Fruitland Farms GC (The Course to replace The Course)
Mar 30, 2021 10:31:18 GMT -5
coruler2, rod81simo, and 23 more like this
Post by theclv24 on Mar 30, 2021 10:31:18 GMT -5
The first edition of Fruitland Farms is now published, under the name Fruitland Farms GC 2021. If you would like to follow along with the philosophy and design process behind the course, the WIP thread is the best place to get caught up. If that is too much for you, I’ll do my best to summarize here.
The goal of this course is to provide a venue for the TGC Tours spring major event, without invoking the ire of HB/2K or the folks at ANGC. The best way, in my mind, to capture the spirit of the course without copying the course was to undertake a major renovation, attempting to challenge the modern player while also returning to the roots of Alistair Mackenzie’s original 1934 design.
What I present here, in this first edition, is a combination of original 1934 concepts, some recognizable elements of the modern course, and the occasional entirely new concept. From an overall perspective, the course is meant to be more cohesive by making bunker designs and sizes a little more consistent, and fairways have been restored closer to original sizes, also resulting in plenty of tree thinning and opened up sightlines across the course.
Hole 1
Right side of hole opened up, with a slightly forward tee to allow some attempts at clearing the bunker for a better angle into the green.
Hole 2
Bunker moved back to the inside corner of dogleg to encourage drives to the right, at a worse approach angle.
Left greenside bunker removed and replaced with a swale, encouraging more attempts at left pins. Misses long and left face difficult recovery.
Hole 3
Tee moved forward to make the hole truly driveable.
Left bunker cluster replaced with a single large bunker, like the original.
Bunker added in most common layup area.
Hole 4
Moved tee slightly forward, added intermediate tee along the right.
Shifted green angle to more resemble the original Eden, added more green surface.
Reshaped bunkers.
Hole 5
Back the original single fairway bunker.
Added more fairway on the right, encouraging a drive to the right at a worse approach angle.
Hole 6
Added more green surface at front right, creating a steeper false front.
Reshaped bunker.
Hole 7
More fairway and fewer trees on both side of fairway.
Removed center bunker and both bunkers behind green. Replaced front bunker with false green front. Added new green section at back left for pin.
Hole 8
Moved tee to the right.
Opened up fairway and tree line along the right.
Reshaped bunker, which now serves as a center hazard. Can take on more risk from the tee along the right for a better angle in to green.
Hole 9
Cleared trees down the right side, encouraging drive down the right for a farther approach and worse lie. Fairway slopes away hard down the valley, leaving hanging lies.
Hole 10
Added a tee at members’ tee box, allowing the ability to play as a short four.
Reshaped bunker closer to original, added more fairway on either side for short hole play.
Hole 11
Removed trees and reintroduced fairway down right side of hole.
Removed greenside bunker and trees, sculpted a large runoff for right misses to back pins.
Hole 12
Added green surface, especially in front left and front right. New front left pin location.
Added back tee, allowing two teeing options.
Reshaped bunkers.
Hole 13
Removed trees to open up right side of fairway, encouraging safe bailouts and long approaches to green.
Restored from left tongue of green, with new pin position.
Hole 14
Moved tee left, removed trees and opened up left side of fairway.
Restored original bunker, but farther down fairway to be slightly in play.
Hole 15
Tree removal and fairway expansion of both sides.
Peninsula of trees estanding into fairway has been reduced to a small island of trees, like the original hole.
Bunker has been removed and replaced with original mound, affecting shots in to front right abd back right pins.
Hole 16
Tree removal and fairway additions to improve sightlines.
Bunkers reshaped.
Hole 17
Members’ tee used as option for short four.
Tree removal and fairway expansion on both sides.
Hole 18
Left side of hole opened up and fairway added.
Bunker reshaped and made into center hazard.
Greenside bunkers reshaped.
Back right area added to green to tuck pin behind bunker.
Aerial Comparison
The goal of this course is to provide a venue for the TGC Tours spring major event, without invoking the ire of HB/2K or the folks at ANGC. The best way, in my mind, to capture the spirit of the course without copying the course was to undertake a major renovation, attempting to challenge the modern player while also returning to the roots of Alistair Mackenzie’s original 1934 design.
What I present here, in this first edition, is a combination of original 1934 concepts, some recognizable elements of the modern course, and the occasional entirely new concept. From an overall perspective, the course is meant to be more cohesive by making bunker designs and sizes a little more consistent, and fairways have been restored closer to original sizes, also resulting in plenty of tree thinning and opened up sightlines across the course.
While I have controlled most of this project in an attempt to quickly produce the first version of the course, I have received plenty of advice, suggestions, ideas, and contributions from the following (I'm very sorry if I forget anyone, and please let me know): theduke21 spikel Doyley gamesdecent rod81simo PithyDoctorG mattf27 mayday_golf83 Q rob4590 mctrees02 tpetro
Below is a brief summary of the changes introduced to each hole.
Tee/Pin Pairings:
Red Tee - Pin 1
White Tee - Pin 2
Yellow Tee - Pin 3
Green Tee - Pin 4
Hole 1
Right side of hole opened up, with a slightly forward tee to allow some attempts at clearing the bunker for a better angle into the green.
Original cross bunker restored short of the green, with the greenside bunker removed and replaced with green surface to create a larger false front.
Bunker moved back to the inside corner of dogleg to encourage drives to the right, at a worse approach angle.
Left greenside bunker removed and replaced with a swale, encouraging more attempts at left pins. Misses long and left face difficult recovery.
Right greenside bunker reshaped.
Hole 3
Tee moved forward to make the hole truly driveable.
Left bunker cluster replaced with a single large bunker, like the original.
Bunker added in most common layup area.
Fairway added along left, and right side opened up to encourage attempts down the tree to bound onto green.
Hole 4
Moved tee slightly forward, added intermediate tee along the right.
Shifted green angle to more resemble the original Eden, added more green surface.
Reshaped bunkers.
New sightlines everywhere.
Hole 5
Back the original single fairway bunker.
Added more fairway on the right, encouraging a drive to the right at a worse approach angle.
Removed the greenside bunker. Long misses now run away from the green.
Hole 6
Added more green surface at front right, creating a steeper false front.
Reshaped bunker.
Opened up sightlines everywhere.
Hole 7
More fairway and fewer trees on both side of fairway.
Removed center bunker and both bunkers behind green. Replaced front bunker with false green front. Added new green section at back left for pin.
Reshaped bunkers.
Hole 8
Moved tee to the right.
Opened up fairway and tree line along the right.
Reshaped bunker, which now serves as a center hazard. Can take on more risk from the tee along the right for a better angle in to green.
Opened up some trees in front left of green. Added back right mound to green along with some new green surface in that area.
Hole 9
Cleared trees down the right side, encouraging drive down the right for a farther approach and worse lie. Fairway slopes away hard down the valley, leaving hanging lies.
Original boomerang green restored. Right side of green recontoured, with some influence from greens 11 and 16 at Pasatiempo.
Hole 10
Added a tee at members’ tee box, allowing the ability to play as a short four.
Reshaped bunker closer to original, added more fairway on either side for short hole play.
Expanded back right corner of green to tuck pin behind bunker, shaved some left side green surface away.
Hole 11
Removed trees and reintroduced fairway down right side of hole.
Removed greenside bunker and trees, sculpted a large runoff for right misses to back pins.
Removed large mounds short of green that directed balls into the water, replaced with smaller mounds closer to original, which can be helpful to some pins and hurting to others.
Hole 12
Added green surface, especially in front left and front right. New front left pin location.
Added back tee, allowing two teeing options.
Reshaped bunkers.
Opened sightlines to neighboring Augusta CC.
Hole 13
Removed trees to open up right side of fairway, encouraging safe bailouts and long approaches to green.
Restored from left tongue of green, with new pin position.
Reshaped bunkers.
Hole 14
Moved tee left, removed trees and opened up left side of fairway.
Restored original bunker, but farther down fairway to be slightly in play.
Bunker and fairway shaped to encourage drives down the left, leaving worse angle into green.
Hole 15
Tree removal and fairway expansion of both sides.
Peninsula of trees estanding into fairway has been reduced to a small island of trees, like the original hole.
Bunker has been removed and replaced with original mound, affecting shots in to front right abd back right pins.
More fairway added and trees removed to extend sightline all of the way to the 16th green. Sightlines from green now go all of the way to the clubhouse.
Hole 16
Tree removal and fairway additions to improve sightlines.
Bunkers reshaped.
Front of green sculpted for a pin position.
Hole 17
Members’ tee used as option for short four.
Tree removal and fairway expansion on both sides.
Greenside bunkers removed and green reshaped to resemble influence of 14th at Old Course. Left side mounds accentuated, fall offs back right and front right of potato chip shaped green.
Hole 18
Left side of hole opened up and fairway added.
Bunker reshaped and made into center hazard.
Greenside bunkers reshaped.
Back right area added to green to tuck pin behind bunker.
Mounding added along left side to make for tougher approach to left pins from left fairway.
Aerial Comparison
Comparing the new layout to the old. The old aerial is from the tournament version, which has some fairway removed to accommodate crowds, which can’t exist on fairway. The new aerial does show some larger hole corridors by comparison, though, along with changes to bunkering to make the course more cohesive.