Little Pigeon (Rookie Contest)

[tpcsouthnine]

I’m happy to share Little Pigeon, my Rookie Design Challenge entry. 

Loosely based on a late William Langford course (Gatlinburg Golf Course), this is my attempt at something in the golden age maximalist style on a hilly, rocky site. The greens and bunkers are manufactured, but the fairways feature limited shaping and, as a result, a fair bit of camber and the occasional blind shot. Green slopes reward approaches played to the correct side of the hole.

Set on hills between prongs of the Little Pigeon River, the front 9 plays across the more gradual south slopes, and the shorter, quirkier back 9 plays on the more severe north slopes and across the middle prong of the river.

Thanks to everyone involved in putting on this contest. This has been a fun one to build. 




Note: Built on the Autumn theme, fairways show as “soft” in the default settings. They should play firm. 
Also, green speeds should not exceed 163.

[cd06]

Looks beautiful, can't wait to give this a play

[slightlysaucy]

Looks pure! Looking forward to playing it! Cheers

[blindwolfgolf]

Just played a round here and there is a lot to like. Think the texture choices you used were spot on, liked the soft color of the fairways.. Liked finishing on a par 3 too that’s pretty interesting. A couple of the holes were a little quirky and personally wasn’t the biggest fan of (the 294 par 3 105ft down, kinda felt detached from rest of course) but some of the holes I really enjoyed. 16th really stood out for me as my favorite, absolute stunner of a sight line and probably my favorite hole on the course. The routing was neat on this hole as well with shared fairway to the prior drivable par 4. Congrats on the publish and good luck in the contest.

[tpcsouthnine]

Thanks for giving it a play blindwolfgolf! I’m glad to hear you found a lot to like.

I get where you’re coming from on 14. It’s a bit of an oddball. (Strangely enough it’s probably the hole that aligns most closely with Gatlinburg GC, which features a 220-yard, 110-foot downhill hole.) I debated including it; initially, this was a short 4 that played to edge of the river. But I ultimately decided to go with this long 3 for a few reasons: 1) There were too many short 4s on the back 9, and that was the weakest one. With 2 or 3 other par-3.5-type holes on this side that were labeled as 4s, I thought it would be good to have one that was labeled as a 3. 2) I’m interested in 300-ish yard holes that play relatively easy. There are a ton of cool holes at that length that play with a ton of challenge and are labeled as par 4s. I’d like to see some that play relatively easier for the yardage but still present interesting shots. 3) I had this very severe section of land to cover, and I thought a par 3 was the best way to deal with it.

[Avakrac]

Nice entry in to the contest dude. Thanks for the course for us all to play and good luck.

[trailducker]

Fun course and definitely can see how fast you are improving in the designer. I totally see the golden era influences. Great job

[sandgroper]

I like a course that comes with a warning, so challenge accepted!
Great plot with some interesting things happening off course i.imgur.com/lVD8ul6.jpg
Like the putt putt i.imgur.com/Z2unqqn.jpg and the blue team tractor racing i.imgur.com/YlFF6a4.jpg and the red team cart racing i.imgur.com/3ppmeTh.jpg.
Gorgeous little clubhouse i.imgur.com/GPSLbzm.jpg I love the colour in the gardens and putting green on the other side i.imgur.com/GvKSm0H.jpg.

A little smoothing required of the back of the first tee i.imgur.com/vSLGTQL.jpg
I like your autumn theme and the planting with the grasses.
Went for it on 10 and got the cruellest of bounces.
I think the 14th felt a little out of place and the protection on 15 just made me play a big 'ol slice in there, but left me with a terrifying putt.
Then 17 was another drivable par 4 a little to close together.
Good little finishing hole that I missed right and made it difficult for myself.

[geordieboy85]

Lovely environment and some good golf to be had, good job and good luck

[ixggolf]

Really enjoyed this. Again, I'm not a great player and play on easy settings.

There were some tough shots, I struggled to find some greens and fairways, and got some cranky bounces but overall it was fair!

Nearly aced the 7th so that made me think I was much better than I am.

Course looks stunning with the colours - overall, I enjoyed my round!