Zanzibar Golf Club - Rookie Design Challenge Course
Oct 27, 2020 23:56:17 GMT -5
mvpmanatee, golfwolfuk, and 4 more like this
Post by YouStayClassySanDiego on Oct 27, 2020 23:56:17 GMT -5
After many hours of work, I've completed work on both Zanzibar Golf Club and Zanzibar GC (TGC Tour) and published both courses. (Please note, a par error made it through on another Tour version - Zanzibar GC (Tour) - that I had to fix. This version should not be used for anything other than just goofing around, as 15, which is intended to play as a long par 4, it a par 5 in that version.)
Officially, Zanzibar Golf Club is my Rookie Design Challenge course, but I also did a Tour version with mixed tees, crowds, seating and the removal of all light rough areas around greens to mirror the pretty normal practice of growing out the rough for Tour events on many real world courses. It's been a lot of fun getting to know the designer, it's tools and the design community. I'd like to thank everyone who helped with beta play and feedback. Your input was great to have and definitely made this a better design as well as hopefully making me a better designer.
Without further ado, here's the story behind Zanzibar Golf Club and a hole by hole walkthrough. I'll follow up with a post of screenshots from each hole.
Zanzibar Golf Club
Background - Zanzibar GC is a course I created and designed back in the Links LS and Arnold Palmer Course Designer days. I decided to finally try out the designer after a few months and figured the Rookie Challenge seemed as good a place as any to get feedback and exposure for this course. Especially since there's not a huge amount of Links players around who'd remember it from back in the day. The design did get quite a few accolades, won an award and generated speculation that I was actually a Microsoft employee and not just some regular guy. (Albeit one with a background in architecture and engineering before changing to business admin in college) In any case, I went up into my attic the other day, checked the bin I thought I needed and sure enough, there was my graph pad with all the original hole and course layouts for Zanzibar, including overheads, yardages and elevations. Sometimes things that might be crap but you save anyways turn out not to be crap down the road. For PGA 2k21, the only real changes were to stretch it a bit from the tips due to the fact that in this game you can get a bit more distance (Especially if you're hitting the Big Bridgestone driver with fast swings!) and having to adjust to not being able to make actual vertical surfaces for things like retaining walls, etc. They really need to add that!
Course design and layout:
Zanzibar GC is set at the base of rolling foothills. Both nines start out at fairly low elevation, then climb to the far end of the property before returning back down the slope to the clubhouse. Three lakes and a creek connecting them all means that water can be in play on 11 of the 18 holes. Lots of elevation, but all of it realistic, make for a solid challenge. Greens are generous, but often tiered, which places premiums on approach shot accuracy. The shorter the ideal approach shot, the smaller the target is likely to be. Fairways are often more generous than they may appear from the tees.
Zanzibar GC has two configurations – the regular members layout has traditional tees, ranging from 6,244 yards to 7,577 yards at the tips. The back tees are generally recommended only for the best players – even very good players should find that the Blue tees provide sufficient challenge for a casual round with friends. The course superintendent generally plays nicely with the members, leaving an area of light rough surrounding most greens. Maybe this is due to the bottles of scotch left on his desk?
When the Tour visits Zanzibar GC, a mixed tee set is used. These tees range from 7,070 yards to 7,225 yards and provide the tournament heads the ability to give opportunities to score on holes that would be tough to make par on, were the back tees the only ones in use. Nowhere is this more evident than on the par 3’s at Zanzibar GC, which in Tour configuration can play with as many as 60 yards between days. As well, holes like #10, which is normally a two shot hole can have it’s tee moved up to make it a driveable par 4, adding to the possible drama. As well as the traditional crowds and seating, when set up for the Tour’s arrival, the course superintendent lets all the grass around the greens grow out, so expect thick, gnarly lies if you’re just off the surface.
The course normally plays firm and fast, so make sure to hit your landing spots if you want the ball to settle near the hole for a scoring chance!
1 – The first hole at Zanzibar golf club will test how well your warm up session on the range went. From the back tees, three bunkers guard the landing area, making a slight cut on this gentle dogleg right the ideal shot. Just don’t let your cut turn into a slice or you might find the large middle lake. You could play it safe and stay short of the bunkers, but that will leave you around 200 yards into a green with distinct left and right tiers, guarded by a large bunker fronting the green. From the other tees, it’s possible to get past the bunkers off the tee and leave yourself a mid iron in, which can be beneficial, as the prevailing easterly winds will be in your face on the approach.
2 – A downhill par 3 to a generous peninsula green. Check your elevation, the pin and the wind, as the front flags can definitely bring the lake into play. If the prevailing breeze is up for your round, beware, as it is not your friend, pushing the ball to the right towards a watery grave. Should the flag be the back left shelf, you could try to run it up or get it to fly and stick.
3 – The first par 5 at Zanzibar GC starts off with a slightly uphill drive that plays into the prevailing breeze to a generous landing area. If you can keep it in the fairway and get it far enough up towards the upper lake, you’ll be rewarded with a chance to go straight over the lake at the green in two. Since the first creek of your round runs the entire length of the fairway on the right, you might be tempted to bail out left. In this case, you’ll need to make sure your layup shot stays short of, or gets past, the large tree between the fairway and the lake. The large green has distinct tiers front and left with the center and back right a more gentle transition.
4 – Playing 359 to 431 yards, you might be forgiven for thinking that number 4 is an easy follow up to our first par 5. That is, until you realize that this hole plays more than 70 feet uphill from all tee boxes. As well, the farther back the tees go, the more difficult the angle for your tee shot, playing as a dogleg right from the tips. A well placed tee shot will leave you a mid iron in, but still 30-40 feet below the green surface. The green generally slopes left to right, but beware the small false front in the center. Should you catch this, you’re likely to roll a good 30-40 yards back off the front of the green.
5 – A short par 4 will give you several possible strategic options. Drive the green? Go for it! But don’t go long, as it is a very steep drop off behind the green. Lay up? A definite possibility to make birdie if your pitching game is solid? Feel like you’re the Sandman? Maybe either of the two greenside bunkers will give you the best chance at a birdie. Whatever your choice, execute your strategy well, as anything less than birdie here will feel like a loss. But hey, you make birdie and enjoy the waterfall on your walk to the 6th tee!
6 – The tee shot here can look pretty intimidating, especially from the tips. A massive bunker right and the creek definitely in play on the right? Yep, those can get in your head. But this hole plays both 70’ downhill from the tips to the landing area as well as being downwind on the prevailing breeze to a landing area that’s around 50 yards wide in most spots. A well placed tee shot will leave anywhere from a long to short iron, depending on the wind, into a green that has three tiers from going up from the left to the right. Hit the correct tier and you’ll be rewarded with a putt that has a relatively tame break.
7 – The longest 5 at Zanzibar GC at 619 from the tips. Visually, the tee shot looks daunting with what appears to be a 20 yard ribbon of fairway to hit, but out of sight from the tee, it widens to nearly 60 yards in the main landing area. Your second shot will be a layup short of the ravine for all but the longest hitters in ideal wind conditions. If the wind is right and the flag is on the left side of the green a great shot can run up the neck between the bunkers and find the slope to the left tier, bringing the ball to the hole. A perfect shot to a back left pin might even find an Albatross. If it does, go buy yourself a lottery ticket right away! If the flag is on the right, you’re probably better coming up short rather than having to make the long putt to the upper tier from the left side of the green.
8 – This long par 3 crosses the middle creek as well as having the middle lake on the right side, but neither should come into play. Two flags centrally located can be gotten to, as can the flag on the back left shelf, but the back right flag can only be challenged by skirting the bunker and using the slope to feed the ball back to this tucked location.
9 – The closing hole on the front side will challenge you to think outside the box on your tee strategy. Playing downhill and often downwind, carrying the lake to the far fairway shouldn’t be an issue, but how to stop the ball before it finds itself in the massive bunker beyond the fairway is an issue. A three wood might be able to clear the lake and find the fairway, as might a big cut with your drive. If you’re a bomber, aim just left of the lone tree on the lakeside and let the big dog eat. A good tee shot will leave you with nothing more than a wedge into a small green with four distinct areas. The three outer areas can all be gotten to using the slopes leading to them, but the upper middle tier will require a very precise approach for a birdie opportunity.
10 – The back nine starts out much more gently than the front, with a relatively short par 4. A good drive into the prevailing breeze will leave a short iron or wedge into the most severely tiered green at Zanzibar GC. On most days, even big hitters won’t need to worry much about the three bunkers at the end of the fairway, but if it’s playing downwind, you may need to club down to keep it in the fairway. On the blind approach make sure to find the correct tier, as being on the wrong tier could turn this seemingly easy hole into a bogey on your card.
11 - After the relatively easy 10th hole, things are about to get real. A long dogleg right playing into the prevailing wind means that even a good tee shot will likely have a long iron in. The creek is up the left, but even if you don’t find the creek, going left is a bad idea, as the rough is particularly thick here and there’s a strong chance that you won’t be able to reach the green from it. The right side is a very steep hill that will likely save you if you bail out right, but you might find yourself blocked out by a couple of trees on the approach. The green is well guarded left, right and behind with a large central tier as well as two small lower tiers front right and back left. Using the slope to get to these flags, especially the back flag is a real option.
12 – While short on the card, the par 5 12th hole plays nearly 70 feet uphill, so you’d be forgiven for laying up in the provided area between the large fairway bunkers. If you’re playing from forward tees or downwind, you can challenge the neck of the fairway from the tee, making this a reachable hole and bringing an eagle into play. The green is well guarded with bunkers and features three tiers, the smallest of which is the back right, where a precise wedge shot with the right amount of spin can get the ball close.
13 – Our first par 3 on the back nine is slightly uphill and features a large ‘C’ shaped green with three distinct areas, although they’re not sharply sloped enough to be called tiers. The small front bunker guards the central part of the green, asking you to shape your shot effectively to get to a central flag. The massive back bunker may look great, but you probably don’t want to get to familiar with it.
14 – The 14th hole presents itself as a short hard dogleg left. Short enough that you’d probably want a three or five wood off the tee to stay short of the three bunkers at the end of the fairway. But looks can be deceiving. In fact, despite the trees blocking your view of the green, the 14th hole can be driven from the tee in most wind conditions. The problem isn’t quite so much reaching the green as holding it. While a layup gives you a straightforward approach, to a green with three tiers from left to right, driving it from the tee means those tiers are running away from you. Discretion might be the better part of valor for flags on the top left tier, as you’ll likely have a better scoring chance on a short iron approach than a 120 foot putt with nearly 4 feet of uphill elevation change.
15 – The signature hole at Zanzibar GC. With its split fairway, retaining wall and options galore, the 15th will leave you wondering how to attack it. As well, the hole plays completely different depending on your tee choice, as the Blue tees are more than 100 yards left of the Black tees with the White and Red tees another 100 yards over. From the Black or Blue tees, you’re presented with an option of the upper right fairway or the lower left fairway. Either are viable options, with the upper fairway offering a semi-blind downhill approach, while the lower fairway offers a more direct view from less elevation to one of the largest greens at Zanzibar GC. The green itself has mild tiering, but those will generally help feed a decent shot towards the hole.
16 – The final par 3 at Zanzibar GC and home of the Tetris green! Well guarded by bunkers and with three distinct tiers, this is not to be taken lightly. A front flag is your best bet for birdie here, as there is a nice back stop to use to attack the pin. Mid tier flags are tougher to get to and the flag in the back right will take a great shot to land yourself a real birdie opportunity.
17 – The penultimate hole at Zanzibar is a long dogleg left, downhill off the tee, with the creek running the entire length of the fairway just off the left. The fairway is very ample at 50-60 yards wide in the landing areas, but does slope away to the right, so bailing out away from the water will bring the deep rough into play. Depending on wind and your level of aggression off the tee, your approach might be anything from a long iron to a wedge into a large green reminiscent of the 9th hole. A distinct front tier and more subtle back left and back right tiers make accuracy and strategy on your approach shot paramount.
18 – The home hole at Zanzibar is a classic par 5 with the lower lake in play the entire way. The fairway here is more pinched than many, with the primary landing area only 32 yards wide, but a good tee shot, especially in the prevailing downwind breeze will give you an opportunity to reach in two. Find the bunker right or the rough left and you’ll need to lay up down the fairway to leave yourself a short iron or wedge into another large green with subtle tiers. If the flag is in the back, beware the false back – you might find yourself with a tough chip or pitch back onto the green. We hope you enjoyed your round at Zanzibar Golf Club and that you found a level of challenge that made it a memorable experience!
Officially, Zanzibar Golf Club is my Rookie Design Challenge course, but I also did a Tour version with mixed tees, crowds, seating and the removal of all light rough areas around greens to mirror the pretty normal practice of growing out the rough for Tour events on many real world courses. It's been a lot of fun getting to know the designer, it's tools and the design community. I'd like to thank everyone who helped with beta play and feedback. Your input was great to have and definitely made this a better design as well as hopefully making me a better designer.
Without further ado, here's the story behind Zanzibar Golf Club and a hole by hole walkthrough. I'll follow up with a post of screenshots from each hole.
Zanzibar Golf Club
Background - Zanzibar GC is a course I created and designed back in the Links LS and Arnold Palmer Course Designer days. I decided to finally try out the designer after a few months and figured the Rookie Challenge seemed as good a place as any to get feedback and exposure for this course. Especially since there's not a huge amount of Links players around who'd remember it from back in the day. The design did get quite a few accolades, won an award and generated speculation that I was actually a Microsoft employee and not just some regular guy. (Albeit one with a background in architecture and engineering before changing to business admin in college) In any case, I went up into my attic the other day, checked the bin I thought I needed and sure enough, there was my graph pad with all the original hole and course layouts for Zanzibar, including overheads, yardages and elevations. Sometimes things that might be crap but you save anyways turn out not to be crap down the road. For PGA 2k21, the only real changes were to stretch it a bit from the tips due to the fact that in this game you can get a bit more distance (Especially if you're hitting the Big Bridgestone driver with fast swings!) and having to adjust to not being able to make actual vertical surfaces for things like retaining walls, etc. They really need to add that!
Course design and layout:
Zanzibar GC is set at the base of rolling foothills. Both nines start out at fairly low elevation, then climb to the far end of the property before returning back down the slope to the clubhouse. Three lakes and a creek connecting them all means that water can be in play on 11 of the 18 holes. Lots of elevation, but all of it realistic, make for a solid challenge. Greens are generous, but often tiered, which places premiums on approach shot accuracy. The shorter the ideal approach shot, the smaller the target is likely to be. Fairways are often more generous than they may appear from the tees.
Zanzibar GC has two configurations – the regular members layout has traditional tees, ranging from 6,244 yards to 7,577 yards at the tips. The back tees are generally recommended only for the best players – even very good players should find that the Blue tees provide sufficient challenge for a casual round with friends. The course superintendent generally plays nicely with the members, leaving an area of light rough surrounding most greens. Maybe this is due to the bottles of scotch left on his desk?
When the Tour visits Zanzibar GC, a mixed tee set is used. These tees range from 7,070 yards to 7,225 yards and provide the tournament heads the ability to give opportunities to score on holes that would be tough to make par on, were the back tees the only ones in use. Nowhere is this more evident than on the par 3’s at Zanzibar GC, which in Tour configuration can play with as many as 60 yards between days. As well, holes like #10, which is normally a two shot hole can have it’s tee moved up to make it a driveable par 4, adding to the possible drama. As well as the traditional crowds and seating, when set up for the Tour’s arrival, the course superintendent lets all the grass around the greens grow out, so expect thick, gnarly lies if you’re just off the surface.
The course normally plays firm and fast, so make sure to hit your landing spots if you want the ball to settle near the hole for a scoring chance!
1 – The first hole at Zanzibar golf club will test how well your warm up session on the range went. From the back tees, three bunkers guard the landing area, making a slight cut on this gentle dogleg right the ideal shot. Just don’t let your cut turn into a slice or you might find the large middle lake. You could play it safe and stay short of the bunkers, but that will leave you around 200 yards into a green with distinct left and right tiers, guarded by a large bunker fronting the green. From the other tees, it’s possible to get past the bunkers off the tee and leave yourself a mid iron in, which can be beneficial, as the prevailing easterly winds will be in your face on the approach.
2 – A downhill par 3 to a generous peninsula green. Check your elevation, the pin and the wind, as the front flags can definitely bring the lake into play. If the prevailing breeze is up for your round, beware, as it is not your friend, pushing the ball to the right towards a watery grave. Should the flag be the back left shelf, you could try to run it up or get it to fly and stick.
3 – The first par 5 at Zanzibar GC starts off with a slightly uphill drive that plays into the prevailing breeze to a generous landing area. If you can keep it in the fairway and get it far enough up towards the upper lake, you’ll be rewarded with a chance to go straight over the lake at the green in two. Since the first creek of your round runs the entire length of the fairway on the right, you might be tempted to bail out left. In this case, you’ll need to make sure your layup shot stays short of, or gets past, the large tree between the fairway and the lake. The large green has distinct tiers front and left with the center and back right a more gentle transition.
4 – Playing 359 to 431 yards, you might be forgiven for thinking that number 4 is an easy follow up to our first par 5. That is, until you realize that this hole plays more than 70 feet uphill from all tee boxes. As well, the farther back the tees go, the more difficult the angle for your tee shot, playing as a dogleg right from the tips. A well placed tee shot will leave you a mid iron in, but still 30-40 feet below the green surface. The green generally slopes left to right, but beware the small false front in the center. Should you catch this, you’re likely to roll a good 30-40 yards back off the front of the green.
5 – A short par 4 will give you several possible strategic options. Drive the green? Go for it! But don’t go long, as it is a very steep drop off behind the green. Lay up? A definite possibility to make birdie if your pitching game is solid? Feel like you’re the Sandman? Maybe either of the two greenside bunkers will give you the best chance at a birdie. Whatever your choice, execute your strategy well, as anything less than birdie here will feel like a loss. But hey, you make birdie and enjoy the waterfall on your walk to the 6th tee!
6 – The tee shot here can look pretty intimidating, especially from the tips. A massive bunker right and the creek definitely in play on the right? Yep, those can get in your head. But this hole plays both 70’ downhill from the tips to the landing area as well as being downwind on the prevailing breeze to a landing area that’s around 50 yards wide in most spots. A well placed tee shot will leave anywhere from a long to short iron, depending on the wind, into a green that has three tiers from going up from the left to the right. Hit the correct tier and you’ll be rewarded with a putt that has a relatively tame break.
7 – The longest 5 at Zanzibar GC at 619 from the tips. Visually, the tee shot looks daunting with what appears to be a 20 yard ribbon of fairway to hit, but out of sight from the tee, it widens to nearly 60 yards in the main landing area. Your second shot will be a layup short of the ravine for all but the longest hitters in ideal wind conditions. If the wind is right and the flag is on the left side of the green a great shot can run up the neck between the bunkers and find the slope to the left tier, bringing the ball to the hole. A perfect shot to a back left pin might even find an Albatross. If it does, go buy yourself a lottery ticket right away! If the flag is on the right, you’re probably better coming up short rather than having to make the long putt to the upper tier from the left side of the green.
8 – This long par 3 crosses the middle creek as well as having the middle lake on the right side, but neither should come into play. Two flags centrally located can be gotten to, as can the flag on the back left shelf, but the back right flag can only be challenged by skirting the bunker and using the slope to feed the ball back to this tucked location.
9 – The closing hole on the front side will challenge you to think outside the box on your tee strategy. Playing downhill and often downwind, carrying the lake to the far fairway shouldn’t be an issue, but how to stop the ball before it finds itself in the massive bunker beyond the fairway is an issue. A three wood might be able to clear the lake and find the fairway, as might a big cut with your drive. If you’re a bomber, aim just left of the lone tree on the lakeside and let the big dog eat. A good tee shot will leave you with nothing more than a wedge into a small green with four distinct areas. The three outer areas can all be gotten to using the slopes leading to them, but the upper middle tier will require a very precise approach for a birdie opportunity.
10 – The back nine starts out much more gently than the front, with a relatively short par 4. A good drive into the prevailing breeze will leave a short iron or wedge into the most severely tiered green at Zanzibar GC. On most days, even big hitters won’t need to worry much about the three bunkers at the end of the fairway, but if it’s playing downwind, you may need to club down to keep it in the fairway. On the blind approach make sure to find the correct tier, as being on the wrong tier could turn this seemingly easy hole into a bogey on your card.
11 - After the relatively easy 10th hole, things are about to get real. A long dogleg right playing into the prevailing wind means that even a good tee shot will likely have a long iron in. The creek is up the left, but even if you don’t find the creek, going left is a bad idea, as the rough is particularly thick here and there’s a strong chance that you won’t be able to reach the green from it. The right side is a very steep hill that will likely save you if you bail out right, but you might find yourself blocked out by a couple of trees on the approach. The green is well guarded left, right and behind with a large central tier as well as two small lower tiers front right and back left. Using the slope to get to these flags, especially the back flag is a real option.
12 – While short on the card, the par 5 12th hole plays nearly 70 feet uphill, so you’d be forgiven for laying up in the provided area between the large fairway bunkers. If you’re playing from forward tees or downwind, you can challenge the neck of the fairway from the tee, making this a reachable hole and bringing an eagle into play. The green is well guarded with bunkers and features three tiers, the smallest of which is the back right, where a precise wedge shot with the right amount of spin can get the ball close.
13 – Our first par 3 on the back nine is slightly uphill and features a large ‘C’ shaped green with three distinct areas, although they’re not sharply sloped enough to be called tiers. The small front bunker guards the central part of the green, asking you to shape your shot effectively to get to a central flag. The massive back bunker may look great, but you probably don’t want to get to familiar with it.
14 – The 14th hole presents itself as a short hard dogleg left. Short enough that you’d probably want a three or five wood off the tee to stay short of the three bunkers at the end of the fairway. But looks can be deceiving. In fact, despite the trees blocking your view of the green, the 14th hole can be driven from the tee in most wind conditions. The problem isn’t quite so much reaching the green as holding it. While a layup gives you a straightforward approach, to a green with three tiers from left to right, driving it from the tee means those tiers are running away from you. Discretion might be the better part of valor for flags on the top left tier, as you’ll likely have a better scoring chance on a short iron approach than a 120 foot putt with nearly 4 feet of uphill elevation change.
15 – The signature hole at Zanzibar GC. With its split fairway, retaining wall and options galore, the 15th will leave you wondering how to attack it. As well, the hole plays completely different depending on your tee choice, as the Blue tees are more than 100 yards left of the Black tees with the White and Red tees another 100 yards over. From the Black or Blue tees, you’re presented with an option of the upper right fairway or the lower left fairway. Either are viable options, with the upper fairway offering a semi-blind downhill approach, while the lower fairway offers a more direct view from less elevation to one of the largest greens at Zanzibar GC. The green itself has mild tiering, but those will generally help feed a decent shot towards the hole.
16 – The final par 3 at Zanzibar GC and home of the Tetris green! Well guarded by bunkers and with three distinct tiers, this is not to be taken lightly. A front flag is your best bet for birdie here, as there is a nice back stop to use to attack the pin. Mid tier flags are tougher to get to and the flag in the back right will take a great shot to land yourself a real birdie opportunity.
17 – The penultimate hole at Zanzibar is a long dogleg left, downhill off the tee, with the creek running the entire length of the fairway just off the left. The fairway is very ample at 50-60 yards wide in the landing areas, but does slope away to the right, so bailing out away from the water will bring the deep rough into play. Depending on wind and your level of aggression off the tee, your approach might be anything from a long iron to a wedge into a large green reminiscent of the 9th hole. A distinct front tier and more subtle back left and back right tiers make accuracy and strategy on your approach shot paramount.
18 – The home hole at Zanzibar is a classic par 5 with the lower lake in play the entire way. The fairway here is more pinched than many, with the primary landing area only 32 yards wide, but a good tee shot, especially in the prevailing downwind breeze will give you an opportunity to reach in two. Find the bunker right or the rough left and you’ll need to lay up down the fairway to leave yourself a short iron or wedge into another large green with subtle tiers. If the flag is in the back, beware the false back – you might find yourself with a tough chip or pitch back onto the green. We hope you enjoyed your round at Zanzibar Golf Club and that you found a level of challenge that made it a memorable experience!
Hole 15 Black Tees:
Hole 15 upper fairway approach:
Hole 16:
Hole 18:
