Dylan Bronson's 50 Yards of Tips -Green Contours & Angles-
Jul 25, 2020 10:25:38 GMT -5
guitardude_324, nickweis, and 4 more like this
Post by TannerBronson on Jul 25, 2020 10:25:38 GMT -5
Hey guys. I've been organizing this type of tutorial/tips write ups and I wanted to help the newer people to the design community. The reason why this thing I have started is called 50 Yards of Tips is because I give a tip or write up every yard. I have more planned for the future already but if you have any request please feel free to send me a message or just leave a post in the threads.
Greens Contours
The First Yard
This section might seem like the hardest to some people but is probably the most important part of course design when it comes to strategy and playability. Greens never should be (in my opinion) close to flat or one huge slope. Character in greens always will bring out character in shot making skills and playability.
I won’t get into different styles of greens for this section but some general points should be made. Green characteristics are always a big signature part to a designer. A.W. Tillinghast had “coffin” shaped greens with ridges and humps. Ross has squarish greens with shelves and runoffs. Dr. MacKenzie had bowls and shapes like no other. Some people’s style of design just fits certain characteristics, and that’s fine.
Greens should mostly be about playability and that’s what I’ll start off with. I always work with a shape of a green before I even design the rest of the hole. The shape of the green is really important. If you want a hole to play strategically, you can use the orientation of the green to dictate where the player should play his or her shot off the tee. Merion’s 10th hole is a great example of this. The greens orientation is angled left, the farther the tee shot is down the fairway. More of the green is revealed and there is less bunker to carry. Here is a photo.
Using this design feature is a great way to test course management skills and deliver more variety to course setup. I used this technique multiple times on my own fantasy design of Quincy Downs. The 14th hole is the best way to show this.
Angling greens from the line of play might be super effective but adding lumps, ridges, and shelves can vary the playability of an entire hole.
Lumps in the center of the greens is probably most effective when it comes to maximizing playability on a hole. You can have the hole cut anywhere around a lump and have it play really well. Use it as a backstop. Bank it left or right into a pin. Or have it trickle down and towards. There are so many ways to use this feature.
Ridges are the hardest to make but still effective for playability out of the three main features that can be used to contour a green. You can use ridges to have a player think about club selection. Let’s say the pin is in the front of the ridge and you over hit your ball over the ridge. You have to negotiate with the ridge. Another consequence for missing around a ridge is that if you are off target the farther left or right you go, the more break you will have to deal with if you were putting over it to get it in. Ridges can become a way to make a hole location easier. If the pin was in front of a ridge, you can use the ridge as a backstop. This again is a really easy way to make greens interesting and play interesting. Visually, ridges are a great way to “support” the sides of your greens. If there is a higher part of a bunker lip on the side. You can use that ridge to connect the surrounding contours to the green for a more natural look. Not only does it guide the eye towards the center of the green. It also makes the green look higher than it actually is. Giving it more of a “grand” look.
Shelves are the most used in the golf course architecture world. Making random shelves is the worst thing you can do to your green.
This feature can be a great way to show off a certain part of the putting surface if you use it correctly. The stereotypical shelf is the back to front shelf that decides a green into two parts. Yes, this is mildly effective when making a player think about club selection but there are much more effective ways to use this great feature. Donald Ross mastered the feature by using smaller shelves on the very back and on the sides of putting surfaces. Having shelves put to the edges and sides of greens can introduce angles of approach and more ideas playability wise.
General green contours like this are always great for playability and visuals if used correctly. Later in the 50 Yards, there will be more of a descriptive way to sculpt greens and ways to do it.
Greens Contours
The First Yard
This section might seem like the hardest to some people but is probably the most important part of course design when it comes to strategy and playability. Greens never should be (in my opinion) close to flat or one huge slope. Character in greens always will bring out character in shot making skills and playability.
I won’t get into different styles of greens for this section but some general points should be made. Green characteristics are always a big signature part to a designer. A.W. Tillinghast had “coffin” shaped greens with ridges and humps. Ross has squarish greens with shelves and runoffs. Dr. MacKenzie had bowls and shapes like no other. Some people’s style of design just fits certain characteristics, and that’s fine.
Greens should mostly be about playability and that’s what I’ll start off with. I always work with a shape of a green before I even design the rest of the hole. The shape of the green is really important. If you want a hole to play strategically, you can use the orientation of the green to dictate where the player should play his or her shot off the tee. Merion’s 10th hole is a great example of this. The greens orientation is angled left, the farther the tee shot is down the fairway. More of the green is revealed and there is less bunker to carry. Here is a photo.
Using this design feature is a great way to test course management skills and deliver more variety to course setup. I used this technique multiple times on my own fantasy design of Quincy Downs. The 14th hole is the best way to show this.
Angling greens from the line of play might be super effective but adding lumps, ridges, and shelves can vary the playability of an entire hole.
Lumps in the center of the greens is probably most effective when it comes to maximizing playability on a hole. You can have the hole cut anywhere around a lump and have it play really well. Use it as a backstop. Bank it left or right into a pin. Or have it trickle down and towards. There are so many ways to use this feature.
Ridges are the hardest to make but still effective for playability out of the three main features that can be used to contour a green. You can use ridges to have a player think about club selection. Let’s say the pin is in the front of the ridge and you over hit your ball over the ridge. You have to negotiate with the ridge. Another consequence for missing around a ridge is that if you are off target the farther left or right you go, the more break you will have to deal with if you were putting over it to get it in. Ridges can become a way to make a hole location easier. If the pin was in front of a ridge, you can use the ridge as a backstop. This again is a really easy way to make greens interesting and play interesting. Visually, ridges are a great way to “support” the sides of your greens. If there is a higher part of a bunker lip on the side. You can use that ridge to connect the surrounding contours to the green for a more natural look. Not only does it guide the eye towards the center of the green. It also makes the green look higher than it actually is. Giving it more of a “grand” look.
Shelves are the most used in the golf course architecture world. Making random shelves is the worst thing you can do to your green.
This feature can be a great way to show off a certain part of the putting surface if you use it correctly. The stereotypical shelf is the back to front shelf that decides a green into two parts. Yes, this is mildly effective when making a player think about club selection but there are much more effective ways to use this great feature. Donald Ross mastered the feature by using smaller shelves on the very back and on the sides of putting surfaces. Having shelves put to the edges and sides of greens can introduce angles of approach and more ideas playability wise.
General green contours like this are always great for playability and visuals if used correctly. Later in the 50 Yards, there will be more of a descriptive way to sculpt greens and ways to do it.