general disclaimer - my feedback tends to look at things that, IMO, could've been done better/differently rather than just saying "oh this was great, I loved this, etc" which I don't think helps any of us become better designers.
Here are the notes I jotted down while playing the course this morning:
- I really love the canal work throughout. Building that canal and retaining wall must've required a lot more patience and precision than I have in the designer. I also appreciated that it was used along the sides of holes as well as weaving in front of greens.
- A lot of great green complexes and the slopes work really well together to ask different questions of approach shots.
- Tree right of first tee. I get that it’s there to prevent playing up the other fairway but 1) approaching from the other fairway is a worse angle at the same/longer distance than hitting the correct fairway and 2) it robs a great first tee view showing you what's in store for the day.
- Tree on 2 to block driving the green? It can still barely be cleared with a 295 driver and the right wind. If we're building a short, potentially driveable hole, then the canal short and bunkers in front of the green are the deterrents that might persuade me to play the safer tee shot and have a flip wedge in. If I want to take on the risk of covering 2 hazards and hitting a small green, having a tree short of the water that could knock my ball into the water seems to be a step too far.
- Rock formations in front on the 5 tee grab my eyes instead of the hole. Consider raising the tee box or lowering the rocks so that I see the hole's beauty instead of a bunch of rock piles. Also, the waypoint is 30y short of the green.
- A lot of interesting fairway shapes throughout the middle holes...are fairways/holes crossing each other in a few spots because it's hard to tell what hole I'm playing without the yardage book.
- Also, there are a lot of curves in fairway shapes that I don’t see the purpose for.. IRL, most fairway lines will be straighter with soft curves on an arc in doglegs. This creates better aiming lines and are easier to mow (cue the Jerry jokes)
- If we’re going to use noon lighting (cue Jerry again), I would pick more muted grass (and especially) bunker colors. We have a mix of dormant/painted fairway (dark green) with light green rough and bright white bunkers which is pretty harsh to look at in that sort of lighting.
- Pick one bunker style to use throughout. Most holes had some combo of Ross (medium sized and typically rough/imperfect edges on the high sides) and MacKenzie (wild amoebas that lay into the land). You also had what appeared to be a lot of circle brushed bunkers and some that maybe were supposed to be pot bunkers? It felt like a lot of bunkers were tossed in at whatever size and shape could be added into a space to create a forced carry or to catch a tee shot if my ball rolled through a fairway or the far side of a dogleg. At the green, they were mostly front carry bunkers with very few bunkers framing the hole from the back or side. I'm probably wrong about the green side but am writing this note as I finish 18. I would suggest checking out
mattf27 's Season 2 Episode 1 of Joy of Planting (video embedded at the bottom of this post). He shows off his bunker building process around 5 or 6 minutes in. It's a technique that works equally well with different bunker styles so you don't just have to mimic his gingerbread brush bunkers.
- Some of these fairways are split but I’m not sure why? There doesn't seem to be a distinct advantage to playing to either side so I would leave it as one fairway.
- 14 unintentional blindness off the tee and the approach.
In summary, I had a lot of fun playing into and putting on these green complexes. The canal was impeccably built and woven well into the hole designs with enough variety so as to not feel stale. I hope there's something of value in one random golfer's feedback for you.