Post by shotstone on May 20, 2021 0:13:32 GMT -5
So I was recently doing some research on my home course here in Phoenix, AZ. Mesa Country Club was built in 1948 by William Bell (of Torrey Pines fame). The course is a unique one in Phoenix as it is a fairly traditional parkland style course (ambitious given the climate).
Anyway, while looking some stuff up, I found an old aerial from 1969.
What doesn't come across in the aerial is the elevation changes. I've added the below picture to at the very least provide that context. The area below the red line is ~30 - 60ft higher in elevation that the area above the red line. So the whole south portion of the property is a raised plateau.
This course, is *almost* nothing like the course I play today. In fact, this routing is so different I could probably only number 3-4 of the holes. In fact the bulk of the plateau to the south has been entirely rerouted. Here is the course today - (as of 2018).
I find it interesting that since the original design the entire South-East portion of the plateau has been re-routed from a sort of North-South series of holes, to an East-West series of holes. Additionally the acquisition of land along the canal facilitated the rerouting of holes across it.
I've also been able to come up with some interesting statistics about the course (since green-size is such a hot button issue around here) -
Average green size (today) : 3,872 sqft (down 10% from the original routing)
Smallest green : 2,737 sqft (the par 5 first hole)
Largest green : 5,162 sqft (the par 4 tenth hole)
You can tell from those numbers, that the course's primary defense is its green size (and given that it is only 6,800yrds from the back tees - the small greens definitely amp up the difficulty).
Anyway, I thought this group might find the evolution of the routing from the original design to the current rather interesting. Also, if you're ever in Phoenix, let me know and I can get you out onto a fairly unique golf course.
Anyway, while looking some stuff up, I found an old aerial from 1969.
What doesn't come across in the aerial is the elevation changes. I've added the below picture to at the very least provide that context. The area below the red line is ~30 - 60ft higher in elevation that the area above the red line. So the whole south portion of the property is a raised plateau.
This course, is *almost* nothing like the course I play today. In fact, this routing is so different I could probably only number 3-4 of the holes. In fact the bulk of the plateau to the south has been entirely rerouted. Here is the course today - (as of 2018).
I find it interesting that since the original design the entire South-East portion of the plateau has been re-routed from a sort of North-South series of holes, to an East-West series of holes. Additionally the acquisition of land along the canal facilitated the rerouting of holes across it.
I've also been able to come up with some interesting statistics about the course (since green-size is such a hot button issue around here) -
Average green size (today) : 3,872 sqft (down 10% from the original routing)
Smallest green : 2,737 sqft (the par 5 first hole)
Largest green : 5,162 sqft (the par 4 tenth hole)
You can tell from those numbers, that the course's primary defense is its green size (and given that it is only 6,800yrds from the back tees - the small greens definitely amp up the difficulty).
Anyway, I thought this group might find the evolution of the routing from the original design to the current rather interesting. Also, if you're ever in Phoenix, let me know and I can get you out onto a fairly unique golf course.