The Interstate 80 Hole

Interstate 80 is a very long road. I should know, I drove about 2,000 miles on it a couple weeks ago. Starting in Chicago, my fiancee and I trekked across the country, saw every cow that Nebraska and Wyoming had to offer, spent an extra day in Nevada due to a flat tire, and eventually found our destination in California.

There is only so much talking one can do on road trips like this, and so as a golfer does, my mind was kept busy by imaging golf holes on the land we passed. Much of Illinois, Iowa, and Nebraska is very unimaginative, but the western part of Nebraska and much of Wyoming was a treat to travel through. The rolling hills and mountainous terrain were a surprise to someone who had always pictured this part of the country as dead flat farmland.

Of all the natural features we saw, one that always stood out was the plateau portion of a hill.

After seeing this landform a couple dozen times, I naturally started to think about what a golf hole would look like if routed around it. Obviously a hill this size wouldn’t actually work, but the idea was intriguing to me. And so, after arriving at our destination, I started doodling. Here’s what I came up with:

With such a big feature, the hole needs to be pretty expansive, and the hillside has to be the focal point of the hole. My design is a gentle dogleg left par 5 that is both gettable and daunting if you bail out right on the second shot. You also have to deal with the highway noise. Don’t worry, if I can change a flat tire with semi trucks barreling past me, you’ll be just fine.

Tee shot

The tee shot plays downhill from the back tee boxes (+40 ft elevation) and offers a generous landing area. Those who stay left will find level lies and a better angle to attack on their second shot while those who wind up right will end up with the ball below their feet.

Second shot

Blind for all players, those playing from the left side will have the opportunity to take their second shots up over the hillside and bank a ball down the hill towards the green. Anyone who ends up right on their second shot will be at the lowest point of the hole (0 elevation).

Third shot

Those who stay left and get kicked down toward the green will be left with a fairly straightforward chip to the two-tiered green. Players who went right on their second shots are left with a blind approach over the greenside bunker to a green that largely slopes away from them.

Green

The green is a narrow putting surface that significantly benefits those who played up the left on their second shots. The left side of the green is lower than the right, but those chipping from the left side will have plenty of space to find the right level. Anyone who misses right or left will find either the short grass long of the green or the bunker right.

How do we feel about the Interstate 80 hole?