Sedgefield Country Club (LiDAR)

[jeffm]

Home of the Wyndham Championship and a property that I am fortunate enough to have access to, so having local knowledge and being able to take photos on site has been very beneficial.  A great deal of progress has been made, most of the work left is fine tuning and adding small details such as landscaping in some of the back yards bordering the course and around the clubhouse and 19th hole.  OB is tight so those areas are not in play, but I feel that it adds to the aesthetic and brings it just a little closer to real life.  

A note about hole 14, a new pro tee box is being constructed to bring the fairway bunker back into play.  In recent years the pros simply blow the tee ball over the trap and are left with a wedge or short iron, this should force all but the longest hitters to think about leaving a tee ball out to the right and having a mid iron in.  The box has not yet been constructed, but the lot is cleared and there is a stake in the ground marking where the tee markers will be, so I've been able to measure this distance and place a tee box in the game.    

This is my first attempt at creating anything in the course designer, so I hope I can do the course justice and not have any glaring errors.

I had to use Steam to screenshot these, for the life of me I cannot figure out what folder TGC has put them in when I used the in-game control to take photos.


2 green, short approach but a tricky green to land in the right spot



8 green looking back, 9 tee in the foreground



9 fairway, looking towards the green with the clubhouse in the background



10 green, 18 runs parallel back down the hill



New back tee box on 14, a high draw is the favored tee shot here



Par 5 15th, reachable for most but with water lurking and bunkers guarding the narrow back shelf on the green



Par 3 16th green, 15 green across the water, 17 tee on the right.

[Bearforlife73]

This is a nice addition to the courses looks good so far

[scoll3]

Looking sweet so far... thanks for doing this course it’ll be fun come tournament time to play along with it!

[jeffm]

Thanks for compliments guys, I'm anxious to get it right since this is my first course. I will likely publish a beta version under an altered name for additional feedback before the full course is ready to go.

[joegolferg]

Are you planning on sinking the bunkers down into the ground and getting them reasonably flat bottomed, as they are in real life? I'd say it's a vital feature of Sedgefield and Ross trademark on many courses.

[joegolferg]

Here are some examples of the bunkering at Sedgefield...

[mattf27]

I would just like to add, please don't leave the lighting at noon. Noon lighting is terrible.

[jeffm]

May 19, 2020 5:36:06 GMT -5 joegolferg said:

Are you planning on sinking the bunkers down into the ground and getting them reasonably flat bottomed, as they are in real life? I'd say it's a vital feature of Sedgefield and Ross trademark on many courses.

Yeah for sure, that will be part of going back over every hole to sculpt anything LiDAR didn't get quite right.  I had to soften the 11th green a bit since the slopes were ridiculous.  These are the two bunkers on the left side of 18 green after a bit of sculpting to flatten the bottoms.  There is still a little slope of sand on the sides IRL, I've plugged in a few of them.  

I would just like to add, please don't leave the lighting at noon. Noon lighting is terrible.

For sure, I just had it there so I could get planting and other things done without shadows to bother me, I should have fixed it for screenshots.  Thanks for reminding me, I usually play in the late afternoon so that will be the default time of day when published.

[jeffm]

I just published a beta test version, called Sedgefield Lidar (Beta). If anyone wants to give it a go, please let me know what you think and if you notice any issues that need fixing.

[Riotous]

May 20, 2020 2:01:33 GMT -5 jeffm said:

I just published a beta test version, called Sedgefield Lidar (Beta). If anyone wants to give it a go, please let me know what you think and if you notice any issues that need fixing.

Loved this Jeff, there’s no way I thought this was a first course. My play through is on twitch.
Notes - I think it was 14, you need to move the waypoint as it gave me an iron off the tee. Not sure if you can do anything about it but the landing zone leaves you unsighted towards what would be a great green view across the water
I hit the middle of the fairway in one hole and took a big kick into the rough.
This is a fantastic golf course and you’ve done it proud

[jeffm]

May 20, 2020 7:42:50 GMT -5 Riotous said:

Notes - I think it was 14, you need to move the waypoint as it gave me an iron off the tee. Not sure if you can do anything about it but the landing zone leaves you unsighted towards what would be a great green view across the water
I hit the middle of the fairway in one hole and took a big kick into the rough.
This is a fantastic golf course and you’ve done it proud

Thank you!  I will take a look at 14.  With the new pro tee, if you leave it short/right of the fairway bunker, it is a blind approach up the hill.  With the par 5 15th, same thing, it is a blind approach if you are in the fat part of the fairway short of the trap.  I know what you mean with being able to see over the grass and the hill to the water, it would be nice, but irl it's not possible unless you're level with the trap to the left.

I think you must be talking about number 5 fairway kicking to the right?  I will take a look at softening it, irl it does slope significantly, but I'll see if I can make it so the tee ball collects more on the right side of the fairway without going through.

I'm checking out your Twitch stream now, love the comment about the bunkers!  That's a Donald Ross signature on this course, the sunken in design with grass lips.   Thanks for taking the time to check it out!

Edit: just watched the playthrough on Twitch.  On 18 where you mentioned the kick to the right in the fairway, there is a gully that runs down the right side and feeds balls that way, so the ideal landing area is left-center.  You'd really only know that with local knowledge, but that is how that particular fairway plays irl.

[ezzinomilonga]

May 20, 2020 9:29:06 GMT -5 jeffm said:

May 20, 2020 7:42:50 GMT -5 Riotous said:

Notes - I think it was 14, you need to move the waypoint as it gave me an iron off the tee. Not sure if you can do anything about it but the landing zone leaves you unsighted towards what would be a great green view across the water
I hit the middle of the fairway in one hole and took a big kick into the rough.
This is a fantastic golf course and you’ve done it proud

Thank you!  I will take a look at 14.  With the new pro tee, if you leave it short/right of the fairway bunker, it is a blind approach up the hill.  With the par 5 15th, same thing, it is a blind approach if you are in the fat part of the fairway short of the trap.  I know what you mean with being able to see over the grass and the hill to the water, it would be nice, but irl it's not possible unless you're level with the trap to the left.

I think you must be talking about number 5 fairway kicking to the right?  I will take a look at softening it, irl it does slope significantly, but I'll see if I can make it so the tee ball collects more on the right side of the fairway without going through.

If you recognize IRL in that hole the fairways actually pushes the balls on the left, just leave it as it is.
For example, at Medinah there is a similar hole, with just reversed slope. Is really tough to play, cause there is also lot of trees in between and it forces players to make some difficult choice and to find a swing almost perfect to avoid trouble, but is the way the hole is intended to be played, so is just fine.
It will be a great course, i can't wait to play it

[jeffm]

May 20, 2020 9:35:31 GMT -5 ezzinomilonga said:

If you recognize IRL in that hole the fairways actually pushes the balls on the left, just leave it as it is.
For example, at Medinah there is a similar hole, with just reversed slope. Is really tough to play, cause there is also lot of trees in between and it forces players to make some difficult choice and to find a swing almost perfect to avoid trouble, but is the way the hole is intended to be played, so is just fine.
It will be a great course, i can't wait to play it

Thanks!  I'll at least give it a look to make sure it's fair, it's a weird fairway, too far left and it kicks left into the rough, too far right and it goes the opposite way, it's all about knowing your landing spot especially when the fairways are firm.

[Riotous]

I love how well you know the irl course, if the bumps and troughs are on the course then leave them alone. Knowing you have to hit it left centre is the small detail that wins competitions and I’d be amazed if this course isn’t in Tour once it’s published

[jeffm]

Beta test going well, I have tweaked a couple pin locations so the severe slopes aren't as close, fixed a waypoint on hole 15, and added a few other planting things.  Work was slow today so I was able to get a few final test rounds done, I think the course is as done as it will ever be, plus I'm close to the object limit.  Will be making a post in the completed courses section and submitting it to the tour.

Thank you to everyone who has played the course so far and for the feedback!