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Post by Violinguy69 on Jul 9, 2019 7:46:56 GMT -5
Many designers (like me) suffer from design block from time to time. We start courses and never finish. We can't think of good ideas. Well, the CC Design Contest and its required elements (great idea reebdoog ) got me thinking. How about we have a thread here for what writers call "prompts." That is, ideas to motivate designers to design a certain type of course, or a course with certain features. I find I design better with a basic plan of what my course will be. I don't sketch holes and I don't plan out specific holes, but I like to have an overall theme (not like the ones you choose from the menu) in mind when designing. It helps me stay focused during the design process. I've started and/or finished dozens more courses than I've published because I didn't like the result or I didn't feel the need to keep designing a course I didn't like. Sometimes it's not enough to just say "I want to design a links course, or I want to design a Hawiian course." Design prompts should be more specific like the ones below: - Design a course in your hometown. - Design an official course for your college team, or any college team. - Design a course with at least 9 island greens. There are infinite number of prompts that can surely help designers of all abilities design more cohesive courses. How about yours?
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Post by sokoldesigns on Jul 9, 2019 8:06:47 GMT -5
It’s true, I get that hole block all the time, and could take days thinking of one up. Good idea!
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Post by lessthanbread on Jul 9, 2019 9:04:07 GMT -5
Great idea here. I know nothing gets off the ground for me unless I have a clear vision for what I'm going for.
I've had a couple more "gimmicky" ideas in the past but some might find them fun.
-Create a "wrong par" course where par 5 length holes (500+ yards) are par 3s and par 3 length holes (under 230) are par 5s -Create a full 18 hole course using the least amount of land possible -Create a full 18 hole course using the entire plot (large fairways with many options off the tees, hazards everywhere. Lots of scenery)
-A fictional course set in a real place. Think Central Park, New York (has been done) next to the pyramids of Egypt, or in the Grand Canyon
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Post by ErixonStone on Jul 9, 2019 9:57:34 GMT -5
Some of the quirkier ones:
- encourage (do not force) players to hit a 6I or shorter off the tee on a par 4 hole
- build at least one hole where using an adjacent fairway is the best way to play the hole.
- build a par 4 that is longer than a par 5 on the same course.
- build a par 3 that is longer than a par 4 on the same course.
- add a hazard other than a bunker within a fairway.
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Post by Violinguy69 on Jul 9, 2019 11:06:49 GMT -5
Great ideas so far, even the 500 yard par 3 one -
I forgot to add, how about if you (the collective you) use one of these ideas on your course, be sure to credit the member who suggested it in the WIP and/or Completed Course thread. It'll help guide more designers here for ideas.
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Post by cephyn on Jul 9, 2019 11:21:29 GMT -5
Great stuff in here. Anything to get the brain thinking outside the box is good!
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Post by jwtexan on Jul 9, 2019 11:39:14 GMT -5
Par is a prison! Love the idea of "wrong par" holes. Although it would be hated by the community I am sure.
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ffrog
Amateur Golfer
Posts: 247
TGCT Name: Dave Richards
Tour: Challenge Circuit
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Post by ffrog on Jul 9, 2019 11:52:35 GMT -5
Par is a prison! Love the idea of "wrong par" holes. Although it would be hated by the community I am sure. I’m imagining a course where everything is a par 4, incorporating a 1-putt mini golf hole, a 1000 yard hole, and everything inbetween. I’d play that...
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Post by Celtic Wolf on Jul 9, 2019 11:58:08 GMT -5
A couple of my courses have been based on the routing of a real course, then I just design another course on top of it. Wolf's Fang Golf Club was based on Dragon's Tooth Golf Club in Scotland but I've changed certain aspects so it's not a straight copy. My Dream Team Competition course is set in English Garden in Munich, so I've took some of the landmarks from it and put them into the plot.
Something that someone suggested (Majorhigh) I think, was to never have two of the same pars in a row. Start and end both back and front 9's with a par 4 but have either the 9th or 10th as short or long par 4's. For example on my current course the 8th is a par 5 then the 9th is a short par 4, the 10th a long par 4 and the 11th a par 3. It keeps the variety spread out across the whole course.
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Post by b101 on Jul 9, 2019 12:36:22 GMT -5
Whilst I am definitely very new here and so the design block hasn't kicked in yet, here's a couple of my ideas: 1) Go to top 100 golf courses, Youtube or similar, find a few courses I like the look of and scan their course photo galleries for ideas. For example, 14 on my contest course came from a random image of Sunningdale I liked: 2) Think of a prominent land feature you want to utilise and then build the course around that trying to use it as much as possible i.e. gorge, creek, ridge, dunes. Again, my contest course idea came from a visit to Cheddar Gorge, which is pretty cool.` 3) As others have said, like with Reeb's required elements, try to get yourself to do more of those - i.e. back to back par 5s, par of 73/70, two driveable par fours, a hole where long iron off the tee is the play, but doesn't feel forced. 4) mixing themes. Can you make a linksy delta etc? Think that's about it for my ideas so far, but will keep them updated. My next course will use a few of these as well
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Post by lessthanbread on Jul 9, 2019 12:39:46 GMT -5
I'm going for ErixonStone 's suggestion of a par 3 longer than a par 4 for my next course. Envisioning a downhill for the long par 3 followed by a tricky shorter par 4 back up the hill Does anyone know of any examples of this in real life? The real challenge I see with this is making sure that long par 3 is reachable for everyone. I could see problems if a beginner club user is faced with a huge headwind (but I guess it's their fault for using beginner clubs) haha
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Post by DoubtfulObelisk on Jul 9, 2019 12:50:55 GMT -5
I'm going for ErixonStone 's suggestion of a par 3 longer than a par 4 for my next course. Envisioning a downhill for the long par 3 followed by a tricky shorter par 4 back up the hill Does anyone know of any examples of this in real life? The real challenge I see with this is making sure that long par 3 is reachable for everyone. I could see problems if a beginner club user is faced with a huge headwind (but I guess it's their fault for using beginner clubs) haha I did this on Doubtful Dunes many moons ago. #6 was a 284-yard par 3, followed by #7, a 279-yard par 4. Here's a video ( click). I can't think of any real-life examples, but I'm sure it's been done before.
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Post by lessthanbread on Jul 9, 2019 13:16:17 GMT -5
I'm going for ErixonStone 's suggestion of a par 3 longer than a par 4 for my next course. Envisioning a downhill for the long par 3 followed by a tricky shorter par 4 back up the hill Does anyone know of any examples of this in real life? The real challenge I see with this is making sure that long par 3 is reachable for everyone. I could see problems if a beginner club user is faced with a huge headwind (but I guess it's their fault for using beginner clubs) haha I did this on Doubtful Dunes many moons ago. #6 was a 284-yard par 3, followed by #7, a 279-yard par 4. Here's a video ( click). I can't think of any real-life examples, but I'm sure it's been done before. Very cool. Really like the downhill fairway landing to kick any short shots onto the green, that'll help in borderline not-reachable situations.
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Post by lessthanbread on Jul 9, 2019 13:40:18 GMT -5
Par is a prison! Love the idea of "wrong par" holes. Although it would be hated by the community I am sure. I'm always trying to cook up kooky stuff. Had the idea of hosting an auto-gen course design competition... didn't get much support there. hahaha
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Post by jacobkessler on Jul 9, 2019 14:40:01 GMT -5
I’m the opposite way, I have too many ideas and just never make them, so this is a great thread for me!
-Create a course based on the neighborhood you live in
-Create a course based on your childhood backyard
-Create a fictional course using real land (could be LiDAR for PC designers)
-Create a course in a city (not just in a park, I mean literally running next to streets and surrounded by skyscrapers)
-Create a course with a driveable par 5
-Create a course over 9,000 yards long
-Create a course under 6,000 yards long (from the tips)
-Create a course with a weird par (like a par 67 or a par 76, for example)
-Create a course where everything is fairway, other than the greens and a few bunkers
-Create a course with more than 18 greens, allowing for alternate layouts on the same land
-Create a reversible course
-Create a course in a quarry (I mean all 18 holes)
-Create a course where you build an entire town first, then work the course into the area
I could post some more later. Those are some pretty quirky ones, too, so I could add more realistic ones as well.
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