Coggin66 WIP - The Fingers Escarpment

[coggin66]

HOLE 9: Par 3

This hole was one of the first to be designed and was always planned to be one of the signature holes at the head of the valley where the creek goes over the edge.

Original Plan Sketch:

 
Near Final Overhead with Measurement Markers:


Hole Overhead:
This hole plays to the original design philosophy of a scary tee shot but plays easier than it looks.  Just don't be short!


View of the 9th from above the bridge behind the green:
I'm not giving away what this one looks like from the tee.  You will have to wait to play it after I publish.  If you do play, please let the flyover play out.  I love the way it pans up to reveal the hole.

[lessthanbread]

Freakin massive. I love it. Go big or go home

[coggin66]

HOLE 10: Par 4

After a bit of a walk from the 9th hole, the 10th hole heads out onto the 4th finger of the escarpment.  We are also going clockwise around this "finger" so the OB can still penalise the Fast & Very Fast swings.

The original plan was to have a blind, infinity fairway that then went downhill steeply and to the right with a bunker at the end to penalise long drives that were placed incorrectly.  There would then be a climb up a small cliff face to a raised green.  The idea was to balance laying up short for a safer, longer downhill second shot against a riskier, longer tee shot that left a shorter, steep uphill second.

Original Plan Sketch: 


Near Final Overhead with Measurement Markers:
Although parts of the original plan were kept, the macro-sculpting and the general topography resulted in a number of changes.  The gully to the top of the canyon was further up the fairway than originally planned so became the cross fairway hazard for the long drive.  The near tee gully became a pond and stream that feeds into the lake and creek near the 5th and 14th holes.


Hole Overhead:
The blind tee-shot remains with a partial infinity fairway view however the changes in elevation are not as great as originally planned.  The real challenge off the tee now is deciding what part of the fairway to attack and with which club.  The tee shot can run a long way on this hole so the player will change up from the provided wood at their peril.


View of the 10th from behind the tee:

[coggin66]

HOLE 11: Par 4

With a few differences in bunker location, this one translated from plan to actual hole quite closely.

Original Plan Sketch:


Near Final Overhead with Measurement Markers:


Hole Overhead:
Lots of OB to the left to worry about (but not on the green as it appears on this overhead!).  This green might be reachable with Masters and the right wind conditions.



View of the 11th from behind the green:

[coggin66]

HOLE 12: Par 3

This was always planned as a long downhill par 3 that is all about letting the ball run onto and up the green to get close to the pin.

Original Plan Sketch:


Near Final Overhead with Measurement Markers:


Hole Overhead:


View of the 12th from behind the green:

[coggin66]

HOLE 13: Par 5

This hole was always going to be a par 5 but originally it was planned to be a short par 5 reachable in two with a high road / low road choice off the tee.  However that all changed at build time ...

Original Plan Sketch:


Near Final Overhead with Measurement Markers:
This ended up being the last hole I built and the distance between where I wanted the tee to go in relation to the 12th green and where I wanted the green to go in relation to the 14th tee meant this became a genuine 3-shot par 5 even with Masters Clubs. I also hadn't really got one of these (although hole 18 is close). That meant the high-low option off the tee was a bit irrelevant and did not work with the macro-landscaping that was mostly locked in place by now. This hole is also close to the plot boundary so that needed some camouflaging too.


Hole Overhead:
We now have an undulating fairway where the tee shot is relatively relaxed given the lack of OB threat (although there are hazards to be wary of).  The high-low decision is now on the second shot to a fairway that has a high side that provides a safer longer entry into the green or a low side that provides a shorter but potentially riskier approach shot.

View of 13th from the fairway:

[coggin66]

HOLE 14: Par 3

This was planned as the other par 3 in the "palm" of the fingers near the creek and large pond area.  The structure of the hole is pretty much as planned with the slopes of the green helping to feed the ball towards the pins so you have more green to land on.  However, the original aesthetic was imagined to be more marshy and claustrophobic than the end result.

Original Plan Sketch:


Near Final Overhead with Measurement Markers:


Hole Overhead:
Elements of the original planting aesthetic remain, especially down the left side, but the right side ended up being more open to work with the course layout, infrastructure and views.


View of the 14th from behind the green:

[hallzballz6908]

This is looking great so far! How close are you to publish (if you don’t mind my asking)? Love the pics from your planning phase as this is the kind of effort it takes to produce a really special course. It’s probably my favorite part of course design; translating your artistic vision into a tangible(at least virtually!) thing. Can’t wait to play this when you’re done!

[coggin66]

Jun 4, 2020 15:33:56 GMT -5 hallzballz6908 said:

This is looking great so far! How close are you to publish (if you don’t mind my asking)? Love the pics from your planning phase as this is the kind of effort it takes to produce a really special course. It’s probably my favorite part of course design; translating your artistic vision into a tangible(at least virtually!) thing. Can’t wait to play this when you’re done!

Thanks for the comments. I think I'm about a week away from publish. I'm doing a final planting / object review and doing finishing touches before I show each hole here. Then I want to do a final play through of each pinset. Then release.

[hallzballz6908]

Sweet!

[coggin66]

HOLE 15: Par 4

Hole 15 starts the home stretch out onto the 3rd finger and we are going anti-clockwise for the last 4 holes so the cliffside OB is now threatening Slow swings.

This hole was aimed to give Masters clubs more fairway to play for than the other two clubsets that have to watch out for the kick right towards the cliff.

Original Plan Sketch:


Near Final Overhead with Measurement Markers:


Hole Overhead:
This hole largely went to plan although the dry creek bed is not dry but it is also not flowing.  The Masters clubs with a tail wind will need to watch out for the wet stuff.  I also decided not to bring the trees right into the fairway as it did not suit the visuals.  The pinch point in the fairway is now done simply with heavy rough.



View of the 15th from near the tee:

[coggin66]

HOLE 16: Par 4

This was one of my earliest hole plans, even though I did not know where on the course it was going to go.  The design uses trees in front of the green to act as a hazard forcing the player to take on the cliff edge with their tee shot to access the right side of the green or play it safer to the left but need to use the slopes to get there.

Original Plan Sketch:


Near Final Overhead with Measurement Markers:


Hole Overhead:
I like how this hole has come out.  It is probably my favourite to play even though it might be one of the hardest on the course.  The green has some big contours to help bring the ball in from the left side.  At first glance the fairway is really wide but the tee shot is all about placing yourself to give the best line into the green, in the safest way possible!  And yes, there is one pin hiding behind those trees in front of the green. 


View of the 16th from the fairway:

[coggin66]

HOLE 17: Par 3

The shortest hole on the course was planned as pure fantasy in its positioning but otherwise to play realistically.  It is designed to be an island tee to an island green where the water has been replaced by a 400ft OB drop!

Original Plan Sketch:


Near Final Overhead with Measurement Markers:


 Hole Overhead:
This one has come out as pretty much as planned.  The overhead below does not depict the OB correctly around the green.


View of the 17th:
I think this is another of the signature holes for this course.  Like the 9th, I am not going to show the tee shot.  Also like the 9th, I recommend letting the flyover play-out.

[15eicheltower9]

I gotta say, I haven't been interacting, but i've been following along and am really enjoying watching this come together. Seeing paper vs. game and trying to see the vision and pick out the similarities and differences has been cool.

[coggin66]

HOLE 18: Par 5

The closing hole was conceived to be a reachable par 5 where Masters clubs had to drive towards the cliff to get into a position to attack the green while the other clubsets would take a higher route to the green.  This was all with the waterfalls and clubhouse in the background.

Original Plan Sketch:


Near Final Overhead with Measurement Markers:
After macro-sculpting I ended up having more space to work with than I thought so it became closer to a full 3 shot par 5.  The tee shot then changed so that all clubsets had to be concerned by the cliff side.  The second and third shots stayed closer to the original plan with a longer, safer route or a tougher, riskier more direct route.


Hole Overhead:


View of the 18th green (with clubhouse and waterfalls in background as planned!):