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Post by Q on Aug 31, 2021 2:21:58 GMT -5
My 5th publish is one that hits close to home, or at least where I called home for a long period in my life: The Napa Valley. Situated deep within Wine Country, this is a memoriam of a course that no longer exists: -A 9-hole course known as Aetna Springs, one of the oldest courses in all of California, that was only recently restored by Tom Doak in the late 2000s and then was temporarily closed in 2016 and then tragically was burned down in 2019. There is no true water hazard on this course, just dried creek beds and a lone reservoir out of play above the 3rd tees. This course is mostly about approach angles into greens but also imperfect lies. Consider where to hit that would produce a flat lie to make your approach easier! Gold tees are my recommended tees to play. I do not recommend putting the greens above 163(Fast), 187s are downright rude. Any Winds work but I suspect High South winds would make a certain 500 yard par 4 (Hole 7) pretty brutal. The CC requirements I chose were: 1. 1,000,000 Sq Yard Course, I did a 900x1100 rectangle for this with plenty of room to spare.  2. Four Greens within 200 yards of each other. Holes 9, 11, 15, 17, 18 are all within 200 yards of eachother making for 5
 3. Hole 18 is a par 3. It is in fact the shortest par 3 on the course!  4. Five or More Par 3s. Holes 4,8,12,14, and 18 are par 3s! Hole 8 is pictured below  Honorable Mentions: - At least one driveable par 4, (Hole 10) - At least one par 3 longer than 230 yards (Hole 14) - At least one 3-shot par 5 (Hole 9) -At least 2 holes with a centreline hazard ( 7, 15, 16) Self Sabotaged Mentions: - At least one par 3 shorter than 125 (it plays better at 132) - At least three par 4s under 400 (I like one playing exactly 400 yards sorry) - Total Course Yardage no greater than 6900 (after manipulation it hit 6943, plays better that way anyways) Hope you all enjoy! |
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Post by cd06 on Aug 31, 2021 3:25:59 GMT -5
Looks great buddy! Glad you got this one in before the deadline. Hoping we will get one of those sweet promo videos like you did for Chuysky at some point.  |
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Post by Firethorn15 on Aug 31, 2021 5:00:15 GMT -5
Lots of fun - can definitely see the need for the green speed limits (future Plat venue on 187s?). Favourite holes were probably 4, 10 and 15. Undulations on the fairways were really good - found myself out of position quite a few times when I didn't use my brain enough off the tee. Best of luck in the contest!
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Post by cd06 on Aug 31, 2021 7:28:00 GMT -5
Cracking course, buddy - loved the subtle fairway undulations and the wide first cut really worked well. fun greens as always from you as well! environment was simple but class, and I also really liked the par threes (in particular no. 4).
hope this does well, one of my favourites from the contest!
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Post by blueblood1995 on Aug 31, 2021 8:25:43 GMT -5
As above the 3s were the highlight. In fact, perhaps the best collection of very short holes I can recall in recent memory. Beautifully framed. Loved the expansive feel with long views. The course had a wonderful flow to it. Understated and "played real". Really enjoyed my round. Good luck in the contest!
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Post by trailducker on Aug 31, 2021 12:07:54 GMT -5
MMMMM Wine. Defintely felt like I was traveling in some Northern California highways I've been on like Highway 80. Great enviornment and some fun golf to boot for sure! Congrats! I would say goodluck but we are in the same group! hahaha
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Post by jwfickett on Aug 31, 2021 15:19:19 GMT -5
the routing is absolutely sick
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Post by cd06 on Aug 31, 2021 15:31:37 GMT -5
the routing is absolutely sick Echo this. I still dont know how people route so good. If you look at my first two courses, both of them have terrible routings compared to this lol. |
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Post by SirLeOssi on Aug 31, 2021 17:42:14 GMT -5
Lovely look, expact nothing else from you.
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Post by Heisenberg on Sept 1, 2021 5:45:23 GMT -5
Great work Q. Loved the wide, open sightlines, the fields and the environment was great. Favourtie holes were 8, 9 & 18 and I thought the difficutly was perfect for CC. I personally feel like this was your best yet certainly in terms of the golf itself - congrats.
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Post by TeeeJ9798 on Sept 1, 2021 12:34:18 GMT -5
Q Want my notes here or in a dm?
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Post by Q on Sept 1, 2021 15:02:52 GMT -5
Great work Q. Loved the wide, open sightlines, the fields and the environment was great. Favourtie holes were 8, 9 & 18 and I thought the difficutly was perfect for CC. I personally feel like this was your best yet certainly in terms of the golf itself - congrats. 8 is also my favorite hole! Thanks, that means a lot. I was fighting this course to the very end so it was hard to look at it without biased eyes. After Chuysky I felt like I had strayed too far towards being a good plot builder instead of a good course designer so I focused all my attention into routing and hole design on this one in an environment where the course itself had to be the star. I know Im supposed to be competitive against red team and whatnot but mainly im just excited to get a lot of feedback while designing my next course and also excited to see all the courses that come out of DT. As a big fan of Sattler's I also wish you well in the contest! Cheers |
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Post by Q on Sept 1, 2021 15:29:51 GMT -5
cd06 thanks for the support as always, video will be out later as I need a serious break before refocusing on DT Firethorn15 to tell you the truth I designed the greens as I normally do and then just cranked the default speed back even farther to make them fair for CC (152 or so I believe). Glad you liked 15, that was probably the quirkiest hole on the course blueblood1995 Im glad you found this one played more realistically as that was my intention! Chuysky was so out there I felt like I had to return to my roots. The course I grew up playing on had a lovely variety of short 3s and par 3s under 200 yards are always some of my favorite holes. jwfickett Im glad you liked it. Chuyksy's routing was an absolute mess so I focused a huge amount on that on this course. SirLeOssi thanks for the kind words as always! TeeeJ9798 I slapped your course in public so feel free to do the same 
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Post by pizzastrangler on Sept 1, 2021 20:21:43 GMT -5
Really enjoy your courses, this one was no different. Nice environment and the course played great. Nice work. Cheers.
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Post by TeeeJ9798 on Sept 1, 2021 22:37:50 GMT -5
Since we decided to trade nit-picky feedback, here we go:
Love the look of the wineries. Really adds to the environment. It's been mentioned, but the par 3's are the highlight of the course and are all framed excellent.
I thought the background could get a little bland on the planting side. The grass draw distance just didn't work for me even on pc. I thought the creek could be lowered to be more natural. The planting of the dried creeks seemed to sit a little higher than I think that area would if there was once a creek there.
For the bunkers, I enjoyed the small circle ones but the more elongated ones sat funky to my eye.
The last big thing I noticed was the light/heavy rough transition felt forced. I think the sculpting for that difference has to mesh (ex. there could be a hill or something as the reason the light rough turns to the brown heavy rough or have it be planted) really caught my eye on holes 6 and 8.
Hole 9 is a great example of a 3 shot par 5 for anyone wondering, and damn those wineries look great on that hole.
Hopefully, for hole 10, I don't see anyone saying "Why should I ever not go for this par 4?" They would be wrong, in real life that up and down to the left is difficult.
Lastly, I thought hole 11 needed to slope left to right or back to front. It was too out of place for the rest of the course to not have the green slope naturally with the terrain there even though some will "disagree", but this isn't a golden age course. Course works well for CC level, a surprise from someone known for harder difficulty.
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