Oakland Hills Country Club (South Course) ~ RCR
Apr 11, 2016 9:29:53 GMT -5
joegolferg and staypuft39 like this
Post by Royce on Apr 11, 2016 9:29:53 GMT -5
So I've been working on this projected for about 3 months now, started from a completely flat, empty plot. I measured out every fw, bunker (all 135 of them + 7 in the practice area), tee & green to specification using Google Earth Pro. This was a chore to say the least, took me the better part of a month working on it daily.
This is where I was on 2/23 to give some idea of the progress:
This is where I stand today:
I'm nearly complete with the front 9, just needing to finish up detailed sculpting on 8 & 9.
The back 9 is sitting in good shape with all rough tee to green elevations complete, just need to add all the fine details, sculpt bunkers & greens. This has come together better than I envisioned at the start, especially considering I've never created any course other than a small short game facility that I use in the GNCD. The course being so tight (entire 18 fits on about 50% of the plot) had me worried, especially being the open parkland feel, I knew I wouldn't be able to "hide" any water table issues with faux holes, but luckily it worked out fine since there's only 3 areas with water (5 creek, 7 pond & 16 pond).
Sculpting has been a tedious process because of the closeness of everything, not much room to work with between greens, tee boxes and adjacent holes.....but I think it has paid off with capturing the correct "feel" of this Donald Ross classic. The clubhouse & 1 tee sit at the high point on the plot, 5 creek is the low point. With some creativity I was able to compensate for the water table and "hide" about 30 feet of elevation change moving from the SE corner to NW corner. The largest elevation delta on the course is slightly less than 50 feet, but I think it feels much more pronounced because of the elevated tees and green complexes.
Deep v fairways add driving distance, which is just fun in my opinion. Multiple tees exist on every hole, most having at least 4, which will allow some variation in setups (course could play anywhere from 6800 to 7400). The greens are considered among the most challenging in the world, and not what most so called Donald Ross "experts" would expect, these aren't the inverted saucer greens from Pinehurst No2. South Course features large "links" style greens with multiple, distinct plateaus which make 3 putting a real possibility.
South Course is known for long par 3's, each one can be configured to play 200+ yards if desired. The brown areas that are visible on the east end of the course are intended to simulate the "natural" waste type areas that were present on the original course, and which have been replanted with fescue in recent years. Trees have been removed & added over the years, this is built to 2015 specs, which results in less trees than were present at the 2004 Ryder Cup & '08 PGA. The 2016 US Amateur is being played here in August.
Here's a quick vid I took the other day play testing the 6th, a short par 4 with an elevated green sloping severely from back to front.
Anyone familiar (or not) with this course please provide any constructive criticism/tips/etc, this project has been a passion of mine for months, and I want to create the best South Course possible.
Cheers, Royce
This is where I was on 2/23 to give some idea of the progress:
This is where I stand today:
I'm nearly complete with the front 9, just needing to finish up detailed sculpting on 8 & 9.
The back 9 is sitting in good shape with all rough tee to green elevations complete, just need to add all the fine details, sculpt bunkers & greens. This has come together better than I envisioned at the start, especially considering I've never created any course other than a small short game facility that I use in the GNCD. The course being so tight (entire 18 fits on about 50% of the plot) had me worried, especially being the open parkland feel, I knew I wouldn't be able to "hide" any water table issues with faux holes, but luckily it worked out fine since there's only 3 areas with water (5 creek, 7 pond & 16 pond).
Sculpting has been a tedious process because of the closeness of everything, not much room to work with between greens, tee boxes and adjacent holes.....but I think it has paid off with capturing the correct "feel" of this Donald Ross classic. The clubhouse & 1 tee sit at the high point on the plot, 5 creek is the low point. With some creativity I was able to compensate for the water table and "hide" about 30 feet of elevation change moving from the SE corner to NW corner. The largest elevation delta on the course is slightly less than 50 feet, but I think it feels much more pronounced because of the elevated tees and green complexes.
Deep v fairways add driving distance, which is just fun in my opinion. Multiple tees exist on every hole, most having at least 4, which will allow some variation in setups (course could play anywhere from 6800 to 7400). The greens are considered among the most challenging in the world, and not what most so called Donald Ross "experts" would expect, these aren't the inverted saucer greens from Pinehurst No2. South Course features large "links" style greens with multiple, distinct plateaus which make 3 putting a real possibility.
South Course is known for long par 3's, each one can be configured to play 200+ yards if desired. The brown areas that are visible on the east end of the course are intended to simulate the "natural" waste type areas that were present on the original course, and which have been replanted with fescue in recent years. Trees have been removed & added over the years, this is built to 2015 specs, which results in less trees than were present at the 2004 Ryder Cup & '08 PGA. The 2016 US Amateur is being played here in August.
Here's a quick vid I took the other day play testing the 6th, a short par 4 with an elevated green sloping severely from back to front.
Anyone familiar (or not) with this course please provide any constructive criticism/tips/etc, this project has been a passion of mine for months, and I want to create the best South Course possible.
Cheers, Royce
