Most hated course design tricks

[mkoreiwo]

Blind tee shots or blind shots to the green.

[mikelz]

About one third of the courses around Myrtle Beach.

[Brokecollegestudent]

tree chutes, making me drive down a 40 yard gap.... I get really nervous and unconfident in my driver.

Also, hidden creeks that run in front of greens on longer holes. If i catch my long irons fat and it lands in a 2 foot wide creek, make me FURIOUS

[AmenCorner]

We have one hole at our course in NC that has a steep downhill lie approach shot to a green that slopes away. It is very goofy. The good players usually just try to hit the ball in the trap that guards the front of the green, which is the only flat lie. However, since it is a par 5, it takes two long and accurate shots to get there, everyone else is doomed to the downhill approach to a green that won't hold...I think it sucks.

[ERC7.5]

They never seem to put the hole where my ball goes!

[Bob B]

Inaccurate yardages to inflate the course rating. Thanks to new GPS technology we don't have to rely on those.

But the Golfers who don't buy the new technology are always asking..what do I got left??? My reply..."Apparently the 300 dollars that I spent to give you yardages!"

[iacas]

  Bob B said:

But the Golfers who don't buy the new technology are always asking..what do I got left??? My reply..."Apparently the 300 dollars that I spent to give you yardages!"

Yeah, sadly it's unethical and against the rules to lie and give them bad yardages.

[AmenCorner]

  Bob B said:

Inaccurate yardages to inflate the course rating. Thanks to new GPS technology we don't have to rely on those.

Sharing is caring, Bob.

[Mr Eagle]

Halfway houses that dont sell beer!

[SwinginCaveman]

I played a course today that I haven't played in a long time. It's a Metroparks course, so the natural terrain is very hilly. I completely forgot how different it is from the range. You almost never have a great lie, even in the fairway, so adjustments are key.

They also use small creeks that run in front of the greens that you can't see if you're in a small valley. I've lost many a ball that way.

[RX Phoenix]

False fronts on greens that look exactly like the green from a distance. Just played a course where every hole had false fronts and side aprons. Not really sure what the point is except deception especially for people who don't have good distance vision. Make the hole difficult but don't try and deceive in this way.

[VALSALVA]

This may have been posted already, but my personal pet peeve are overhanging trees that penalize a tee-shot hit in the fairway. Major bummer.

[iacas]

  VALSALVA said:

This may have been posted already, but my personal pet peeve are overhanging trees that penalize a tee-shot hit in the fairway. Major bummer.

You're not watching the PGA Tour event this week, by chance, are you?

[VALSALVA]

  iacas said:

You're not watching the PGA Tour event this week, by chance, are you?

Ha! Actually, Harbour Town is one of my favorite courses. Love the small greens. Love the seaside atmosphere. It's frustrating when an approach from the fairway is obstructed by trees, but, for some courses, it's a primary defense from lack of length or lateral hazards (i.e. Harbour Town) and shot placement should enter the player's mind on the tee. I give those courses a pass for sure.

[Chilidipper]

  XSup said:

Anything built by the Dye's! Those guys must hate golfers. I hate blind tee shots (dangerous and make for slow play) and rolling mounds that Jack Nicklaus loves to put on everything. I think that Gary Player designs some pretty fair courses.

Here in St Louis he designed a course call Tapawingo. We usually play it at 6,600 it is fair but challenging. He did well with this course. http://www.tapawingogolf.com/course/index.html

[Chilidipper]

  AmenCorner said:

I personally believe that you cannot please all of the people all of the time. I'd say the average golfer has a worse ego than course designers. Why? Because they insist on playing a course that allows them to score rather than be challenged. After playing golf for 21 years, I'm tired of playing bland courses that don't challenge me. Now, I'm playing the tips, all the time. Eventually, I think it will help me improve my game.

You go on to say that people complaining should play tennis or another uniformed sport, then you go on to complain about the senior tee's at these tourneys you attend. Why not accept the tee location and own those short hitters. Or join a league or tournement where you can play against people who have the same skill set you possess?

[bflat450]

I hate par 5s that are unreachable in two because there is a dogleg after your second shot. Then if you hit a bad second shot, you have to hit another to the corner. On a normal par 5 you could hit a poor second shot, and still hit the green on a 3rd shot.

[Bradenator]

  TaylorMadeFan said:

If you've played a round of golf you've experienced them, those horrid aspects of course design created for the sole purpose of making wayward or overly aggresive players pay. Pot bunkers, blind approaches, island greens, tiered greens; courses are becoming tougher by employing more of these tricks.

There are elements of course design I don't care for, but while many of these cost me strokes, I really believe they are part of the risk/reward/luck aspect of golf. Granted, playing a new course "blind" can present some genuine "unfair" situations. I have hit into many creeks and hazards that were either poorly marked on the card, or not marked at all. What I think is a well played and safe shot, turns into a penalty-and-drop situation. Fair? Well, yes and no...Would have been nice to have a caddy (echoing some previous comments about course design and caddies), but there is always next time, and that is part of what keeps me coming back.

I personally enjoy the challenges that even the most gimmicky holes present. Do they get me a bit riled at times? You bet. Is a 60 degree mound in the center of the fairway seem like being punished for a well-placed drive? You bet. But walking up to your best drive of the day, and seeing it sitting in a divot seems unfair too, but that, to me, is what the rub of the green is all about. You take the good with the bad, and sometimes you do get punished for a perfectly executed shot, but then again, who hasn't reaped the unexpected rewards of a push-slice into the lumberyard that miraculously pops out into the fairway? I played a course outside of Austin, Texas that was a muni at the time, but I think it was taken over by a private developer. Anyways, in the summer, it had rock hard fairways, one of which must have had 20 degrees of slope from left/right. I distinctly remember playing a well-hit drive with a healthy draw that landed no more than 2 feet from the first cut on the left....and then watched it rocket across and into the next fairway to the right. One would literally have to snap-hook a drive to have a chance of holding the fairway. Granted, this was more to do with the conditions of the soil that with anything else, but it seemed to punish what I thought to be an ideal shot under the conditions. Unfortunately, my estimation of the conditions was not correct. I played a dozen rounds there, and never once held the fairway, but learned to adapt so I at least had a manageable approach shot. As long as there isn't a windmill blocking the green, I think it is fair game, with a couple of exceptions. All that being said (yes, there's more), I can completely see how some of the mentioned features would discourage some golfers. I play fairly regularly with my father, who is a seasoned-citizen, and he doesn't have the distance/carry he had in his younger days. This has been mentioned before, but I bring it up again...Some courses seem to have missed the mark on their tee placement. I think needing a 200+ yard carry from the tips is completely reasonable, but too many times there is just too much carry required from the front tees to be fair, if there is such a thing. If someone chooses to play from the front tees, then I think the course should present a much more player-friendly layout, particularly with respect to distance/carry requirements. A 180 yard carry from the shortest tees to reach safety is not reasonable, in my estimation...but I say this mainly because I get to watch my old man sigh as he tees up on holes such as this, knowing full well that his best drive won't be enough. Perhaps these courses are making a killing off of the used ball sales in the pro-shop...I don't know. Still, Dad is the one that taught me that USGA made the rules for the game, not just for tournaments....so he pulls out a water ball, cermoniously plunks one in the drink, and then proceeds under rule 26-1...makes me want to cry sometimes...though when we have a press bet on, I manage to get over it...particularly if there are carry-overs involved!