So You Want to Build a Golf Hole

No matter how serious you are about the game of golf, it’s safe to assume that many of you reading this newsletter have thought about what it would be like to design and build a real golf hole or course. Fried Egg Golf Club members were able to turn that thought into reality this winter. Working with Andy Staples and the Breezy Point Resort, FEGC members had the opportunity to design a hole for the resort’s new Ace Valley par-3 course, a hole that will be built in real life. It was a thrilling development for us here at FEG as it brought the core of our company and our community together for a rare opportunity.

Over the last two months, about 80 FEGC members submitted more than 100 entries for the contest, all of which showed serious architectural chops. People took this seriously and the results showed. This week, Andy Staples joined Andy Johnson, Garrett Morrison, and myself for our latest FEGC Virtual Hangout, where we narrowed 12 semifinalists down to the final four. Those four are up for a vote in Fried Egg Golf Club, and the winner will ultimately be built at Ace Valley.

While any of the semifinalists and finalists would be deserving of a highlight in this newsletter, we’re instead going to discuss an entry from FEGC member Andrew J., who went about the process in a different way. Instead of submitting a digital entry via a photo or PDF, Andrew painted, matted, and framed his entry, and sent it in along with a detailed description of his design.

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The design is an Eden template with a lake that plays a role on the left side of the green, a deep Strath bunker to the right, and plenty of unique opportunities to recover. It’s a difficult design to be sure, but one that could certainly be built.

Let me be very clear: this ROCKS. It may not have been one of our favorite designs for Ace Valley specifically, but the effort was off the charts. Everything from the legend to the framing to the description blew us away. That anyone would spend this amount of time to create something for a contest affiliated with FEG is amazing and we’re super appreciative of everyone who spent time on the project.

Andrew’s entry was emblematic of the spirit of the competition and what we’re trying to achieve with Fried Egg Golf Club as a whole. The membership was started as a way to bring golf enthusiasts together around a love of golf course architecture. While it has blossomed into something so much more with in-person events and additional content, our core ethos remains. Having the opportunity to let our members shine in a contest that is so key to our existence was an eye-opening experience, and we hope to have more chances like this in the future.

No matter how involved you have been or want to be with Fried Egg Golf, whether it ends at this newsletter or expands to our events, it is always humbling to have the chance to interact with other golf nuts. Hopefully we’ll get to work together for years to come.