next tee and then back to the 9th as well.. The course started off with a motorway and cars under that bridge before I changed things around .
Although I said I ran out of plant meter it was more due to the fact that the course tested laggy on some occasions. Thus I decided to leave about 10% of the meter available. I also left the enviroment open and by not including trees I wanted the player to have some views instead of looking at the same trees all the time.....and btw hole 14 was is my least favorite hole as wel  although that drive will stick if played correctly.l

I hope you (and I, and Australian ) get to go further but we'll see what the judges have to say and of course lets wait for the Reeb roast on our courses , before we even think if they are good or not.🤣

Goodluck

[b101]

Thanks MyGolfGameSucks. Look forward to hearing a few thoughts when you get a chance and I hope you enjoy it.

To anyone who hasn't yet played it (or has), I'd love to get more feedback on what you liked/could be improved. Do give it a spin if you can!

[digitalbunny]

Beautiful surroundings and the course plays great! The bright bunkers seemed to pop with the planting around them. Great job and best of luck in the contest!

[MyGolfGameSucks]

Great course. Views. Layout, fairway and green sculpting....got to hole no 4.. updates to come....