Gänglesee Golf Club - b101 WIP

[Johnny46Ch1mp0]

I've definitely been in the rushing phase before. Honestly, just signing up for this comp. I feel a bit rushed like I'm already running out of time haha. And the kicker is that I'm tossing my current design and starting fresh on a new idea. We're only 3 days in but for a slower designer (me), 2 1/2 months is not much to work with anyways.

It's interesting to see people's strategy in how they go about tackling a design. Looking forward to more updates!

[b101]

So, got a good few hours in on the designer this morning and managed to map out a few holes. Bear in mind that all bunkers/fairways/greens are just placeholders and pretty much bare bones shapes chucked down - it's just to see if I like the look and the landing areas work. As a fun aside, I also stumbled into finding a blind tee shot that I liked and realised that the 3rd was already over 100ft downhill, so just added a little more and it actually plays pretty well whilst still feeling natural. As things stand, I should be managing:

- 3 par fours under 400 yards
- blind tee shot
- 5 par threes
- driveable par four
- three shot par five (not the super downhiller)
- one hole with over 125ft elevation change

The more I get into this course, the more excited I get with the look - flipped the lighting 180 and that seems to have helped. I went into this plot having a good idea of where I wanted holes 1-18 to run and specific ideas of how I wanted holes 1, 2, 3, 9 and 18 to play. With those five, it's essentially getting the designer to match what's in my head; for the others, I'm just seeing what the land gives me. Here's a look at this morning's work doing some surface mapping (as I like to term it). :

Hole 2 - probably needs the most work with planting as the low lighting and trees on the left makes things tough, but it's a nice strategic par four where you can play for a flat plateau on the left and have a longer approach or take your chances going closer but having a sidehill lie and a slightly blocked view due to a rocky outcrop on the right.:



Hole 3 - fairway won't be as mental in the end, but a pretty good idea. Will have one of the best views on the course - the island in the lake will have a little church and the sightline is already prepped . Two perfect shots with master clubs gets you on the green, but anything less is trouble or choosing one of about four layup spots.



Hole 4 - lots of work needed, but the green site was too good not to use. As with most things, the river is very bare bones currently



Hole 5 will be the longest par four on the course and is very linksy with its fairway following the natural (ish - post mountain creation) undulations:



Forgot to screenshot the blind short par 4 sixth (330ish yards), but it doesn't have anything to it yet really. Plan is for you to be able to basically hit any club off the tee and I'll try to manufacture a green that requires loads of different approaches so that it's a hole which keeps you coming back with a different strategy. Sounds lovely, but will be pretty tough to get right.

The 7th sees us enter the gorge and has yet another lovely backdrop - mountains need tidying up:







And a view back at the 7th green and waterfall from the 9th fairway - really looking forward to planting this properly:



---

So that's where we are now. Definitely not playing safe and it's probably too 'try-hard dramatic' for some, but the plot just works nicely for those big vistas. The short-term to do list:

- Finish surface mapping the front nine
- Work out a proper plan for the 4th green complex
- Make that blind tee shot hole work

[b101]

Played around with it a bit more today and finally got the 9th playing how I wanted - here's a very rough preview. With master clubs, you can hit driver - 2 wood or vice versa to reach in two, but it depends on whether you want more risk on the tee shot or the approach, or where the pin is:

[Australian]

What you have done thus far is looking great mate. Very adventurous stuff. I don't think it's 'try-hard dramatic'at all. This is video game golf. Drama is important I think. Can't wait to give this one a whirl.

[b101]

May 6, 2019 5:44:55 GMT -5 Australian said:

What you have done thus far is looking great mate. Very adventurous stuff. I don't think it's 'try-hard dramatic'at all. This is video game golf. Drama is important I think. Can't wait to give this one a whirl.

Thank you - very kind. There’s a couple of holes I’m not 100% sure about still and can’t tell whether it feels a bit samey, but that’s what the first go through is for. I think I’m particularly in need of a good uphill hole somewhere. Now through mapping 2-15 and I’m hoping to get the last four done this afternoon. I’ll then do a dummy run and see what the flow is like.

Hope yours is coming along well?

[b101]

Managed loads of hours today - Bank Holiday Monday, woo! Back to work tomorrow, so needed to make quite a bit of progress and I'm really happy with how this is coming together. Today, I got through all holes apart from 6 and whilst I had to rip up a couple of my first efforts, I like every one apart from the par threes, which I just don't really have a vision for yet. So, hole by hole:

Disclaimer - this is very much WIP. The only thing that's staying is the routing; all splines/greens/bunkers/planting/sculpting still needs to be tidied up, hole-by-hole. I do want to keep track of my progress though to see whether this is an approach I'll stick to in the future.

Hole 9 - tidied up the approach shot and put a few placeholder bunkers and bridge in. Not sure whether to plant the ravine by the bridge or not:



Hole 10 - literally have no idea what to do with this. I'm planning to plant the little ravine with bushes and hope that'll give it a bit of personality. The green needs to do the work on this hole. Decent enough sightlines over the gorge and the long 11th.



Hole 11 - enjoy the crappy placeholder bunkers . This hole sort of works as I planned in the sketch earlier, but will need a huge amount of playtesting. This is the three shot par five.

 
Hole 12 - A really fun hole. You can play straight with a 2 or 3 iron, leaving 200ish yards in depending on how much of the corner you cut; or hit a 2/3 wood at the bunker between the trees, leaving 140ish yards. The most aggressive play is to hit driver straight at the green, which leaves around 100 yards. Each shot has its own risks and rewards and may have different merits depending on pin placement.



Hole 13 - Still needs a bit of tweaking, but this is the short par four. Has lovely sightlines back toward the church on the island (currently just a random house lol), the waterfall by eighteen, the 18th drive and 16th/17th greens. Really pleased with how the location has turned out, but need to work on the ability to hold the green with the tee shot. You could also lay up to the left or right (semi-blind). It's doable, but the hole could play better.



Hole 14 - shortest par three, which will be loosely based on Sunningdale with its planting. Plays downhill with a view over the valley for the 15th fairway. I am confident that this one will be good, but will need good planting.



Hole 15 - Mid-length par four with a green running away from you. A wide, cambered fairway allows options. Loosely based on a cape hole, but the twist is that playing wider gives the better angle into the green as you hit across the slope rather than straight down it if you go down the motorway on the left side.



Hole 16 - doesn't look like much, but to my mind, this is the most fun hole on the course and one I totally stumbled across. It'll be bunkerless and your choice is to either play for the first plateau fairway and have a blind, long approach, or hit driver to the second, lower plateau fairway and have a view of the pin. Need to work out the penalty for missing the second fairway, as I plan to have this as one of two bunkerless holes. The second issue is what to do with the lighting and planting on the left. A fun view as well back over the 11th.



Hole 17 - Meh. Really not feeling this hole, in spite of it having a great location. Either I need to find some inspiration or the green and planting will have to work wonders. 



Hole 18 - I was worried about this, as you have to finish strong and I wasn't sure. I knew I wanted to finish on a reachable par five (I know that's the trend on here, but it's out of the ordinary for me!) with a heroic carry in front of the clubhouse and I think it delivers. Uphill drive to the top of the hill, then you get the view



Hole 1 - Oddly, I needed to wait until 18 was sited before placing hole 1. I had a totally different vision for this originally, but had a brainwave as I went and popped the little creek down, which allowed for a fun tee shot with various options. I totally stole the idea of the approach opening up to the rest of the plot from SindreRev with his outstanding West Coast GC. Mine won't encompass as much, but should open to the mountains, lake, church, waterfall, third green and fourth tee.



Some planting also started by the waterfall between 1 and 18:



---

Hole 6 - still to be sorted. Will have a blind tee shot over one of the mountain 'spines' to a humpy, bumpy fairway and a pitch to a funky green:



The plot as a whole - just so much fun: 



The gorge section up close:



Probably won't manage much more until the weekend now, but glad that it's taking shape and hope you enjoy the pictures.

[b101]

Been off work ill for the last two days unfortunately, but at least managed some good time on this. Lots of progress and I now have a fully playable 18 holes, with four pinsets and most fairways and greens sorted - the major work is now just about done (I dread to think how many hours I've already put into this...). Happy with how it's going though, even if I think it plays on the easy side. I shot -9 on it in the designer on pin set 1 earlier, so I'm hoping wind is a good leveller; although there are trickier pins. So, in terms of what's left:

- Having flipped the lighting today, I need to work out which autogen trees now need culling (having spent about an hour doing that this morning from a different angle...)
- sort out hole 11 - the three shot par 5 is currently measuring 708 yards, which is just a bit silly - mainly because the waypoint doesn't work properly and wants you to hit a sand wedge into the river for your second shot...
- planting for all bar hole 1
- all bunkering (currently just placeholders for testing). I have a vision for them (namely quite rugged and therefore non-standard shapes), but I'm totally putting it off, as I know I'll spend a couple of hours first time round only to delete them all and start over.
- tweak, tweak, tweak. 

So, yeah, lots to do still. But, the fun stuff of what I got done today...

1st hole nearly there - views from tee, fairway flyover and back from green. Still needs planting left and some autogen tree trimming:







And the waterfall above 18:



Today's big project though was taking on the church in the middle of the island. Quite happy with how it turned out - it's abandoned and overgrown, which is a nice, funky look (and a good way to cover up the pylon I had to use for the cross!). Not quite done, as I need to pop a few more wood panels on the front and maybe change some of the plants I used for the creepers on the roof now the lighting is brighter. Will save this to the end though when I know where I am with the plant meter.





Basically, just a lot of trial and error today. I probably spent about an hour on lighting and just seeing what was the best fit. Unfortunately, I have to sacrifice an amazing look on my favourite hole, but it would have left four other holes in total shadow. Still, what could have been...

[b101]

Spent a good amount of time working on this over the last week - just a lot of playtesting and tidying up a few things. I've played through a couple of times this evening and I love the flow of the course and I think it's only really hole 11 (three shot par five) that needs a lot of work. The main thing was finding a bunker style and planting feel that I liked and after a lot of playing around, I think I'm getting there. I don't know whether I'll ever manage a 'clean' look course, but this is working well for me - think a rugged, linksy swiss course and you aren't far off.

A few shots of holes one, two and four that give the right feel - you can see the difference the planting ideas make to hole one and I'll go back to the right hand side once the clubhouse is planned out:









I've also spent a lot of time on two of the gorge holes - the entrance hole is an uphill par three, which was initially just a transition hole, but is now something I really like. Still work to be done tidying up, but the idea is there:



Then the main hole I've been dealing with is the short par four 8th. I didn't initially have much of an idea for this other than that I wanted 5 iron off the tee to be a genuinely good option. I now absolutely love it - it gets the best lighting on the course and there are so many different clubs you could take from the tee. Green slopes away from you meaning there are all sorts of ways you could approach it as well. I don't feel the pictures really do it justice, but it works for me!






The 9th is meant to be the real showstopper, but I don't actually know how I'll better this one at the moment... I've also finally cracked an idea for planting 16, which has been bugging me for a while and think I'm getting there with the rest. Still avoiding all of the par fives as they are really tricky to get playing right with planning the second/third shot options.

[b101]

Got a lot done this weekend - the signature ninth hole is now pretty much done and planted. Shame about the lighting (I just cannot find another option that works and the one giving it good lighting puts about five other holes in darkness and screws over the 8th). So, the planting and hole design will just have to make up for it. I'm pretty happy with it. Still need to come back to the waterfall in the background:









The par three after it now has a nice identity as well, with a big 'Swiss waste area' in front of the green. It is a funky green, to say the least - not that you can tell from these pictures, but hey ho.





But most of today's time was spent remodelling the 11th, which took FOREVER. Loads of fairway bunkers, lots of slopes and angles to be checked and re-checked. So, what it originally looked like:



And what it looks like now:





Of course, I've now realised that the three bunkers in play off the tee are way too small, so I'll go back to those, then plant it and play with the sculpting down the right hand side and near the green, but at least it's a functioning hole now! Off the tee, you can either go straight over the left hand bunker (P/P with Master just gets over), play safer by going left of them or go risky and go right to the edge of that plateau and skirting the bunkers. From there, you can take the motorway, hugging the water's edge, which leaves a nice flop shot in. Alternatively, there's an angle to go left of the two middle bunkers, which leaves a nice angle into the green with a full gap wedge. You can also go left then hit toward the water from a flatter stance to get to the flop shot location, but face a pitch rather than flop, or hug the left hand side the whole way and leave a 7 iron in for your third. Options, options, options. Now just to make it slightly better sculpted.

---

Progress so far:
Totally done: 1, 4, 8, 9, 10
90% (just tidying up of planting): 2, 6, 7, 12, 13 
75% (bit more sculpting needed): 5, 11, 15
~30% (playable and layered, but that's about it): 3, 14, 16, 17, 18

And sort a clubhouse.

[Australian]

Making some great progress mate, and looking fantastic. Think your bunkering has come up a charm. 11 looks very striking indeed. Looking forward to giving it a whack out there soon.

[b101]

May 19, 2019 17:25:53 GMT -5 Australian said:

Making some great progress mate, and looking fantastic. Think your bunkering has come up a charm. 11 looks very striking indeed. Looking forward to giving it a whack out there soon.

Thank you - the bunkering has been a steep learning curve and I'll likely now go back and do a few holes again. 11 should be entertaining, if nothing else! Now just need to sort the waypoint so that the second shot it gives you isn't a sand wedge...

[b101]

A little preview video of the course so far - I'm happy with how it's shaping up:

[Johnny46Ch1mp0]

Love the edit! Course is looking great man!

[b101]

Quite liked the video compared to the poor quality PS4 screenshots, so figured I’d pop up a couple of others from today’s session. Lots of planting and playtesting today as well as tweaking the lighting AGAIN...

Hole 10 - bunkerless par three. Quite like this but not sure whether I’m overdoing the barranca. Fun green and I may yet play around with the slopes more.



Hole 11 - three shot par five. Redid the first two bunkers, did lots of subtle sculpting to improve sightlines from all approach angles, but still not happy with the look off the tee. Something about the four bunkers in the middle I don’t like, but it plays well and they are all positioned where I want them. Need to sculpt all the other bunkers properly still. Video should show options



Did a bit more on a few other holes but nothing worth posting really.

[Australian]

Cool little videos man. That 10th hole looks a cracker. Starting to get a good feel for your overall environment. Looking forward to getting amongst it.