Lavender Lake (Published) (admiralmurphy)

[admiralmurphy]

Just wanted to share what I've been working on for my contest entry. I've jumped around from hole to hole, designing a hole based off sketches I did before, really just focusing on surfacing and sculpting. If I got bored with working on a hole too long I'd jump to another or just start to mess around with planting. At this stage I'm about to move in to heavy planting on my course so as I transition into that I would love for feedback on the design. Looking mainly for feedback on surfacing and sizes of fairways, greens, bunkers, etc. I will take anything on ideas for planting if people see a great idea but I haven't really focused on that or clearing up auto generated stuff by the course yet so that will still be a bit sloppy.

A test version for play is up and called "murphyrookie beta1." Below I'll also include a picture for each hole for people to look at.

Overall I picture this course existing somewhere in the rocky mountains, maybe the Washington State or Utah areas. The course is built around a large lake with the front 9 on one side and the back on the other. I wanted tight treelines on most of the holes with somewhat narrow fairways that still felt fair and not too much of a challenge. Also overall I wanted a light amount of bunkers with almost no real big waste bunkers on holes. Greens overall I wanted to be very rounded and circular on most holes.

Scorecard:



Hole 1: Sharp Dogleg to the right. The green is separate and lower from the first shot fairway. The main thing was I wanted for this hole was to decorate the hill as a sort of out of area section. I made of version of this hole in 2019 that was just rocky with brush but I decided I wanted to create a sort of man-made waterfall that player's would shoot over.


Hole 2: A straight and somewhat narrow Par 5 with the green on the other side of a creek.



Hole 3: A par 4 with the green across a small creek on the left. The green area I wanted to design somewhat like the famous Augusta Hole 12.

[admiralmurphy]

Hole 4: A straight yet curving fairway for this par 4, again tightly lined with trees. Behind the hole though is a large clearing in which the next hole is placed.




Hole 5: Based this par 3 off of a split green design I saw that intrigued me while just looking around at images of par 3s. I imagined a par 3 for this course in a large clearing with tall grass and bushes to make it stand out a bit from the tighter holes the players have done so far on the course.



Hole 6: A dogleg par 5. Originally I had an easier fairway included through the woods for two paths toward the green. That one pretty much made it a safe three shots to the green while the other was a risky chance for two shots. I never got the design to a way I liked that felt natural and I ended up liking the planting so much on the main route that I decided to get rid of that easier fairway.



Hole 7: A simple par 3 across a small creek that is close to the tees so it really isn't in play. A few small bunkers on the left and a narrow long green is the target.



Hole 8: A dogleg left. The shot across the creek is more risky but keeps the second shot from crossing the main lake.



Hole 9: A par 4 across a small creek with the main lake on the left. Your second shot will be somewhere in the small valley between the tees and hole. While you see the hole and flag on your initial shot, your second you will not be able to see the green.

[admiralmurphy]

While the front nine features holes that really don't change in elevation much, the back nine are built across a more mountainous ridge on the other side of the main lake a features several holes with higher elevation changes, with early holes taking you up the ridge and later holes bringing you back down the ridge to the lake.

Hole 10: This par 4 has tight treelines at the start. If you want to hit a driver you'll have to curve your shot around the trees to keep in the fairway. Your second shot goes over a large bunker to a separate green. If your shot goes too far you will go down the hill to a small receiving area.




Hole 11: A par 3 I really liked and wanted to recreate from The Woods Golf Course at Kingsmill Resort. I loved the brush filled valley you shot over with the walking bridge angled across. It felt like a natural hole to start your climb up the ridge.




Hole 12: This hole went through a few redesigns as I felt it was too much like hole 16 later in the course and just wasn't as good. I finally landed on a large fairway that's easy to hit, however the target zone to be on the same elevation as the green is tight, and if your ball hits too short you will low into the lower valley. The pond really isn't meant to be in play, it was just something I added to make the teeshot look a lot more interesting.




Hole 13: One of my favorite holes I think of the course. This par 4 has you either cross the creek on your first or lay up with a much safer shot, but a riskier shot across the creek and brush. The green is right infront of a waterfall in which the water from the main lake comes from.





Hole 14: This hole went through a lot of redesigns as well as I didn't like the original concept as I felt I had enough straight par 4s that this one didn't feel exciting to me. I noticed I didn't really have any drivable par 4s so that's what I went for here then.



Hole 15: Originally designed as a par 4 but because of the yardage I have it as a Par 5 for now, this hole starts to take you back down the ridge. The right side is a sharp out of bounds drop off. You need to hit your 1st far enough to get a good shot at the green but not to far that you fly off the ridge. Wind will probably play a big factor on club selection on this hole. Below you can see Hole 6 and 7



Hole 16: This par 4 has a two tiered fairway. The higher tier gives you a shot slightly down at the green, and the lower tier has you take a longer shot upward. The green is at the very edge of a steep cliff dropoff so you will not want to overshoot the green.



Hole 17: I really enjoy the steep downhill par 3s after seeing the 13th hole on Coyote Moon Golf Course. I tried several times to recreate it but was never really happy with it. Once I did the lidar course for Coyote I wanted to try again to design a hole like that and it felt appropriate to bring the player down the ridge with this par 3 directly to the lake. You have a large green, but with the steep drop from the tees and the main lake behind the green, you will want to correctly select a lower club to not overshoot your target.



Hole 18: Finally I wanted to end with a par 5 heading back towards the clubhouse along the lake, loosely based off one of my favorite finishing holes at Pebble Beach. The longer shots to try and make it to the green in two have you risking going into the lake much more than targeting for the safer receiving areas should you go for 3 to the green.

[admiralmurphy]

Just published my last beta for the course under Lavender Lake Beta! It is now fully decorated and playtested by myself. Since my last post a few holes have been redone completely, they are 1, 4, 6, and 18. Any feedback before final entry from playtesters would be greatly appreciated.

[admiralmurphy]

Course is published under Lavender Lake.

[virtualgolfer65]

Will give a playthrough tonight!

Congratulations on finishing the long journey and publishing!

[Leecey]

Hey - congratulations on the publish. Just played a quick round and really enjoyed it. Loved the chilled-out, almost moody vibe and thought it was a good test without being overly difficult. Good luck in the contest!

[admiralmurphy]

Thanks to those who have played so far! It was a great learning experience for myself and I'm taking a lot of what I learned already to work on a new course I've been having a lot of fun creating!