Post by Deleted on Mar 27, 2015 23:12:40 GMT -5
General Guidelines for more realistic and better courses: These are the overall suggestions to improve course design and make them more realistic and natural. None of these Guidelines are set in stone there are exceptions. Any help or observations are welcome.
-Most often than not less is more in course design so always look for opportunities to remove anything and all things from your course if they do not make sense or really do not affect play-ability unless to provide some sense of intimidation or discomfort to the golfer for that direct purpose. Use sparingly.
-Fairways and rough should generally match in outline and not have severe wiggles twists and turns along the border. Rough is not always needed. Especially on more difficult designs where heavy rough works better along fairway edges in many cases. Pay close attention to width of fairways; proximity to tee and proximity to green. Keep it as simple as possible.
-Camber (the use of side slope in landing and approach areas) use camber as well as doglegs, blinds, obstacles and bunkers to create difficulty. 5-15% is usually sufficient side slope. Avoid extremes. If the shot is straight forward then use either left or right camber. If the shot is to the left or to the right any opposing camber is called “reverse camber” which increases the difficulty of the shot significantly.
-Hills and elevation changes should be mostly graduated and smooth on a golf course. Unless a re-creation says otherwise or using an example from a real life course. Avoid extreme elevation changes whenever possible and use them very sparingly.
-Blind Shots (a shot where you cannot see down the fairway or to the green from where you are taking the shot). Use blind shots sparingly. On average you might have as many as 6 or 7 per 18 holes, usually on easier courses you might find two or three.
-Do not place ornamental bushes or animals near bunker or green or fairways. Keep these out of or generally out of play and never in direct play.
-Make sure all trees and solid obstacles; rocks, bushes, tall grasses are at least 2 to 3 feet from the fringe of your greens. Whenever using an obstacle (Rocks ; Bushes; Trees; Structures) near a green do so sparingly. Mix with bunkers and water hazards for variety.
-Always think of drainage on greens and do not create basins on greens. Always use nearby water for sloping decisions when creating greens. Greens usually slope towards large bodies of water. Check greens often for severe sloping and play-ability.
-Vary size of greens and use the length of the approach to determine size in most cases. Generally the longer the club the larger the green. Slight variety of shapes is good. Keep extravagant green set-ups to a bare minimum. Keep it simple.
-Review bunker placement often making sure most are in play in appropriate ways. Review sizes and sculpt at least a few feet, close to a meter or more deep and usually no more than 5 feet which is just under 2 meters. Unless creating pot bunkers or an unusual circumstance. Avoid bunkers beyond 5 meters deep. Be creative but realistic and avoid walls of sand that do not make physical sense. Use Real world images of bunkers to guide you.
-Put all markers to the side off of fairways in the rough or remove them completely for play-ability. Do not use rakes for play-ability
.
-Use trees in fairways and as direct obstacles very sparingly.
- Par 3’s; always vary distance (including vertical distance) to create varied club selections. Changes in elevation should generally not exceed 50’ and should usually be less than 45’ an average being 25-30’ or less. Use Island themes sparingly.
- Par 4’s; look for opportunities to remove fairway run-ups unless the approach club in longer than a 6 iron. 5 iron being for difficult approaches without run-up. Middle iron club approaches should have average size greens to account for varying conditions.
-Par 5’s; if reachable in two under any conditions should have fairway run up and a reasonable green size. If unreachable in two use the approach to green formula to determine green size and fairway run up. Use unreachable par 5’s sparingly. Try to use only one per course if used.
-Always think of hole variety and how you can give a golfer a different experience from hole to hole. Occasionally you can use sets of holes that are similar in theme and structure to tie a course together. Try to do this with different par lengths for added cohesion. Always look for holes that do not fit in. Work from your worst holes to your best when re-editing initial layouts.
-Use internet search engines often to look at images of real life golf courses and layouts for guidance and inspiration. Save the useful ones and keep them on file if allowed.
*This is the first draft and I am hoping for help to develop this so it can be pinned in the tips and tricks area or used by tgctours.com as they see fit. So any help with ideas or suggestions, further development or spotted typos or unclear wording would be a great service to me and the community.
-Mike
-Most often than not less is more in course design so always look for opportunities to remove anything and all things from your course if they do not make sense or really do not affect play-ability unless to provide some sense of intimidation or discomfort to the golfer for that direct purpose. Use sparingly.
-Fairways and rough should generally match in outline and not have severe wiggles twists and turns along the border. Rough is not always needed. Especially on more difficult designs where heavy rough works better along fairway edges in many cases. Pay close attention to width of fairways; proximity to tee and proximity to green. Keep it as simple as possible.
-Camber (the use of side slope in landing and approach areas) use camber as well as doglegs, blinds, obstacles and bunkers to create difficulty. 5-15% is usually sufficient side slope. Avoid extremes. If the shot is straight forward then use either left or right camber. If the shot is to the left or to the right any opposing camber is called “reverse camber” which increases the difficulty of the shot significantly.
-Hills and elevation changes should be mostly graduated and smooth on a golf course. Unless a re-creation says otherwise or using an example from a real life course. Avoid extreme elevation changes whenever possible and use them very sparingly.
-Blind Shots (a shot where you cannot see down the fairway or to the green from where you are taking the shot). Use blind shots sparingly. On average you might have as many as 6 or 7 per 18 holes, usually on easier courses you might find two or three.
-Do not place ornamental bushes or animals near bunker or green or fairways. Keep these out of or generally out of play and never in direct play.
-Make sure all trees and solid obstacles; rocks, bushes, tall grasses are at least 2 to 3 feet from the fringe of your greens. Whenever using an obstacle (Rocks ; Bushes; Trees; Structures) near a green do so sparingly. Mix with bunkers and water hazards for variety.
-Always think of drainage on greens and do not create basins on greens. Always use nearby water for sloping decisions when creating greens. Greens usually slope towards large bodies of water. Check greens often for severe sloping and play-ability.
-Vary size of greens and use the length of the approach to determine size in most cases. Generally the longer the club the larger the green. Slight variety of shapes is good. Keep extravagant green set-ups to a bare minimum. Keep it simple.
-Review bunker placement often making sure most are in play in appropriate ways. Review sizes and sculpt at least a few feet, close to a meter or more deep and usually no more than 5 feet which is just under 2 meters. Unless creating pot bunkers or an unusual circumstance. Avoid bunkers beyond 5 meters deep. Be creative but realistic and avoid walls of sand that do not make physical sense. Use Real world images of bunkers to guide you.
-Put all markers to the side off of fairways in the rough or remove them completely for play-ability. Do not use rakes for play-ability
.
-Use trees in fairways and as direct obstacles very sparingly.
- Par 3’s; always vary distance (including vertical distance) to create varied club selections. Changes in elevation should generally not exceed 50’ and should usually be less than 45’ an average being 25-30’ or less. Use Island themes sparingly.
- Par 4’s; look for opportunities to remove fairway run-ups unless the approach club in longer than a 6 iron. 5 iron being for difficult approaches without run-up. Middle iron club approaches should have average size greens to account for varying conditions.
-Par 5’s; if reachable in two under any conditions should have fairway run up and a reasonable green size. If unreachable in two use the approach to green formula to determine green size and fairway run up. Use unreachable par 5’s sparingly. Try to use only one per course if used.
-Always think of hole variety and how you can give a golfer a different experience from hole to hole. Occasionally you can use sets of holes that are similar in theme and structure to tie a course together. Try to do this with different par lengths for added cohesion. Always look for holes that do not fit in. Work from your worst holes to your best when re-editing initial layouts.
-Use internet search engines often to look at images of real life golf courses and layouts for guidance and inspiration. Save the useful ones and keep them on file if allowed.
*This is the first draft and I am hoping for help to develop this so it can be pinned in the tips and tricks area or used by tgctours.com as they see fit. So any help with ideas or suggestions, further development or spotted typos or unclear wording would be a great service to me and the community.
-Mike
