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Post by benny on Nov 26, 2009 18:44:30 GMT -5
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Post by Ron Pittman on Nov 29, 2009 23:08:39 GMT -5
Question: Why 10 holes instead of 9? Is it the whole, "but these go to 11" thing? Well...... the parks dept commissioned me (and therefore also the WCDGC) to design a 9-hole rec-type course. Which sorta' fit with the size and terrain. Early on, the parks dept was very interested in the two-tee system. They liked the idea of putting in 2 fairways (the red tees and the white tees) to the same target. Makes for a very cost effective way to use a small piece of land. And as you mentioned, it makes for more "holes". Our design goal was for each hole to have not only TWO tees, but two rather different shots. In simplest terms, it doubles the number of "holes" at Liberty to 20. But why 10? Long story. My design approach is to find the best fairways the land has to offer ------- then see how many of them can be linked together in some continious fashion. I don't actually choose exact final spots for tees/targets until a bit later. Nor, do I spend a lot of time numbering them in the early stages. That comes later. Some fairways turn out to be unsafe, backwards, redundant, totally out of order, etc. All don't make the final cut. This is in contrast to the design plan of starting at the parking lot, "finding" a decent tee location for #1, finding a decent target location for #1; repeat until you get back to the parking lot. Plan "B" is a great way to end up with a lot of stoopid holes. So.... at Liberty we (the design team) found several fairways that we really liked. Two we liked a lot (and didn't want to lose) was what later turned out to be #8 and #9. And in addition we found some great rocky/hilly terrain below #9 that reminded us a bit of Hole #1 at Cedars of Leb. -- alas --- #10. When we started putting them in order and numbering them --- we had 10 instead of 9. And we didn't have any that we wanted to take out. Short story. #9 fairway was found early on. God (and a logger or two) had carved that one some time ago. A classic wooded golf hole. It made the "keep" list from the get-go. But, as it relates to our assigned parameters of starting/ending somewhere decently close to the parking lot -- We missed it on #9. So, we asked, Do we walk back to the parking lot (or Hole 1) OR do we throw back to the parking lot? The parks dept agreed with our recommendation of THROW, and adusted their budget for the extra hole. 10 total. No one has asked in a while, but ...... Is there room for 18? Two answers. 1.) Not the point. Franklin Parks asked for 9 holes. Budgeted for 9 holes. Planned for 9 holes. It's their land, their call. We want them happy, not pressured. We want them to think good things about WCDGC when it is time to look at the next piece of land. Yeah, I know -- it is really 10 holes. 2). Nope. The bit of land above #9 is super steep. Size-wise, there might be room for 2 or 3 more holes, but it would be billy-goat golf at its worst. We never did find much in the way of desireble fairways up there anyway. The exception is one decent shot (one, not 8) up there --- a really cool overhand shot above the trees as you shoot dowwwwwnnnnn the hill. In order to get that shot, we would have to throw 2 or 3 holes straight up the stinking hill. Not fun and probably redundant. More nope. The land between the approach bridge and the DG parking lot is off-limits. That is where future park development is to be placed. Some hope?? There is some adjacent land that isn't park property. Who knows what will happen to that land in the next 20-50 years? DG could be on TV before we get 18 at Liberty. Thanks, Ron Pittman
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scott
Tree Banger
Posts: 80
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Post by scott on Jan 26, 2010 9:57:09 GMT -5
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