We pushed out a few forum updates today and hopefully you've already noticed but if you haven't:
We added the comments feed that has historically lived in the Clubhouse to the homepage of the Forum. (note: we have not finished this update for mobile yet but should have it done in the next day or so at the most)
We added a new Sort By options for posts. If you'd like to sort posts by the ones with the most recent comments you can do so by opening the dropdown near the search bar in the forum home page and selecting the option for Recent Activity. This will sort order posts based on the timestamp of their most recent comment (sorted newest to oldest).
We're almost done with Post and Topic following. If you click on a specific post now you'll see a + FOLLOW button in the upper right hand corner of the page. Clicking this will subscribe you to email updates of comments made to that post. Topic following will follow shortly. Additionally, there was a small bug in this feature this morning that should be remedied but if you follow and don't get emails know that we'll squash the bug in short order.
Aside from that, I'll most likely make a change to the Clubhouse later today to make it more focused on members-only articles and course profiles and remove the thread of comments as they now live on the forum home page. Let me know if you have any questions, comments, or concerns.
Cheers!
P.S. We're still working on many other forum enhancements (most notably being able to add images to comments) but as always I'm happy to hear any and all feedback.
We pushed out a few forum updates today and hopefully you've already noticed but if you haven't:
We added the comments feed that has historically lived in the Clubhouse to the homepage of the Forum. (note: we have not finished this update for mobile yet but should have it done in the next day or so at the most)
We added a new Sort By options for posts. If you'd like to sort posts by the ones with the most recent comments you can do so by opening the dropdown near the search bar in the forum home page and selecting the option for Recent Activity. This will sort order posts based on the timestamp of their most recent comment (sorted newest to oldest).
We're almost done with Post and Topic following. If you click on a specific post now you'll see a + FOLLOW button in the upper right hand corner of the page. Clicking this will subscribe you to email updates of comments made to that post. Topic following will follow shortly. Additionally, there was a small bug in this feature this morning that should be remedied but if you follow and don't get emails know that we'll squash the bug in short order.
Aside from that, I'll most likely make a change to the Clubhouse later today to make it more focused on members-only articles and course profiles and remove the thread of comments as they now live on the forum home page. Let me know if you have any questions, comments, or concerns.
Cheers!
P.S. We're still working on many other forum enhancements (most notably being able to add images to comments) but as always I'm happy to hear any and all feedback.
Yesterday, as FEGC member Pearce Barringer noted in his own forum post, TGL announced that architect Gil Hanse had joined the screen-golf league's roster of hole designers. Accompanying the announcement was an awkward, faintly surreal video of a bemused Hanse making a WWE-like entrance into an empty SoFi Center. I'd love to hear the instructions the director of this piece of content gave him before hitting record.
TGL also unveiled one of Hanse's designs, a 590-yard par 5 called "Stone & Steeple." The hole features a few recognizable Hanse motifs: a threatening boundary wall, a lone bunker guarding the second-shot layup zone, and a rambling "Sahara" bunker, strewn with turf islands, cutting across the fairway. The neighboring graveyard even has precedent in Hanse's body of work: in his renovation of Waverley Country Club in Portland, Oregon, he moved the second green about 50 yards back so that it abutted a 19th-century cemetery.
The most striking aspect of Hanse's design is the double diagonal formed by the two sections of fairway on either side of the Sahara bunker. The basic idea, I gather, is that the farther players hit their drives without carrying the bunker, the more to the right they will end up, and the worse their angle into the green will be. On the other hand, if they want to make the long carry over the bunker on the left side and earn a shorter second shot from a better angle, they will need to bring the wall into play.
Classic strategic-school stuff, in other words. I think I'd enjoy playing this hole, if it were real. And you know what? It basically looks real. And that might be a problem.
So far, the reception of "Stone & Steeple" on social media has been chilly. There seems to be an emerging consensus among TGL viewers that the virtual-hole designs, unconstrained as they are by physical and economic realities, should be crazier, more video game-like, more purely inventive. As my colleague Joseph LaMagna put it on X, "TGL's biggest whiff is designing realistic holes. It makes zero sense to play holes like [Hanse's] in the one arena that's free from practical constraints."
That's probably right. The realism of Hanse's hole registers as a bit unimaginative.
But I have a hard time getting worked up about it because — confession time — I don't really care about TGL. I could barely make it through a single match in the first season. And this is not to say that the product is bad or that the people who enjoy it are rubes. It's just not for me. A huge part of what I love about golf is the relationship between the player, the course, and nature. When you strip away nature — the outdoors, the elements, the land — I lose most of my interest.
But what I'd like to hear Hanse address at some point is why he was interested in TGL. In a press release from the league, he said, "Starting with a relatively blank slate for TGL has been liberating. Designing holes for TGL has given us an opportunity to step out of our comfort zone and step into other aspects of golf course design in the virtual world."
As an architect who typically likes to derive inspiration from physical terrain, why was he compelled by the prospect of a "blank slate"? And in what sense did he stretch beyond his "comfort zone" here?
These are not passive-aggressive questions. I'd genuinely like to hear his answers.
Yesterday, as FEGC member Pearce Barringer noted in his own forum post, TGL announced that architect Gil Hanse had joined the screen-golf league's roster of hole designers. Accompanying the announcement was an awkward, faintly surreal video of a bemused Hanse making a WWE-like entrance into an empty SoFi Center. I'd love to hear the instructions the director of this piece of content gave him before hitting record.
TGL also unveiled one of Hanse's designs, a 590-yard par 5 called "Stone & Steeple." The hole features a few recognizable Hanse motifs: a threatening boundary wall, a lone bunker guarding the second-shot layup zone, and a rambling "Sahara" bunker, strewn with turf islands, cutting across the fairway. The neighboring graveyard even has precedent in Hanse's body of work: in his renovation of Waverley Country Club in Portland, Oregon, he moved the second green about 50 yards back so that it abutted a 19th-century cemetery.
The most striking aspect of Hanse's design is the double diagonal formed by the two sections of fairway on either side of the Sahara bunker. The basic idea, I gather, is that the farther players hit their drives without carrying the bunker, the more to the right they will end up, and the worse their angle into the green will be. On the other hand, if they want to make the long carry over the bunker on the left side and earn a shorter second shot from a better angle, they will need to bring the wall into play.
Classic strategic-school stuff, in other words. I think I'd enjoy playing this hole, if it were real. And you know what? It basically looks real. And that might be a problem.
So far, the reception of "Stone & Steeple" on social media has been chilly. There seems to be an emerging consensus among TGL viewers that the virtual-hole designs, unconstrained as they are by physical and economic realities, should be crazier, more video game-like, more purely inventive. As my colleague Joseph LaMagna put it on X, "TGL's biggest whiff is designing realistic holes. It makes zero sense to play holes like [Hanse's] in the one arena that's free from practical constraints."
That's probably right. The realism of Hanse's hole registers as a bit unimaginative.
But I have a hard time getting worked up about it because — confession time — I don't really care about TGL. I could barely make it through a single match in the first season. And this is not to say that the product is bad or that the people who enjoy it are rubes. It's just not for me. A huge part of what I love about golf is the relationship between the player, the course, and nature. When you strip away nature — the outdoors, the elements, the land — I lose most of my interest.
But what I'd like to hear Hanse address at some point is why he was interested in TGL. In a press release from the league, he said, "Starting with a relatively blank slate for TGL has been liberating. Designing holes for TGL has given us an opportunity to step out of our comfort zone and step into other aspects of golf course design in the virtual world."
As an architect who typically likes to derive inspiration from physical terrain, why was he compelled by the prospect of a "blank slate"? And in what sense did he stretch beyond his "comfort zone" here?
These are not passive-aggressive questions. I'd genuinely like to hear his answers.
Hey everyone. I thought it would be good to get this going for the NYC area. Always down to get out for a round and occasionally hit the sim in the winter. 31 married w/ no kids
Hey everyone. I thought it would be good to get this going for the NYC area. Always down to get out for a round and occasionally hit the sim in the winter. 31 married w/ no kids
Interested to see what Gil brings to the screen golf. I've only played two of Gil's courses, Sewanee and Mossy Oak, but like everyone, I've seen my fair share on TV and social media. I'd say Gil usually brings their surroundings. Not exactly something you can change and their surroundings. Not exactly something you can implement in TGL.
Side note, is this a sign of things to come for a working partnership with the PGA Tour? I'd love to see Gil get his hands on a course or two. I know TGL and the Tour are separate, but in partnership with one another. One can dream.
Interested to see what Gil brings to the screen golf. I've only played two of Gil's courses, Sewanee and Mossy Oak, but like everyone, I've seen my fair share on TV and social media. I'd say Gil usually brings their surroundings. Not exactly something you can change and their surroundings. Not exactly something you can implement in TGL.
Side note, is this a sign of things to come for a working partnership with the PGA Tour? I'd love to see Gil get his hands on a course or two. I know TGL and the Tour are separate, but in partnership with one another. One can dream.
I love sand based turf as much as everyone and understand the agronomy benefits. Who doesn't love blowouts and open/isolated spaces. That being said I kind of wish there would be a few new parkland style courses. Ones not suffocated by trees and housing, not restorations doing a bunch of removal, and not perimeter tree lined places where the trees don't really come into play. Would be interesting to see one of todays top teams have to route the land and trees without bulldozing the lot.
Maybe there are such places that have been built and I'm just not aware of them. (I know Sedge was kind of done this way but is still sand with no trees in play)
I love sand based turf as much as everyone and understand the agronomy benefits. Who doesn't love blowouts and open/isolated spaces. That being said I kind of wish there would be a few new parkland style courses. Ones not suffocated by trees and housing, not restorations doing a bunch of removal, and not perimeter tree lined places where the trees don't really come into play. Would be interesting to see one of todays top teams have to route the land and trees without bulldozing the lot.
Maybe there are such places that have been built and I'm just not aware of them. (I know Sedge was kind of done this way but is still sand with no trees in play)
A tradition here at Fried Egg Golf, we posted this year's Content Cornucopia this week, a collection of our favorite pieces of content from others in the industry. Of course, we can only fit so much in there. What else would you all add to the list?
A tradition here at Fried Egg Golf, we posted this year's Content Cornucopia this week, a collection of our favorite pieces of content from others in the industry. Of course, we can only fit so much in there. What else would you all add to the list?
Have the thought of going to a resort outside of London with my family. Would require a high end resort for my family. I dream of playing a round of golf in the morning while my family lounges around the resort and then going to a show in the west end in the evening. Is there such a place that is close enough to the city?
Have the thought of going to a resort outside of London with my family. Would require a high end resort for my family. I dream of playing a round of golf in the morning while my family lounges around the resort and then going to a show in the west end in the evening. Is there such a place that is close enough to the city?
Planning a trip to Cabot Citrus Farms in March. Anyone have a suggestion for a course near the PIE airport where we can play after a 12:30 arrival and get the round in before dark?
Planning a trip to Cabot Citrus Farms in March. Anyone have a suggestion for a course near the PIE airport where we can play after a 12:30 arrival and get the round in before dark?
I'm jazzed that I'm getting to play Landmand in Homer, NE in July. Have any of you folks played this season? What are your impressions?
I found the Egg article from 2023 and I THINK I recall it coming up on the pod, but I would love to hear anyone's thoughts...especially after it's had a season to grow in a bit.
I'm jazzed that I'm getting to play Landmand in Homer, NE in July. Have any of you folks played this season? What are your impressions?
I found the Egg article from 2023 and I THINK I recall it coming up on the pod, but I would love to hear anyone's thoughts...especially after it's had a season to grow in a bit.
I wanted to offer a sincere thanks for a wonderful year, even though it's not quite over yet. I started at Fried Egg Golf last October and, while very excited, was a little unsure what I was stepping into. What I've found has blown me away, and I wanted to share a little gratitude for that.
Everyone I work with is sincere, passionate, and curious—I cannot tell you how much that matters on a daily basis. And on the flip side, everyone I've met who is a member of FEGC has been a delight. It's so fun to have a job where people are excited about what you're doing because it truly brings them happiness. To that end, I wanted to recap a fun year and preview what could be in the future.
This year we built and launched some really fun features:
A new website (that came along with a very fun process of membership and content migration—thanks to all who patiently stuck with us through a few bumps in the road)
Major hubs to elevate our coverage of the year's most exciting events
A member clubhouse to house member articles and a feed of comments
A community forum that has allowed members to chat more freely amongst themselves
I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but when I list them off, I'm pretty happy with the year we've had. Andy and I talk about our product a lot, and one thing we continually focus on is the process. Obviously the output matters, but we remain steadfast in our commitment to continually improve and deliver new and exciting features.
Looking ahead, I'm so excited for what 2026 will bring. It feels like the possibilities are almost endless. From my point of view, I continue to focus on how we can make your days just a little bit brighter by injecting some fun and insightful commentary into your lives (thankfully we have a world-class team of writers, podcasters, video producers, and social media savants to do the real work). To that end, we sincerely focus on bringing a true and earnest point of view and experience that we hope is unique and fresh. In addition to this, I've been so inspired by the community and fun I've witnessed at our events. Will does a tremendous job planning and hosting, and one thing I would like to do is capture a bit more of that magic in our membership's digital community. Obviously we have our forum, but I hope to make some additional strides in this area. Areas that I hope we can improve are our members ability to discover fun and interesting new places to play based on other members’ recommendations as well as continuing to help our members meet, connect, and play together.
If you ever have feedback, please share it with me. I sincerely want to know what we can do to make your golf more enjoyable.
To wrap this up, I want to reiterate how grateful I am for all of you. You truly allow us (and me) to do something we love. Cheers to a happy and safe holiday season!
I wanted to offer a sincere thanks for a wonderful year, even though it's not quite over yet. I started at Fried Egg Golf last October and, while very excited, was a little unsure what I was stepping into. What I've found has blown me away, and I wanted to share a little gratitude for that.
Everyone I work with is sincere, passionate, and curious—I cannot tell you how much that matters on a daily basis. And on the flip side, everyone I've met who is a member of FEGC has been a delight. It's so fun to have a job where people are excited about what you're doing because it truly brings them happiness. To that end, I wanted to recap a fun year and preview what could be in the future.
This year we built and launched some really fun features:
A new website (that came along with a very fun process of membership and content migration—thanks to all who patiently stuck with us through a few bumps in the road)
Major hubs to elevate our coverage of the year's most exciting events
A member clubhouse to house member articles and a feed of comments
A community forum that has allowed members to chat more freely amongst themselves
I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but when I list them off, I'm pretty happy with the year we've had. Andy and I talk about our product a lot, and one thing we continually focus on is the process. Obviously the output matters, but we remain steadfast in our commitment to continually improve and deliver new and exciting features.
Looking ahead, I'm so excited for what 2026 will bring. It feels like the possibilities are almost endless. From my point of view, I continue to focus on how we can make your days just a little bit brighter by injecting some fun and insightful commentary into your lives (thankfully we have a world-class team of writers, podcasters, video producers, and social media savants to do the real work). To that end, we sincerely focus on bringing a true and earnest point of view and experience that we hope is unique and fresh. In addition to this, I've been so inspired by the community and fun I've witnessed at our events. Will does a tremendous job planning and hosting, and one thing I would like to do is capture a bit more of that magic in our membership's digital community. Obviously we have our forum, but I hope to make some additional strides in this area. Areas that I hope we can improve are our members ability to discover fun and interesting new places to play based on other members’ recommendations as well as continuing to help our members meet, connect, and play together.
If you ever have feedback, please share it with me. I sincerely want to know what we can do to make your golf more enjoyable.
To wrap this up, I want to reiterate how grateful I am for all of you. You truly allow us (and me) to do something we love. Cheers to a happy and safe holiday season!
Howdy folks. One of the goals of our community is to get members together on golf courses, enjoying each other's company and exploring new courses or revisiting tried-and-true favorites. To that end, I've created a new forum topic dedicated to housing playing opportunities: Filling Foursomes. We will greatly improve the process of posting playing opportunities and finding partners in our product over the long haul, but for now I hope this minimal change can help bring a little structure to the forum if you're trying to find a game.
As for posting in Filling Foursomes, please just be clear about when and where the tee time is and if there are any booking considerations (e.g., cancellations within 24 hours may incur a fee from the course). Additionally, I believe that everyone in our community always has the best intentions, but I'll state the obvious: this is not a place to resell or mark up tee times for a profit.
Howdy folks. One of the goals of our community is to get members together on golf courses, enjoying each other's company and exploring new courses or revisiting tried-and-true favorites. To that end, I've created a new forum topic dedicated to housing playing opportunities: Filling Foursomes. We will greatly improve the process of posting playing opportunities and finding partners in our product over the long haul, but for now I hope this minimal change can help bring a little structure to the forum if you're trying to find a game.
As for posting in Filling Foursomes, please just be clear about when and where the tee time is and if there are any booking considerations (e.g., cancellations within 24 hours may incur a fee from the course). Additionally, I believe that everyone in our community always has the best intentions, but I'll state the obvious: this is not a place to resell or mark up tee times for a profit.
Candyroot Lodge, a new public golf facility in the sand hills outside of Charlotte, North Carolina, marked the end of its first week of construction with an Instagram post. Mike Koprowski, who collaborated with Kyle Franz at Broomsedge Golf Club and joined Andy Johnson on the Fried Egg Golf Podcast last year, is designing Candyroot's first course.
Initially, Koprowski was engaged by Candyroot's owners to build a single course, tentatively named Downbonnie. Since announcing that venture in May, however, the owners have brought on additional investors and developed bigger ambitions. Koprowski now tells me that Candyroot will feature multiple regulation layouts (three or four), plus a short course. An architect has not yet been selected for the second course, but interviews are ongoing.
If Candyroot Lodge follows through on its plans, it would be one of the largest and most exciting public-golf projects of the 2020s undertaken by developers not named Keiser.
Candyroot Lodge, a new public golf facility in the sand hills outside of Charlotte, North Carolina, marked the end of its first week of construction with an Instagram post. Mike Koprowski, who collaborated with Kyle Franz at Broomsedge Golf Club and joined Andy Johnson on the Fried Egg Golf Podcast last year, is designing Candyroot's first course.
Initially, Koprowski was engaged by Candyroot's owners to build a single course, tentatively named Downbonnie. Since announcing that venture in May, however, the owners have brought on additional investors and developed bigger ambitions. Koprowski now tells me that Candyroot will feature multiple regulation layouts (three or four), plus a short course. An architect has not yet been selected for the second course, but interviews are ongoing.
If Candyroot Lodge follows through on its plans, it would be one of the largest and most exciting public-golf projects of the 2020s undertaken by developers not named Keiser.
Here are three recently announced renovation projects that caught my eye:
Todd Eckenrodeis restoringWilliam P. Bell's mid-1920s design at Annandale Golf Club in Pasadena, California. Annandale has good potential (the historical aerials are tantalizing, but sadly not much can be done to bring back the property's former vistas and openness), and Eckenrode knows Bell and California Golden Age architecture as well as anyone in the industry. This is a project to track.
Trey Kemp, a very capable Dallas-based golf architect, has started the first phase of his master plan for Hogan Park Golf Course, a 36-hole municipal facility in Midland, Texas. Hogan Park is an important hub of the game in the growing but somewhat golf-poor Midland-Odessa region. Over the past decade, Kemp has developed a specialty in reviving municipal courses in Texas. His work at Stevens Park and Rockwood Park in the Dallas-Fort Worth area has been especially well received.
Architect Nick Campanelli and influential golf writer Bradley Klein have been engaged to renovate Willie Park Jr.'s design at Shuttle Meadow Country Club outside of Hartford, Connecticut. Campanelli and Klein plan to adapt some ideas from Huntercombe Golf Club, Park's strange masterwork in the English heathlands. Golf Course Architecture has a thorough writeup on the project.
Here are three recently announced renovation projects that caught my eye:
Todd Eckenrodeis restoringWilliam P. Bell's mid-1920s design at Annandale Golf Club in Pasadena, California. Annandale has good potential (the historical aerials are tantalizing, but sadly not much can be done to bring back the property's former vistas and openness), and Eckenrode knows Bell and California Golden Age architecture as well as anyone in the industry. This is a project to track.
Trey Kemp, a very capable Dallas-based golf architect, has started the first phase of his master plan for Hogan Park Golf Course, a 36-hole municipal facility in Midland, Texas. Hogan Park is an important hub of the game in the growing but somewhat golf-poor Midland-Odessa region. Over the past decade, Kemp has developed a specialty in reviving municipal courses in Texas. His work at Stevens Park and Rockwood Park in the Dallas-Fort Worth area has been especially well received.
Architect Nick Campanelli and influential golf writer Bradley Klein have been engaged to renovate Willie Park Jr.'s design at Shuttle Meadow Country Club outside of Hartford, Connecticut. Campanelli and Klein plan to adapt some ideas from Huntercombe Golf Club, Park's strange masterwork in the English heathlands. Golf Course Architecture has a thorough writeup on the project.
Every once in a while when i run out of pods to listen to i throw on an SGS episode from a handful of years back. Commentary is hilarious and it’s interesting hearing the state of golf then and seeing how much it’s changed. I noticed on Apple Podcasts that there are no episodes pre June of 2019, are those available anywhere or are they the lost pods?
Every once in a while when i run out of pods to listen to i throw on an SGS episode from a handful of years back. Commentary is hilarious and it’s interesting hearing the state of golf then and seeing how much it’s changed. I noticed on Apple Podcasts that there are no episodes pre June of 2019, are those available anywhere or are they the lost pods?
Brian, that is incredibly generous, and is also a fantastic story! Did you pull any other clubs out of the grass?!
I’ll think about your offer! I’m trying to decide if it’s better for the magic to live in my memory - there is no possible way it could possibly live up to my memories of it. 😂
As we’re now over three decades since I’ve lost it, I’m not 100% of the length, but believe it was a 35’ - I wish I could be certain.
I should introduce myself seeing as I would like to spend time on the forum iteracting with everyone.
Trevor, 42, not interested in fighting but as my wife would quickly point out I have never stepped away from one and run my mouth too much to avoid them. No kids, just nephews. Live in Southern, Ontario.
Mainly a public golfer, but I work in golf and get the treat of playing "work golf" frequently all over Ontario and elsewhere.
There could be many reasons for this. This is also pure speculatio given I don't even know the course.
Grass type - Fescue would generally speaking be kept longer than Kentucky Bluegrass or Ryegrass. Given your region, the turf types will be cool season in nature (fescue, bluegrass- both annual and perrennial, ryegrasss)
Day you play golf - Depending on when maintenance occurs, you may catch it the day it's set to be trimmed. Lots of bunker maintenance is done by hand, therefor maybe only once or twice a week. And depending on the grass, maybe even less.
Design - this might be how the course was intended to be designed by the architect
Rebuilt/Resodded - were the bunkers rebuilt or resodded within the last few years? If so, they may be keeping them longer to reduce wear/tear of the new turf and to prevent issues with the new sod not being totally established.
I think 6 is just a miss for being "driveable". I do not think that a driveable par 4 means you should be able to hold the green (example - Riviera #10). But, I think 10 is driveable for nearly everyone who plays in the field. Whether they want to attempt it or not is different matter.
I think for 6 to be driveable, you need to play a tee up as the approach runs uphill, so you can't roll something on. It needs to land on the green or have a big draw/hook to it to run onto the green after landing on the approach nearest the green.
In the instance I drove the green, it landed middle-ish (depth-wise from front to back) and rolled through into the rough.
I would also agree that on the North course if you end up in the wrong spot by not executing your shot, or hitting a bad one, you will be penalized. There are certainly options to play the course conservatively and make realtively easy pars/bogeys. But I do not think taking on the risk necessarly offers birdies or eagles in the same way it dishes out bogies or worse.
I think that's probably why the anecdote has proven sticky. I've just never seen any evidence that it happened. I could be wrong, of course!
These kinds of seeming anomalies do happen. MacKenzie didn't always adhere to his principles, and besides, in the case of RM, he had relatively little control over the final product.
Fair points. I do find that the best risk-reward elements are sometimes only relevant when the tee/player length/wind conditions are right. For example, very few players went for the green on 6 on Thursday because it was chilly and into a light breeze. On Sunday when the wind was out of the south, it was something like an 80-20 go for it-to-layup ratio. Same with the much-discussed no. 18 - Sunday’s south wind meant only a handful of players went for it, though a North wind means almost everyone can get home in two. Such are the challenges in properly scaling hazards in the 185mph ball speed era, I guess.
FWIW, The way you described 6 is exactly as intended. The layup tee shot is such a conservative play, it tempts players into going for it even if it’s not what they want to do. As in, “am I really gonna lay up with a 5-iron? Might as well send it,” which then introduces some variance and brings a 5 or worse into play. You mileage may vary on whether that makes it a good hole, but that was the intention. I am curious, for the second time you played and the ball didn't hold the green, where did you land it?
The look of the bunkering is one we’ve obviously heard a lot. It’s our expectation (and Ian has said this too) that they’ll soften over time and look less similar.
Brian, if I recall from a podcast, on hole 15 MacKenzie left in the steeple chase humps before the green from the previous course that was there to apparently remind Aussies how bad golf architecture used to be so I'm assuming 14 might have a similar thing going on in leaving what was previously there.
Garrett, this is a great point. On their own, the east holes used for the composite set are fantastic but the routing is a bit disjointed and I do think it's nice to have a break for a bit and end up on 17 and 18 at West.
Maybe it is just me, or I have played from the wrong tees, but I never find the "risk/reward" to be a real thing on the North (as they are described by Ian).
Take the 6th hole for example, the "driveable" par 4. I have played it twice now post reno, and have never been able to get a ball to trundle onto that green. The first time I played it from the middle deck (I believe there are 5 sets of tees on that hole) and my 290 yard drive came up short and required a small pitch onto the green according to my Arcoss data. The next time I played it, I moved up a tee just to see if the green could hold a drive, which it could not and I rolled through the green. While I am sure a tour pro may be able to put enough height on a driver to get it to hold, I posted up on Friday and Sunday on that hole for several hours and think only a handful of players tried to drive the green, and less obvisouly were able to during the Canadian Open. Most layed up to a comfortable distace and wedged on.
I actually believe the green should be larger, guarded well with bunker and short grass, but allow a ball to run on using slopes and/or shot shaping. The lay up area is as described though, not easy. So maybe the "risk" is not just bombing away and hoping for the best outcome aroud the green, becase the long iron lay up is no cake walk and really a disaster if you do not hit the fairway.
I think most of the critique of the course comes from the fact almost all the holes look the same. I have a hard time distinguishing them in my head due to the look of the bunkering.
Very nicely written & explained, Morgan. Always "the exception to the rule," but most of these places sacrifice routing & turns an otherwise well designed golf course into a nightmare to walk and/or (worse) not allowing you to walk. Camus Meadows Golf Course (Camus, Washington) is one of the worst examples I've ever played. Sometimes there are courses nestled into neighborhoods that enhance the golf course, as well as the neighborhood...the golf course becomes a "place" that feels unifying, mutually beneficial. Laurelwood Golf Course in Eugene, Oregon is a GREAT example. Also, makes me feel thankful for the public courses around the Portland, Oregon area (Rose City is a particularly good example). I look forward to reading your articles in the future!!!
There really aren’t any ‘resorts’ near London that offer great golf. Your best bet will be to find a suitable hotel for your family and then sort out golf separately. You should even consider a hotel in central London with everything your family wants - and convenient for nights out in the West End - and then get trains out to the heathlands for golf.
