Routing Plan #9B an interesting choice

I like triangulation - when 3 holes make a small loop. They head in different directions and allow for different orders of playing the holes - as multiple greens and tees meet at congregation points. Routing plan 9b came about at the same time as routing plan #9 and flipped the triangle of 15, 16 & 17. Making this sort of adjustment is also an advantage of using small loops.

In this version the 14th hole was shortend from a par 5 to a par 4 with the green on the near side of the creek - it would be a nice green site on either side. I liked the non-forced carry of the 14th as a par 4. This would change both the orientation of the next 3 holes relative to the creek - the hazzard would be on the fade / slice / right side of the player - and change the par sequence from 3,5,4 to 4,3,4. The teeing location for 18 would also change slightly - but not the fairway.

Negatives: 14, 15, 17 & 18 would all be par 4s - I'm striving for as much variety as possible - and this would be a tiny negative. The 16th green was going to be too close to the property line.

Positives: Changing #16 - I do not like this hole on plan 9 - it seems a little forced - and it was as I forced the green down away from the property line. Don liked the natural look of the holes on this version.

To this point my client was not involved in the "design" of the course. I wanted to get him more engaged in the process - to include his preferences and hopefully like the finished product that much more - he chose plan 9 over this version. He liked the forced cary to the green over the creek. While his first remarks were to make the course fun, he had since been very encouraging of making it challenging - with a home field advantage.

There are bits of stragey from great golf courses imbued in Wolf Point Club - NGLA - Seminole - The Old Course - Royal County Down - and it wasn't until several months later that I learned what other course had an influence on Wolf Point Club. Our client chose the green location for its difficulty but it was also similar to a hole he had been playing recently. Maybe one day I'll add the name of the course to the end of the above list - but not any time soon.

With hindsight and a better understanding of the land - this loop of holes would have been excellent too - I'd have loved to played them.

ENJOY THE OPEN!

The the next several posts I'll continue to discuss the evolution of the routing plan at Wolf Point Club as recently published in Paul Daley's new Golf Architecture - A Worldwide Perspective.