Creating a golf hole...my way (tips and suggestions...long)
Jan 10, 2015 16:02:49 GMT -5
Doyley, SAM, and 4 more like this
Post by reebdoog on Jan 10, 2015 16:02:49 GMT -5
So, I've seen a number of videos and walkthroughs of creating golf holes and none are quite the same as what I do. Maybe you don't care what I do and that's fine but I'm going to share anyway because having multiple ideas is ALWAYS a good thing. I can't make a video right now (at work) and may never do so but at least I can type out a general process that I will DARN NEAR GUARANTEE will help folks in making a more quality golf hole.
I suggest that you even pop open the creator and make one right now as we go. Nothing fancy, just a short part 4 or something. No big deal but it helps to SEE it while you read it.
You can start with trees, water, hills...doesn't matter at all. Whatever you want. I will say to make sure there are no pre-created shapes. If you create a hole and there are shapes there please dial them all the way down. We want to start with a tee and a tiny little green and that's all ok?
A FEW GENERAL GUIDLINES
Just a few very basic things to think about:
1) don't make the tee shot impossible to reach the fairway in a strong headwind
2) Don't create a 2nd fairway or a left/right option if one option is stupid/has no benefit/will never ever be used at all ever. It's not cool just to have a split to have one ok?
3) If you're not really comfortable creating a gentle slope with the tools you have please stay away from major elevation changes during the hole.
4) options and bailouts are a must. Creating a course/hole for the best players in the world is fine but give the average player an option ok? Also, for bailouts...if someone's drive goes into a bunker on the fly they need a safe place to play out. Make sure and give them one.
5) There could be more...but I'll stop instead. ;D
PICKING A HOLE LOCATION
There are several good ways to do this. I'm going to make it easy for you. Pick either a good tee location, good green location, or a good tee shot landing area. For a good tee location you could look for a place that is slightly higher than the ground around it all the way to the edge of a mountain. It's really your call but I'd say something with a slight rise to it is best. If you can put your camera there and pan around and see some good hole routes then it's a good spot for a tee.
For a good green location you either want a place that is again on a slight rise or someplace with some good landscape features around it (nice trees, water, a drop off behind or to the side) that kind of thing.
Good landing area? Flatter area but with interesting features around it. Maybe you see a little hill with a tree next to a flatter area with a little pond on the other side. Go for it! There's your landing area.
Once you pick one of those then just create that hole. Dogleg, straight, whatever you want. Remember you can always move the tee and green location later so don't sweat it if you're not 100% on the locations when do you do this.
Now, your hole is down. If you did what Tastegw has talked about before and dialed down all the fairways/rough/green/tees and everything then you have a tiny little green and some tee markers and that's it.
I'm going to suggest otherwise. I'd go ahead and dial the hazards all the way down and the green all the way down. You can dial down fairway too but personally I leave the heavy rough alone and let it generate. I don't keep it but I like to see what the hole shape looks like without trees and with a "green" coloring (think desert, countryside, boreal...) looks like on the current land shapes.
PLAY THE HOLE! RIGHT NOW! AND OFTEN!
Ok, here's where I start to branch away from what a lot of folks have said they do. Before I do ANYTHING else I will play this hole as is. Even if it's just heavy rough and a little green. Do it. Right now. Don't ask why. just do it!
Why?
Well first because no matter how you move your camera around there is no way to make sure things look right from a player's standpoint than by playing the hole. Period. Even if you don't hit a shot use "play hole" often just to see the hole.
Secondly you want to get a feel for the shape of the land so that when you lay in your fairway and bunkers and whatnot you have a good idea of what you need to do and how the elevation will change the distances of the shots. ELEVATIONS are a big deal and the only good way to know how they will change things is by playing the hole.
Now you're on the tee. Maybe there's a tee box maybe there isn't. It really doesn't matter. How does the ground around you look? Are you going to need to smooth things out a bit before putting in your tee box? Can you see the landing area from here or do you need to raise or lower some ground a little? Is the green visible? Do you want it to be? Where would a bunker give you the most visual "pop"? Do you see a place where you could put a hazard that LOOKS scary but is actually not a big deal? Just take some mental notes.
Go ahead and hit your tee shot. What does the course look like as the camera follows the ball? Can you visualize the fairway you want to see below you and leading to the green complex?
When the drive lands...where does it land? what is the slope of that landing area?
All of that is easiest to determine simply by playing the hole early and often.
CREATE THE FIRST SHAPES
Now...you can start this in several ways. Here are the places you should think about as a starting location
1) Green
2) landing area
3) hazard areas
4) landscaping (water, cliffs, ridges, canyons...that kind of thing)
Don't just say "well everyone says to start with the green complex right? nope. Sometimes you'll find that the location of your landing zone will dictate the best green shape or where the bunkers go. *shrug* you have some choices. Here's what I mean.
1) Green:
If you want to start with the green that's awesome. Go for it! Greens are odd things because you can pretty much do whatever you want to do with them. It's really all about where you plant the flag and what your approach angle is.
If you have a long approach into your green then you have a couple of choices. Either the green needs to be longer front to back or you need a backboard behind the hole or you need an area of fairway in front of the green that can be used to run up onto the green. All of those choices are ok really so you can go ahead and decide. If you have a short shot into the green then you can make a smaller green and put some more HUMP in that thing. Have at it bubba. Now...if you're making a par 5 there are two schools of thought. One is that you make a BIG green to allow for a long 2nd shot to hold the green. The other is that you are EXPECTING a short third shot so you green can be smaller. I leave it to you to decide how you want your hole to play but those are your options.
When planting the green don't be afraid to use more than one brush. I like a lot of the shapes that we are given for greens and many times just pick one and go for it. However if you want to mix it up...here's your chance. Please don't create some tiny little sliver of green that will never come into play though. If the green doesn't need that little "peninsula" then don't do it.
Don't forget to think of potential runoffs or bailout areas as well. don't force one in if it's not needed...but it could potentially help the player or make the approach more interesting then go for it.
Once you have that green put down FLATTEN it. Now you've seen guys use the same brush to flatten the green and that's totally fine. I'm going to suggest something different. Get a circle flatten brush out. Not the super soft one, like the third brush from the left one. Take that sucker and find the area of the green that is the height you want for the whole thing. Put that brush in there and make sure it goes slightly past the edges of the green and flatten it. Now, take that brush and go a little to one side and flatten again. Keep doing that until the whole green is that height. If this leaves a pretty good slope on one side...that's totally fine. I do it this way because 1) I sometimes use more than one brush to create a green 2) sometimes the height I want is not the "average" height of the green that would be used with a one brush flatten 3) it will sometimes give me a slope or contour around the green that I wouldn't have gotten otherwise.
Basically doing it this way gives you options and can give you little surprises sometimes. Try it!
If you're laying down your green first then take the time RIGHT NOW and lay down some heavy rough all around the green area. You may not keep it all but I want this texture to be there before the next step. Why? Because you want to see what the land around the green will look like without planting and with a greener texture before the next step which is...
BEFORE you put in bunkers and fairway around the green PLAY THE HOLE again. If you like you can simply go to your "landing area" and "play from here" but don't just start jamming in your hazards and stuff without seeing how your approach to the green LOOKS and FEELS. Play it a couple of times. If you want to drop a little piece of fairway down to play from that's fine but PLAY that shot a few times.
Now...you've played your approach. When you were standing over your ball could you visualize a bunker to one side or the other? Could you imagine what a runoff to the back would do to your nerves on this shot? Did you feel you had enough room to fit your approach in on a perfectly flat green? Make some mental notes.
Once you've played the approach take those mental images and MAKE THEM HAPPEN. If you think a hill around the green is too high or to short or needs to extend further or that there should be a little dip here or there...put them in. Right now. Now is also the time to put down whatever kind of bordering texture you want around the green. We already have heavy rough all around the green so now all you need to do is figure out where you want fairway and rough.
Before you put that fairway or rough down around the green you need to think about bunkers. Here is where you want to put those in. I'm not going to get into bunkering a lot here. I may say more about it later but all I say here is that you do NOT want to put them TOO close to the green. I see it all the time. You put a bunker down SO close to the green that you don't have any room for a buffer of rough or fairway or anything and it looks hideous. OR you want to make a pot bunker or deep bunker of some kind but again your' too close to the green so the textures get all stretched and terrible looking. Give your bunkers/greens a LITTLE breathing room. A bunker is meant to catch a bad shot. It's not meant to REQUIRE an amazing shot to MISS. Kay? Put in your bunkers now based on the visual pictures you made when you took the approach shots. My suggestion would be to think about where they would have the most visual impact first then if you want to make one that really toughens things up...go for it.
Here's another place where I may do things differently. I have no problem with having fairway or rough around the greens but MOST greens should have some kind of fairway entry. Not all have to...but most should. I'd start there. Now you've seen folks look for a certain brush shape and try to get everything to match up... that's fine. It's not what I do.
Go get that circle brush again that we used for flattening. That's the shape we want when we lay down this fairway entry. You'll find that with this brush you can get a fairway that will flow right into the green shape without a problem. Go ahead and slap a circle down there. Not a big one... just enough to cover the area you want for the green entry. Now shrink that brush down and go to where that circle you put down meets the green. PUt just a little edge of the brush overlapping the green edge and drop it in. See how it looks better already? Now... play with it. The last thing you do will be to lay down a circle of fairway TOTAALLY within the green...but it will still bump out the fairway a TINY bit and you'll see that it will flow smoothly in from fairway to green. This probably needs a video but play with it. You'll get it.
Once you have the green entry you can feel free to go back and use the same green shape to put a collar all the way around if you want to OR you can stick with the circle brush and just move it around a green a little at a time and get the same kind of look. You can do that with rough OR fairway. Whatever you want. DO NOT start building the fairway out yet, just this area of entry to the green.
2) Landing area:
Also a good place to start. Now...when you read "landing area" you probably think of the fairway that you're going to be landing on as the first thing to put down. Wrong.
The first thing you're going to do is set the heavy rough to ZERO. This is going to change the look a lot and that's fine. Now that you have natural terrain and planting all over stop and LOOK at the ground. Is there some feature of planting or a texture that can give you a hint as to the natural layout for this landing zone? What do you want the player to see from this location? Do you want them to have to drive near a heavily planted little hollow right there? Maybe there's a tree that would be a really cool natural corner. *shrug* USE what's there to help you out.
Now...do not simply start laying fairway. Nope. Go get yourself some heavy rough. Here's another place that I'm going to be different from others. Don't just look for big brushes and try to match them up here. Get our trusty CIRCLE out and use it like a paint brush. Paint over the areas you want and leave the natural terrain/plants where you want them. don't think of this as laying heavy rough down. Again think of yourself as painting the landscape. You're changing the areas you want to be a lush green with soft heavy grass. Isn't that nice? Make the brush big or small or whatever. You can use as many as you want. If it takes 20 different little circles to get this area the way you want...so be it.
(NOTE: using the circle brush is great but if you get lazy you will leave weird shapes at the edges of your fairway/rough. don't get lazy. If you see where two circles met and formed a little "point" in between them simply take your brush and put it in between them. it will smooth right out and give you a nice flowing line. Do not use the circle brush if you simply can't be patient enough to make the shapes look natural ok? thanks)
Once the heavy rough is in do not touch the fairway yet. Still not time. Instead I want you to get the SUPER SOFT round brush out and take a look at the landing area. Go ahead and do a little flattening now where you want the ball to be landing. I would suggest making the brush LARGER than you think and only flattening ONCE or TWICE if you have to. If you aren't sure you need to flatten DON'T.
Guess what I want you to do? yep! PLAY THE HOLE! not the entire hole yet. Just take a look from the tee. Really get a good idea of the view you want a player to have. Where would a bunker be most visually intimidating? Where would a tree put a shadow that just touches the edge of the faiway you have in mind?
Now it's time for BUNKERS!
Do you need bunkers on this hole? Maybe you don't. Maybe you've left some natural planting or natural hazards that are enough for you. Great! Save some money on that sand bubba!
If you need bunkers then here's my pointers again
1) Do not put bunkers in the middle of your landing zone unless you have given AMPLE room in front or behind or to the side. It's not "hard" it's "stupid". remember to think "bailout zones" ok?
2) if you're going to use big bunkers then please don't put them on slopes that can't handle them. Don't put "finger" bunkers in a big dip or something you know?
3) Again remember a bunker is to punish a bad shot, not to require an amazing one to miss it.
4) just like the green...give your fairway some breathing room. Don't put bunkers so close together that your fairway will have to be a yard wide to fit between them.
Why do bunkers first? For me it simply makes it easier to put the fairway down AROUND the bunkers than to try and fit bunkers around my fairway. Plus it's easier to delete a bunker than it is to redo a fairway that's in the way.
So your bunkers are down. STOP. Now is NOT the time to give them depth and lips and all that jazz. Just wait.
Now it's time for fairway. I still say to take that lovely little round brush and PAINT the fairway on. Another reason I'll give you for doing it this way is that fairway textures tend to flatten themselves out a lot. If you use a big brush and it makes itself flatten out a bit...well it's easy to miss some pretty terribly contours around the fairway because you weren't watching when you laid it down. This way? You'll be in control of what is happening all the way around your fairway.
Once the landing zone is done You really should go back to your tee and get it where you want it. I'm not going to go into detail for that as you can really do whatever you want as long as it's flat and you have a good view of where you're hitting the ball. Go do that and then guess what? PLAY THAT HOLE AGAIN. Play the tee shot. Do you have the look you want? If not make the changes you need.
One note on planting here. It's totally fine to plant as you go. In fact on the landing zone and green I would recommend you do some large tree planting while you're building. Shadows and three shapes can have a big visual impact so make sure you have the look you want as you go.
3) Hazard areas
If you’d like to start things by putting in hazards that’s actually an ok thing to do as well. Maybe you see a place where a large waste bunker or a pond down one whole side of the fairway or a creek that cuts in front of a green. Perhaps you simply have a few cool bunker ideas you want to try out. Go ahead! Everything from the previous two points can be used here so I’m not going into a bunch of detail. Just remember that hazards are exactly that and you should be fine.
4) Landscaping
Perhaps you have a vision for this hole of a cliff side by the sea or you want a mountain on one side. Maybe you want a lake to be a dominant feature or you want an island green or something. You can start here too. *shrug*
Once you have your first section done whatever that may be move to the next one.
If you started with the green then move to the landing area. If you started with the landing area go to the green.
You can do the tee any time you like. I tend to knock it out early so as I Play the hole my views are consistent…but you can do whatever you like here.
The rest is pretty self-explanatory but here’s what to keep in mind as you finish creating the hole
1) Put in hazards before you create fairway shapes
2) Don’t be “cute” just to be “cute”. If it adds to the hole great. If not then you don’t need it.
3) Shaping your fairway is really a place you can express your vision so don’t be tied to certain shapes or straight edges.
4) Rough. Ok, you’re probably asking “what about the rough!!!” We’ll here’s what I do. I take that same circle brush and go around the outside of my fairway a little at a time to create my rough. Yes it’s harder but I don’t know what shape my fairway will have until I’m done so I just wait it out and do it by hand. Can you simply drop rough as you go? Yep. That’s fine. I just like doing it this way better as I have more control over it and get good results.
Once the hole is shaped it’s time to think about the bunkers and planting.
BUNKERS
Bunkers are weird. They can be just about any shape you like and they can be flat bottom/rounded/steep/shallow/deep… lots of options. That being the case I’m just going to give a few pointers and let you figure out the rest.
1) Bunkers need to be seen. If I’m playing a course and the only way I can see a bunker is if I do a flyover then the creator has failed. Is it ok to have a bunker that is on the backside of a hill or something? Yeah…it is…but as a general rule you want to be able to see the bunker. I don’t mean that you need to see the bottom of it…but you need to notice it. Bunkers are as much about visuals as they are about shot placement. If that means you need to tilt them just SLIGHTLY to the side or towards the tee…do it. NOT drastically but a little. One thing that helps? Don’t put a bunker down at the same level as your fairway/rough and then lower it. That will make it just about invisible from the tee. Either slightly bump up the land you are going to use for the bunker or put the bunker down and raise the edges on the BACK SIDE a bit before you lower it down.
2) Bunkers do not always need to be in play on every shot. Bunkering can be overused…please done do that. I’ve done it…we’ve all done it. Let’s promise to stop shall we? Good
3) Bunkers do not need to be in play to EXIST. On the flip side it’s ok to use a bunker just as a visual tool. On my latest course I have one bunker in particular that looks terribly intimidating as it appears to block out one side of the green with the flag perched RIGHT behind it. However it’s actually about 15 yards short of the green and is only a visual hazard as you’d have to really screw up to hit it. That’s fine! Hole 14 on old beaver creek…the bunkers to the left of the fairway will RARELY be in play…but they add to the hole and they STEER the players eyes the right direction. They make the player play to the right even though they don’t really have to. It’s just a visual queue is all it is.
4) Bunkers can be punishing. That’s ok to make a bunker that’s got a 7 foot uphill to the green… go ahead. Just make it rare and special when you do it. Having monstrously deep bunkers all over is a no no.
5) If your ball is rolling more than a few feet down the sides of the bunker then you are placing your bunker in the wrong place or simply making it to rounded or deep. If you put your bunker to close to a fairway or green and have a massive drop off into the sand you will end up with bunker sides that are more like impossible sand walls. You can either bring the bunker UP a bit or you can simply give it more room around the bunker so the slope is SLIGHTLY more gradual before it reaches the sand. Kay?
PLANTING THOUGHTS
Planting is entirely subjective so I can really only give some pointers. Here they are… enjoy
1) Natural vs. Artificial – MOST designers are going for a natural look. That’s awesome and is the look I greatly prefer. However there are plenty of golf courses out there that have trees, shrubs, flowers, rocks, lakes… that are all PLACED there very deliberately. That’s also a valid option. Don’t be afraid to have symmetrical plantings or flower beds that are symmetrical. What you MUST avoid is making each PLANT symmetrical. You MUST vary the size/rotation for each one.
2) Multi Plant tool is ok to use. It really is! Let me give you some hints about it.
a. Don’t overfill with just ONE kind of grass of flower. You can make one the predominant type…but mix it up
b. Use colors in sections. In other words lets say you plant an area with the light colored grass in the new countryside theme. Now get the DARKER grass and sprinkle that in up in one corner. Then grab some green grass and maybe there’s a section that’s next to a bush or tree…put some green grass around there too. Use the contrast to make it more striking visually.
c. Don’t use ONLY multi plant. Once you use it go BACK and grab some individual plants and grasses and vary the height/rotation. Chuck some of those in there to keep it mixed up.
3) Use bushes and shrubs to accentuate landscape ideas. In other words lets say there is a little dip and a rise in the terrain. Grab a few bushes and maybe plant them on the backside of the rise or maybe put a few in the dip. Don’t get carried away with this idea but it can be helpful.
4) IMPORTANT TIP: Generally speaking the closer the plants get to the rough/fairway the smaller they should be. In other words if you’re planting bushes and trees and grass…make the SHORTEST ones the ones that are closest to the fairway. This gives the idea that things get more “natural/wild” as you go away from the fairway. Seems logical but you’d be surprised how many folks miss this. Easiest way to do this? Don’t worry about making things smaller as they get closer… worry about making them BIGGER as you get into the deep stuff.
5) Trees. Try to avoid using the EXACT same tree model in bunches or right next to each other. There are times this will happen and it’s not a big deal…but if you’re the one doing the planting just avoid doing it.
6) Don’t worry about massive amounts of detail in locations that nobody will ever see. If you want to put some pretty rocks and flowers down then make sure they will be near landing areas/greens/tees. Don’t waste your time or resources away from those.
7) DO worry about details in locations that everyone WILL see. Obvious I know…but just take your time.
8) Trees… trees are tricky. Tips:
a. do not put a big freaking deciduous tree in the way of the drive. Just don’t do it. If you put a tree in front of the tee make sure it’s one that can be played around/under/over without any problem.
b. Try to make sure that the fairway is VISIBLE. If you have trees in the way of a dogleg or something that’s ok but remember that golf is as much about the visuals of the course as it is the playability. If you like that fairway you just made don’t HIDE it. Let me see it.
c. Willows are fun…but you don’t need them to overhang your landing area/green. Move them back a little please. I have a couple that are overhanding a runoff area on my new course but that’s different because the only time it will be in play is when the ball is on the ground. Make sense?
d. If your hole doesn’t need that tree…don’t just plant it anyway to have more trees.
e. Please don’t plant huge mature trees in a straight line. Does it happen sometimes if they were planted that way years ago? Sure…but it’s not very likely.
f. Trees are good at hiding areas you don’t want to bother working on. You know that empty land to the left of the fairway on number 4 you’re working on? Don’t sweat it. Put a little rise and toss a couple trees over there.
g. Other obvious things here. Go ahead and fill in the blank.
9) Rocks – oh my gosh rocks… rocks…blech…
a. If you make a rock wall and you keep using the same rock or the same SIZE of rock…please delete it. It is hideous and should not be there. I’ve made TWO rock walls. One was near the clubhouse on Swindon Downs and the other was on 18 at Old Beaver Creek. I tried to make sure I was varying the rocks and the rotations enough that they still looked like they could be made with actual natural stones. Did it work? Your call but I thought so. In my opinion most rock walls would be better off either using fewer LARGER stones or MORE smaller stones. There are a lot out there that seem to use some middle sized stones and the same 2 or 3 over and over again. I just don’t get it. Please stop the madness.
b. If you’re going to place rocks on your course make sure they are a visible and STRIKING feature. Don’t just toss down some rocks. Give them something to do. Put them on the side of a hill so they stand out and look like an outcrop, place them down in a gulley as though they were dug out by a glacier way back when, place them in the water jutting out like little islands…do something cool with them besides place them in neat little rows.
c. If you put down 6 rocks and think. Awesome! Delete ONE of them and it will generally be more awesome. In other words we all generally use one or two too many.
d. Simply putting rocks around the edges of water… I just have to say that’s a really icky thing to do. Try something else. Maybe a few guys can pull it off but they are few and far between
e. GOOD ROCK EXAMPLES – Ok, go play Balliwyck grand or however it’s spelled. Go to the first par three and zoom in on that rock face. This is done VERY VERY well. There are a lot of rocks and some repeats but they used PLANTING around it to make it look MUCH more natural and grown in. Also the lighting helps a LOT. A rock wall in bright sun is sometimes just too much. 2nd example – Go play the first Forum course and look at number 2 by guitardude. The rock wall in front of the 2nd fairway is really nice. Again he used PLANTING to hide the edges of the wall and he didn’t overdo things. Those are the ones to emulate.
10) Remember that MINIMAL planting can be JUST as striking as a LOT of planting. Go look at The Oaks at Westchester. That course was made with the idea of everything seeming to be very manicured and maintained instead of wild and wooly. It actually worked out great!
SUMMARY –
Ok, this went all over the place. I’m ok with that. Let me just say a few things in summary that I think will go a LONG way to helping folks out.
First, please use the “play hole” and “play from here” more often. It really is the very BEST way to make sure that what you’re creating will look the way you want it to when you’re finished. It also make sure that you don’t have any unplayable spots. Don’t just create a hole “knowing” it will be good when it’s done.
Don’t force a hole just because you have a neat idea. Sometimes that neat idea may seem really cool in your head and look like a steaming pile in the game. That’s ok. Doesn’t mean your idea won’t work, just that it won’t work here and now. Save it for later.
Don’t sacrifice realism just to be interesting
Don’t sacrifice fantasy just to be realistic
Those seem to disagree. They don’t. What I’m trying to say is that your “fantasy” needs to still be believable from a visual standpoint. The hole can be pure fantasy and have no way to exist in real life. That’s fine…but it should still FEEL like “well…maybe in the right circumstance it could be real”. Like a tiny island tee box to a series of little island fairways and an island green. That’s not going to exist anywhere…but it COULD if it’s presented properly from a visual standpoint right?
Don’t crowd the “play area” of the hole with your hazards just to make it super duper hard. Give it some space. If you need a narrower fairway to pull that off…fine…make the fairway narrow but STILL give it a yard or two before you drop off into oblivion in a bunker.
Remember to create a hole like you are painting using that circular brush. You can certainly use other brushes or even big brushes. That’s totally fine…but NEVER get away from the idea that you are creating artwork on canvas and that brush is really being used to PAINT. Enjoy that!
I hope some of this helps someone somewhere when they are stuck or looking for inspiration.
Honestly, I don’t care how you do things. I really think everyone should give this a SHOT on ONE HOLE and see what they think. See if it makes you look at the ground with different eyes and see something you missed before. If it does then it’s worth typing 6000 + words and 13 pages of text.
IF YOU HAVE ANY SPECIFIC QUESTIONS ASK THEM HERE AND I WILL DO MY BEST TO ANSWER THEM thanks!
I suggest that you even pop open the creator and make one right now as we go. Nothing fancy, just a short part 4 or something. No big deal but it helps to SEE it while you read it.
You can start with trees, water, hills...doesn't matter at all. Whatever you want. I will say to make sure there are no pre-created shapes. If you create a hole and there are shapes there please dial them all the way down. We want to start with a tee and a tiny little green and that's all ok?
A FEW GENERAL GUIDLINES
Just a few very basic things to think about:
1) don't make the tee shot impossible to reach the fairway in a strong headwind
2) Don't create a 2nd fairway or a left/right option if one option is stupid/has no benefit/will never ever be used at all ever. It's not cool just to have a split to have one ok?
3) If you're not really comfortable creating a gentle slope with the tools you have please stay away from major elevation changes during the hole.
4) options and bailouts are a must. Creating a course/hole for the best players in the world is fine but give the average player an option ok? Also, for bailouts...if someone's drive goes into a bunker on the fly they need a safe place to play out. Make sure and give them one.
5) There could be more...but I'll stop instead. ;D
PICKING A HOLE LOCATION
There are several good ways to do this. I'm going to make it easy for you. Pick either a good tee location, good green location, or a good tee shot landing area. For a good tee location you could look for a place that is slightly higher than the ground around it all the way to the edge of a mountain. It's really your call but I'd say something with a slight rise to it is best. If you can put your camera there and pan around and see some good hole routes then it's a good spot for a tee.
For a good green location you either want a place that is again on a slight rise or someplace with some good landscape features around it (nice trees, water, a drop off behind or to the side) that kind of thing.
Good landing area? Flatter area but with interesting features around it. Maybe you see a little hill with a tree next to a flatter area with a little pond on the other side. Go for it! There's your landing area.
Once you pick one of those then just create that hole. Dogleg, straight, whatever you want. Remember you can always move the tee and green location later so don't sweat it if you're not 100% on the locations when do you do this.
Now, your hole is down. If you did what Tastegw has talked about before and dialed down all the fairways/rough/green/tees and everything then you have a tiny little green and some tee markers and that's it.
I'm going to suggest otherwise. I'd go ahead and dial the hazards all the way down and the green all the way down. You can dial down fairway too but personally I leave the heavy rough alone and let it generate. I don't keep it but I like to see what the hole shape looks like without trees and with a "green" coloring (think desert, countryside, boreal...) looks like on the current land shapes.
PLAY THE HOLE! RIGHT NOW! AND OFTEN!
Ok, here's where I start to branch away from what a lot of folks have said they do. Before I do ANYTHING else I will play this hole as is. Even if it's just heavy rough and a little green. Do it. Right now. Don't ask why. just do it!
Why?
Well first because no matter how you move your camera around there is no way to make sure things look right from a player's standpoint than by playing the hole. Period. Even if you don't hit a shot use "play hole" often just to see the hole.
Secondly you want to get a feel for the shape of the land so that when you lay in your fairway and bunkers and whatnot you have a good idea of what you need to do and how the elevation will change the distances of the shots. ELEVATIONS are a big deal and the only good way to know how they will change things is by playing the hole.
Now you're on the tee. Maybe there's a tee box maybe there isn't. It really doesn't matter. How does the ground around you look? Are you going to need to smooth things out a bit before putting in your tee box? Can you see the landing area from here or do you need to raise or lower some ground a little? Is the green visible? Do you want it to be? Where would a bunker give you the most visual "pop"? Do you see a place where you could put a hazard that LOOKS scary but is actually not a big deal? Just take some mental notes.
Go ahead and hit your tee shot. What does the course look like as the camera follows the ball? Can you visualize the fairway you want to see below you and leading to the green complex?
When the drive lands...where does it land? what is the slope of that landing area?
All of that is easiest to determine simply by playing the hole early and often.
CREATE THE FIRST SHAPES
Now...you can start this in several ways. Here are the places you should think about as a starting location
1) Green
2) landing area
3) hazard areas
4) landscaping (water, cliffs, ridges, canyons...that kind of thing)
Don't just say "well everyone says to start with the green complex right? nope. Sometimes you'll find that the location of your landing zone will dictate the best green shape or where the bunkers go. *shrug* you have some choices. Here's what I mean.
1) Green:
If you want to start with the green that's awesome. Go for it! Greens are odd things because you can pretty much do whatever you want to do with them. It's really all about where you plant the flag and what your approach angle is.
If you have a long approach into your green then you have a couple of choices. Either the green needs to be longer front to back or you need a backboard behind the hole or you need an area of fairway in front of the green that can be used to run up onto the green. All of those choices are ok really so you can go ahead and decide. If you have a short shot into the green then you can make a smaller green and put some more HUMP in that thing. Have at it bubba. Now...if you're making a par 5 there are two schools of thought. One is that you make a BIG green to allow for a long 2nd shot to hold the green. The other is that you are EXPECTING a short third shot so you green can be smaller. I leave it to you to decide how you want your hole to play but those are your options.
When planting the green don't be afraid to use more than one brush. I like a lot of the shapes that we are given for greens and many times just pick one and go for it. However if you want to mix it up...here's your chance. Please don't create some tiny little sliver of green that will never come into play though. If the green doesn't need that little "peninsula" then don't do it.
Don't forget to think of potential runoffs or bailout areas as well. don't force one in if it's not needed...but it could potentially help the player or make the approach more interesting then go for it.
Once you have that green put down FLATTEN it. Now you've seen guys use the same brush to flatten the green and that's totally fine. I'm going to suggest something different. Get a circle flatten brush out. Not the super soft one, like the third brush from the left one. Take that sucker and find the area of the green that is the height you want for the whole thing. Put that brush in there and make sure it goes slightly past the edges of the green and flatten it. Now, take that brush and go a little to one side and flatten again. Keep doing that until the whole green is that height. If this leaves a pretty good slope on one side...that's totally fine. I do it this way because 1) I sometimes use more than one brush to create a green 2) sometimes the height I want is not the "average" height of the green that would be used with a one brush flatten 3) it will sometimes give me a slope or contour around the green that I wouldn't have gotten otherwise.
Basically doing it this way gives you options and can give you little surprises sometimes. Try it!
If you're laying down your green first then take the time RIGHT NOW and lay down some heavy rough all around the green area. You may not keep it all but I want this texture to be there before the next step. Why? Because you want to see what the land around the green will look like without planting and with a greener texture before the next step which is...
BEFORE you put in bunkers and fairway around the green PLAY THE HOLE again. If you like you can simply go to your "landing area" and "play from here" but don't just start jamming in your hazards and stuff without seeing how your approach to the green LOOKS and FEELS. Play it a couple of times. If you want to drop a little piece of fairway down to play from that's fine but PLAY that shot a few times.
Now...you've played your approach. When you were standing over your ball could you visualize a bunker to one side or the other? Could you imagine what a runoff to the back would do to your nerves on this shot? Did you feel you had enough room to fit your approach in on a perfectly flat green? Make some mental notes.
Once you've played the approach take those mental images and MAKE THEM HAPPEN. If you think a hill around the green is too high or to short or needs to extend further or that there should be a little dip here or there...put them in. Right now. Now is also the time to put down whatever kind of bordering texture you want around the green. We already have heavy rough all around the green so now all you need to do is figure out where you want fairway and rough.
Before you put that fairway or rough down around the green you need to think about bunkers. Here is where you want to put those in. I'm not going to get into bunkering a lot here. I may say more about it later but all I say here is that you do NOT want to put them TOO close to the green. I see it all the time. You put a bunker down SO close to the green that you don't have any room for a buffer of rough or fairway or anything and it looks hideous. OR you want to make a pot bunker or deep bunker of some kind but again your' too close to the green so the textures get all stretched and terrible looking. Give your bunkers/greens a LITTLE breathing room. A bunker is meant to catch a bad shot. It's not meant to REQUIRE an amazing shot to MISS. Kay? Put in your bunkers now based on the visual pictures you made when you took the approach shots. My suggestion would be to think about where they would have the most visual impact first then if you want to make one that really toughens things up...go for it.
Here's another place where I may do things differently. I have no problem with having fairway or rough around the greens but MOST greens should have some kind of fairway entry. Not all have to...but most should. I'd start there. Now you've seen folks look for a certain brush shape and try to get everything to match up... that's fine. It's not what I do.
Go get that circle brush again that we used for flattening. That's the shape we want when we lay down this fairway entry. You'll find that with this brush you can get a fairway that will flow right into the green shape without a problem. Go ahead and slap a circle down there. Not a big one... just enough to cover the area you want for the green entry. Now shrink that brush down and go to where that circle you put down meets the green. PUt just a little edge of the brush overlapping the green edge and drop it in. See how it looks better already? Now... play with it. The last thing you do will be to lay down a circle of fairway TOTAALLY within the green...but it will still bump out the fairway a TINY bit and you'll see that it will flow smoothly in from fairway to green. This probably needs a video but play with it. You'll get it.
Once you have the green entry you can feel free to go back and use the same green shape to put a collar all the way around if you want to OR you can stick with the circle brush and just move it around a green a little at a time and get the same kind of look. You can do that with rough OR fairway. Whatever you want. DO NOT start building the fairway out yet, just this area of entry to the green.
2) Landing area:
Also a good place to start. Now...when you read "landing area" you probably think of the fairway that you're going to be landing on as the first thing to put down. Wrong.
The first thing you're going to do is set the heavy rough to ZERO. This is going to change the look a lot and that's fine. Now that you have natural terrain and planting all over stop and LOOK at the ground. Is there some feature of planting or a texture that can give you a hint as to the natural layout for this landing zone? What do you want the player to see from this location? Do you want them to have to drive near a heavily planted little hollow right there? Maybe there's a tree that would be a really cool natural corner. *shrug* USE what's there to help you out.
Now...do not simply start laying fairway. Nope. Go get yourself some heavy rough. Here's another place that I'm going to be different from others. Don't just look for big brushes and try to match them up here. Get our trusty CIRCLE out and use it like a paint brush. Paint over the areas you want and leave the natural terrain/plants where you want them. don't think of this as laying heavy rough down. Again think of yourself as painting the landscape. You're changing the areas you want to be a lush green with soft heavy grass. Isn't that nice? Make the brush big or small or whatever. You can use as many as you want. If it takes 20 different little circles to get this area the way you want...so be it.
(NOTE: using the circle brush is great but if you get lazy you will leave weird shapes at the edges of your fairway/rough. don't get lazy. If you see where two circles met and formed a little "point" in between them simply take your brush and put it in between them. it will smooth right out and give you a nice flowing line. Do not use the circle brush if you simply can't be patient enough to make the shapes look natural ok? thanks)
Once the heavy rough is in do not touch the fairway yet. Still not time. Instead I want you to get the SUPER SOFT round brush out and take a look at the landing area. Go ahead and do a little flattening now where you want the ball to be landing. I would suggest making the brush LARGER than you think and only flattening ONCE or TWICE if you have to. If you aren't sure you need to flatten DON'T.
Guess what I want you to do? yep! PLAY THE HOLE! not the entire hole yet. Just take a look from the tee. Really get a good idea of the view you want a player to have. Where would a bunker be most visually intimidating? Where would a tree put a shadow that just touches the edge of the faiway you have in mind?
Now it's time for BUNKERS!
Do you need bunkers on this hole? Maybe you don't. Maybe you've left some natural planting or natural hazards that are enough for you. Great! Save some money on that sand bubba!
If you need bunkers then here's my pointers again
1) Do not put bunkers in the middle of your landing zone unless you have given AMPLE room in front or behind or to the side. It's not "hard" it's "stupid". remember to think "bailout zones" ok?
2) if you're going to use big bunkers then please don't put them on slopes that can't handle them. Don't put "finger" bunkers in a big dip or something you know?
3) Again remember a bunker is to punish a bad shot, not to require an amazing one to miss it.
4) just like the green...give your fairway some breathing room. Don't put bunkers so close together that your fairway will have to be a yard wide to fit between them.
Why do bunkers first? For me it simply makes it easier to put the fairway down AROUND the bunkers than to try and fit bunkers around my fairway. Plus it's easier to delete a bunker than it is to redo a fairway that's in the way.
So your bunkers are down. STOP. Now is NOT the time to give them depth and lips and all that jazz. Just wait.
Now it's time for fairway. I still say to take that lovely little round brush and PAINT the fairway on. Another reason I'll give you for doing it this way is that fairway textures tend to flatten themselves out a lot. If you use a big brush and it makes itself flatten out a bit...well it's easy to miss some pretty terribly contours around the fairway because you weren't watching when you laid it down. This way? You'll be in control of what is happening all the way around your fairway.
Once the landing zone is done You really should go back to your tee and get it where you want it. I'm not going to go into detail for that as you can really do whatever you want as long as it's flat and you have a good view of where you're hitting the ball. Go do that and then guess what? PLAY THAT HOLE AGAIN. Play the tee shot. Do you have the look you want? If not make the changes you need.
One note on planting here. It's totally fine to plant as you go. In fact on the landing zone and green I would recommend you do some large tree planting while you're building. Shadows and three shapes can have a big visual impact so make sure you have the look you want as you go.
3) Hazard areas
If you’d like to start things by putting in hazards that’s actually an ok thing to do as well. Maybe you see a place where a large waste bunker or a pond down one whole side of the fairway or a creek that cuts in front of a green. Perhaps you simply have a few cool bunker ideas you want to try out. Go ahead! Everything from the previous two points can be used here so I’m not going into a bunch of detail. Just remember that hazards are exactly that and you should be fine.
4) Landscaping
Perhaps you have a vision for this hole of a cliff side by the sea or you want a mountain on one side. Maybe you want a lake to be a dominant feature or you want an island green or something. You can start here too. *shrug*
Once you have your first section done whatever that may be move to the next one.
If you started with the green then move to the landing area. If you started with the landing area go to the green.
You can do the tee any time you like. I tend to knock it out early so as I Play the hole my views are consistent…but you can do whatever you like here.
The rest is pretty self-explanatory but here’s what to keep in mind as you finish creating the hole
1) Put in hazards before you create fairway shapes
2) Don’t be “cute” just to be “cute”. If it adds to the hole great. If not then you don’t need it.
3) Shaping your fairway is really a place you can express your vision so don’t be tied to certain shapes or straight edges.
4) Rough. Ok, you’re probably asking “what about the rough!!!” We’ll here’s what I do. I take that same circle brush and go around the outside of my fairway a little at a time to create my rough. Yes it’s harder but I don’t know what shape my fairway will have until I’m done so I just wait it out and do it by hand. Can you simply drop rough as you go? Yep. That’s fine. I just like doing it this way better as I have more control over it and get good results.
Once the hole is shaped it’s time to think about the bunkers and planting.
BUNKERS
Bunkers are weird. They can be just about any shape you like and they can be flat bottom/rounded/steep/shallow/deep… lots of options. That being the case I’m just going to give a few pointers and let you figure out the rest.
1) Bunkers need to be seen. If I’m playing a course and the only way I can see a bunker is if I do a flyover then the creator has failed. Is it ok to have a bunker that is on the backside of a hill or something? Yeah…it is…but as a general rule you want to be able to see the bunker. I don’t mean that you need to see the bottom of it…but you need to notice it. Bunkers are as much about visuals as they are about shot placement. If that means you need to tilt them just SLIGHTLY to the side or towards the tee…do it. NOT drastically but a little. One thing that helps? Don’t put a bunker down at the same level as your fairway/rough and then lower it. That will make it just about invisible from the tee. Either slightly bump up the land you are going to use for the bunker or put the bunker down and raise the edges on the BACK SIDE a bit before you lower it down.
2) Bunkers do not always need to be in play on every shot. Bunkering can be overused…please done do that. I’ve done it…we’ve all done it. Let’s promise to stop shall we? Good
3) Bunkers do not need to be in play to EXIST. On the flip side it’s ok to use a bunker just as a visual tool. On my latest course I have one bunker in particular that looks terribly intimidating as it appears to block out one side of the green with the flag perched RIGHT behind it. However it’s actually about 15 yards short of the green and is only a visual hazard as you’d have to really screw up to hit it. That’s fine! Hole 14 on old beaver creek…the bunkers to the left of the fairway will RARELY be in play…but they add to the hole and they STEER the players eyes the right direction. They make the player play to the right even though they don’t really have to. It’s just a visual queue is all it is.
4) Bunkers can be punishing. That’s ok to make a bunker that’s got a 7 foot uphill to the green… go ahead. Just make it rare and special when you do it. Having monstrously deep bunkers all over is a no no.
5) If your ball is rolling more than a few feet down the sides of the bunker then you are placing your bunker in the wrong place or simply making it to rounded or deep. If you put your bunker to close to a fairway or green and have a massive drop off into the sand you will end up with bunker sides that are more like impossible sand walls. You can either bring the bunker UP a bit or you can simply give it more room around the bunker so the slope is SLIGHTLY more gradual before it reaches the sand. Kay?
PLANTING THOUGHTS
Planting is entirely subjective so I can really only give some pointers. Here they are… enjoy
1) Natural vs. Artificial – MOST designers are going for a natural look. That’s awesome and is the look I greatly prefer. However there are plenty of golf courses out there that have trees, shrubs, flowers, rocks, lakes… that are all PLACED there very deliberately. That’s also a valid option. Don’t be afraid to have symmetrical plantings or flower beds that are symmetrical. What you MUST avoid is making each PLANT symmetrical. You MUST vary the size/rotation for each one.
2) Multi Plant tool is ok to use. It really is! Let me give you some hints about it.
a. Don’t overfill with just ONE kind of grass of flower. You can make one the predominant type…but mix it up
b. Use colors in sections. In other words lets say you plant an area with the light colored grass in the new countryside theme. Now get the DARKER grass and sprinkle that in up in one corner. Then grab some green grass and maybe there’s a section that’s next to a bush or tree…put some green grass around there too. Use the contrast to make it more striking visually.
c. Don’t use ONLY multi plant. Once you use it go BACK and grab some individual plants and grasses and vary the height/rotation. Chuck some of those in there to keep it mixed up.
3) Use bushes and shrubs to accentuate landscape ideas. In other words lets say there is a little dip and a rise in the terrain. Grab a few bushes and maybe plant them on the backside of the rise or maybe put a few in the dip. Don’t get carried away with this idea but it can be helpful.
4) IMPORTANT TIP: Generally speaking the closer the plants get to the rough/fairway the smaller they should be. In other words if you’re planting bushes and trees and grass…make the SHORTEST ones the ones that are closest to the fairway. This gives the idea that things get more “natural/wild” as you go away from the fairway. Seems logical but you’d be surprised how many folks miss this. Easiest way to do this? Don’t worry about making things smaller as they get closer… worry about making them BIGGER as you get into the deep stuff.
5) Trees. Try to avoid using the EXACT same tree model in bunches or right next to each other. There are times this will happen and it’s not a big deal…but if you’re the one doing the planting just avoid doing it.
6) Don’t worry about massive amounts of detail in locations that nobody will ever see. If you want to put some pretty rocks and flowers down then make sure they will be near landing areas/greens/tees. Don’t waste your time or resources away from those.
7) DO worry about details in locations that everyone WILL see. Obvious I know…but just take your time.
8) Trees… trees are tricky. Tips:
a. do not put a big freaking deciduous tree in the way of the drive. Just don’t do it. If you put a tree in front of the tee make sure it’s one that can be played around/under/over without any problem.
b. Try to make sure that the fairway is VISIBLE. If you have trees in the way of a dogleg or something that’s ok but remember that golf is as much about the visuals of the course as it is the playability. If you like that fairway you just made don’t HIDE it. Let me see it.
c. Willows are fun…but you don’t need them to overhang your landing area/green. Move them back a little please. I have a couple that are overhanding a runoff area on my new course but that’s different because the only time it will be in play is when the ball is on the ground. Make sense?
d. If your hole doesn’t need that tree…don’t just plant it anyway to have more trees.
e. Please don’t plant huge mature trees in a straight line. Does it happen sometimes if they were planted that way years ago? Sure…but it’s not very likely.
f. Trees are good at hiding areas you don’t want to bother working on. You know that empty land to the left of the fairway on number 4 you’re working on? Don’t sweat it. Put a little rise and toss a couple trees over there.
g. Other obvious things here. Go ahead and fill in the blank.
9) Rocks – oh my gosh rocks… rocks…blech…
a. If you make a rock wall and you keep using the same rock or the same SIZE of rock…please delete it. It is hideous and should not be there. I’ve made TWO rock walls. One was near the clubhouse on Swindon Downs and the other was on 18 at Old Beaver Creek. I tried to make sure I was varying the rocks and the rotations enough that they still looked like they could be made with actual natural stones. Did it work? Your call but I thought so. In my opinion most rock walls would be better off either using fewer LARGER stones or MORE smaller stones. There are a lot out there that seem to use some middle sized stones and the same 2 or 3 over and over again. I just don’t get it. Please stop the madness.
b. If you’re going to place rocks on your course make sure they are a visible and STRIKING feature. Don’t just toss down some rocks. Give them something to do. Put them on the side of a hill so they stand out and look like an outcrop, place them down in a gulley as though they were dug out by a glacier way back when, place them in the water jutting out like little islands…do something cool with them besides place them in neat little rows.
c. If you put down 6 rocks and think. Awesome! Delete ONE of them and it will generally be more awesome. In other words we all generally use one or two too many.
d. Simply putting rocks around the edges of water… I just have to say that’s a really icky thing to do. Try something else. Maybe a few guys can pull it off but they are few and far between
e. GOOD ROCK EXAMPLES – Ok, go play Balliwyck grand or however it’s spelled. Go to the first par three and zoom in on that rock face. This is done VERY VERY well. There are a lot of rocks and some repeats but they used PLANTING around it to make it look MUCH more natural and grown in. Also the lighting helps a LOT. A rock wall in bright sun is sometimes just too much. 2nd example – Go play the first Forum course and look at number 2 by guitardude. The rock wall in front of the 2nd fairway is really nice. Again he used PLANTING to hide the edges of the wall and he didn’t overdo things. Those are the ones to emulate.
10) Remember that MINIMAL planting can be JUST as striking as a LOT of planting. Go look at The Oaks at Westchester. That course was made with the idea of everything seeming to be very manicured and maintained instead of wild and wooly. It actually worked out great!
SUMMARY –
Ok, this went all over the place. I’m ok with that. Let me just say a few things in summary that I think will go a LONG way to helping folks out.
First, please use the “play hole” and “play from here” more often. It really is the very BEST way to make sure that what you’re creating will look the way you want it to when you’re finished. It also make sure that you don’t have any unplayable spots. Don’t just create a hole “knowing” it will be good when it’s done.
Don’t force a hole just because you have a neat idea. Sometimes that neat idea may seem really cool in your head and look like a steaming pile in the game. That’s ok. Doesn’t mean your idea won’t work, just that it won’t work here and now. Save it for later.
Don’t sacrifice realism just to be interesting
Don’t sacrifice fantasy just to be realistic
Those seem to disagree. They don’t. What I’m trying to say is that your “fantasy” needs to still be believable from a visual standpoint. The hole can be pure fantasy and have no way to exist in real life. That’s fine…but it should still FEEL like “well…maybe in the right circumstance it could be real”. Like a tiny island tee box to a series of little island fairways and an island green. That’s not going to exist anywhere…but it COULD if it’s presented properly from a visual standpoint right?
Don’t crowd the “play area” of the hole with your hazards just to make it super duper hard. Give it some space. If you need a narrower fairway to pull that off…fine…make the fairway narrow but STILL give it a yard or two before you drop off into oblivion in a bunker.
Remember to create a hole like you are painting using that circular brush. You can certainly use other brushes or even big brushes. That’s totally fine…but NEVER get away from the idea that you are creating artwork on canvas and that brush is really being used to PAINT. Enjoy that!
I hope some of this helps someone somewhere when they are stuck or looking for inspiration.
Honestly, I don’t care how you do things. I really think everyone should give this a SHOT on ONE HOLE and see what they think. See if it makes you look at the ground with different eyes and see something you missed before. If it does then it’s worth typing 6000 + words and 13 pages of text.
IF YOU HAVE ANY SPECIFIC QUESTIONS ASK THEM HERE AND I WILL DO MY BEST TO ANSWER THEM thanks!
