Post by Q on Feb 8, 2022 16:53:29 GMT -5
In the last year we have tightened up our reviews of tour worthy because we have a build up of unused TW courses that never have been on tour.
Also this season, with pro swing in effect, we've had absolutely incredible scoring in Plat, where it has begun reaching a point where the max possible score you can get on a course is being reached. Previously what was considered a major course on Masters settings is now a normal plat course, making filling the Major Contests this year especially a pain.
For the last year or so I have been reaching out to designers individually on if they wanted to make adjustments to a course so it could go on plat. Especially for MAJOR events. To make things more fair, I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to go public and allow anyone who was eligible to do the same! We have LOADS of readily usable courses that are TW that could be adjusted to become wonderful Major Courses!
So how is this going to work?
I'm not sure how popular this contest will be. If entrants exceed more than I can handle (20) which I doubt, I’ll probably have to cut off signups, so consider the contest first come first serve.
Since the course is already in the database, this new version will replace it, it will not need to be resubmitted to TGC Tours . Be aware that this "Major Version" is considered a "Duplicate Course" and only one can be in the database at the time, which will Delete your older course from the database.
Essentially, You will sign up with a specific course in mind to redesign, You will then adjust the course and publish it during the publish window under a different name (not final name). The course will then be judged by me (plus a panel of judges consisting of designers and plat players).
A winner will be chosen who gets the American Open (Us Open) slot on Plat Tour!
Runner up will get the Plat Tour Championship (PGA Major)
Any others will get feedback and ,if interested, a list of changes to be made for a Final version to host a regular plat tournament.
Once again Make Sure the Name of the Course is Different, consider the published contest course to be a beta as changes might need to be made for it to be officially used in a plat tourney
Dates
-Sign Ups run till Feb 21st!
-Publish Window April 1st - April 15th
How Do I Sign Up?
Post your name/platform/course name as such
"Names-platform-eligiblecoursename"
and Tag me In this thread!
If you're having trouble finding an eligible course I can help you find one!
I will update the List of Participants in this original post so if you don't see your name there tell me.
Course Requirements:
-Course cannot have been used in a TGC Tours Event this Season
-Course cannot have been used in a Plat/Elite Event last Season
-Course has to be already TW in the database
-No RCRs/LiDars
-Ports from Previous Games are OK with some exceptions (No major Contest Courses or Top 5 in TGC19 Contest Courses)
Can I Publish betas/ Ask for Outside assistance?
Yes you can, feel free to even work on this as a Collab! The goal is to make the best major course possible after all! I will also try to play people’s betas and give feedback but only once per course only! Use it well…
What Should I Be Aiming For?
-There are no hard rules here, Changing aesthetics is both unnecessary and won't be directly judged on, but also won’t be frowned upon if you want to beautify your course some more! Ultimately this is an already finished course, this shouldn't take as long as if you’re creating a new course from scratch and the shorter window to publish is a reflection of this. Tearing up some holes is fine but if you tear up all 18, I’m going to laugh at you.
-Transform a course that you think was already decent, The bones of the course need to be good afterall!
- The course should be hard, but not impossible! Par 4s should still be reachable in two from the fairway, fairways should still be possible to hit. There is a unique finesse to making a course hard but not stupid, and that’s what we’re hoping to see!
How can I make my course harder?
Consider a couple options aside from making postage stamp red sloped greens. Courses that are hard off the tee are significantly harder to find than ones with hard greens! Try playing the game on an easier setting than you normally play when playtesting to get a feel for how plat players can play!
-Plat players now can play for 105% power drives allowing for clearing tremendous distances especially with the 295 driver. Think of designing hazards around these distances as well as how high winds would affect clearing those hazards, would it suddenly make a hard clear super easy?
-Plat Players make a lot of chips, especially within 10 yards, think about that when making tucked pins on a hole, a 10 yard putt is harder than a 10 yard chip!
-Elevation changes and wind can be calculated, but lies cannot! Plat players cant see the lie grid at their feet and have to estimate how the lie will affect the ball, flat lies should be avoided!
Bonus Points/ Kudos:
Think of designing tees/ pins around certain settings, you can request these with your publish!
For instance:
Pin 2 is designed for 187 greens, pin 1 for defaults, Pin 3 for 163s (fast). Black tees for Very High North Winds, White Tees for High West Winds.
Why would you do this? Think of a 500 yard par 4, yes it is playable but if you have a certain wind condition it becomes unreachable which eliminates a high wind option, forcing the course to be played on lower wind settings! Having a tee for a Very High wind day in a specific direction can allow especially long courses to still get to use that setting!
So how is this going to work?
I'm not sure how popular this contest will be. If entrants exceed more than I can handle (20) which I doubt, I’ll probably have to cut off signups, so consider the contest first come first serve.
Since the course is already in the database, this new version will replace it, it will not need to be resubmitted to TGC Tours . Be aware that this "Major Version" is considered a "Duplicate Course" and only one can be in the database at the time, which will Delete your older course from the database.
Essentially, You will sign up with a specific course in mind to redesign, You will then adjust the course and publish it during the publish window under a different name (not final name). The course will then be judged by me (plus a panel of judges consisting of designers and plat players).
A winner will be chosen who gets the American Open (Us Open) slot on Plat Tour!
Runner up will get the Plat Tour Championship (PGA Major)
Any others will get feedback and ,if interested, a list of changes to be made for a Final version to host a regular plat tournament.
Once again Make Sure the Name of the Course is Different, consider the published contest course to be a beta as changes might need to be made for it to be officially used in a plat tourney
Dates
-Sign Ups run till Feb 21st!
-Publish Window April 1st - April 15th
How Do I Sign Up?
Post your name/platform/course name as such
"Names-platform-eligiblecoursename"
and Tag me In this thread!
If you're having trouble finding an eligible course I can help you find one!
I will update the List of Participants in this original post so if you don't see your name there tell me.
Course Requirements:
-Course cannot have been used in a TGC Tours Event this Season
-Course cannot have been used in a Plat/Elite Event last Season
-Course has to be already TW in the database
-No RCRs/LiDars
-Ports from Previous Games are OK with some exceptions (No major Contest Courses or Top 5 in TGC19 Contest Courses)
Can I Publish betas/ Ask for Outside assistance?
Yes you can, feel free to even work on this as a Collab! The goal is to make the best major course possible after all! I will also try to play people’s betas and give feedback but only once per course only! Use it well…
What Should I Be Aiming For?
-There are no hard rules here, Changing aesthetics is both unnecessary and won't be directly judged on, but also won’t be frowned upon if you want to beautify your course some more! Ultimately this is an already finished course, this shouldn't take as long as if you’re creating a new course from scratch and the shorter window to publish is a reflection of this. Tearing up some holes is fine but if you tear up all 18, I’m going to laugh at you.
-Transform a course that you think was already decent, The bones of the course need to be good afterall!
- The course should be hard, but not impossible! Par 4s should still be reachable in two from the fairway, fairways should still be possible to hit. There is a unique finesse to making a course hard but not stupid, and that’s what we’re hoping to see!
How can I make my course harder?
Consider a couple options aside from making postage stamp red sloped greens. Courses that are hard off the tee are significantly harder to find than ones with hard greens! Try playing the game on an easier setting than you normally play when playtesting to get a feel for how plat players can play!
-Plat players now can play for 105% power drives allowing for clearing tremendous distances especially with the 295 driver. Think of designing hazards around these distances as well as how high winds would affect clearing those hazards, would it suddenly make a hard clear super easy?
-Plat Players make a lot of chips, especially within 10 yards, think about that when making tucked pins on a hole, a 10 yard putt is harder than a 10 yard chip!
-Elevation changes and wind can be calculated, but lies cannot! Plat players cant see the lie grid at their feet and have to estimate how the lie will affect the ball, flat lies should be avoided!
Bonus Points/ Kudos:
Think of designing tees/ pins around certain settings, you can request these with your publish!
For instance:
Pin 2 is designed for 187 greens, pin 1 for defaults, Pin 3 for 163s (fast). Black tees for Very High North Winds, White Tees for High West Winds.
Why would you do this? Think of a 500 yard par 4, yes it is playable but if you have a certain wind condition it becomes unreachable which eliminates a high wind option, forcing the course to be played on lower wind settings! Having a tee for a Very High wind day in a specific direction can allow especially long courses to still get to use that setting!
