Post by linkslover on Dec 12, 2018 12:55:25 GMT -5
This is the 17th hole at Angus Bay International as seen from the tee on TGC2.
As you can see there are lots of gorse bushes that border the edge of the fairway. I took inspiration from the 16th and 17th holes at Conwy when I designed it.
Early 1981 was kind enough to review my course back when I released it, and one thing really sticks in my mind and rankles me a little. Early hit his tee shot into the gorse, played it out from the middle of the gorse on to the green and made a birdie. In real life, even if you were 'lucky' enough to find it you wouldn't want to as you either wouldn't get a stance of swing, or would spike yourself to near death in doing so. A cluster of gorse bushes is basically a lost ball, unless it is right on the edge and you can see it, therefore you could declare it unplayable and drop within two clubs or as far back as you want in line with the pin. In real life, he would have been playing three of the tee, not walking off with a three.
I'm not blaming Early for this, he simply played it as it lies. To me it's a flaw of the game you can play a full shot from the middle of a bush.
Anyway, I'm in the process of porting the course to TGC2019 but it doesn't sit right with me that a player can play a shot from gorse bushes effectively with no punishment. I see three options I can take this...
1. Leave the hole as it is and forever be unhappy with the fact the gorse offers little in the way of punishment.
2. Redesign the hole removing the gorse and coming up with some other way of making risk on a short par 4.
3. Making the gorse out of bounds so any player hitting in to it is forced to take three off the tee. This way would simulate a player hitting into the gorse and losing his ball. While this is my preferred option, I am conscious of the fact that the fairway would be bordered by out of bounds on both sides.
What do our TGC Tours friends think?
As you can see there are lots of gorse bushes that border the edge of the fairway. I took inspiration from the 16th and 17th holes at Conwy when I designed it.
Early 1981 was kind enough to review my course back when I released it, and one thing really sticks in my mind and rankles me a little. Early hit his tee shot into the gorse, played it out from the middle of the gorse on to the green and made a birdie. In real life, even if you were 'lucky' enough to find it you wouldn't want to as you either wouldn't get a stance of swing, or would spike yourself to near death in doing so. A cluster of gorse bushes is basically a lost ball, unless it is right on the edge and you can see it, therefore you could declare it unplayable and drop within two clubs or as far back as you want in line with the pin. In real life, he would have been playing three of the tee, not walking off with a three.
I'm not blaming Early for this, he simply played it as it lies. To me it's a flaw of the game you can play a full shot from the middle of a bush.
Anyway, I'm in the process of porting the course to TGC2019 but it doesn't sit right with me that a player can play a shot from gorse bushes effectively with no punishment. I see three options I can take this...
1. Leave the hole as it is and forever be unhappy with the fact the gorse offers little in the way of punishment.
2. Redesign the hole removing the gorse and coming up with some other way of making risk on a short par 4.
3. Making the gorse out of bounds so any player hitting in to it is forced to take three off the tee. This way would simulate a player hitting into the gorse and losing his ball. While this is my preferred option, I am conscious of the fact that the fairway would be bordered by out of bounds on both sides.
What do our TGC Tours friends think?