Getting Defensive

After quite the hiatus I’m back. The course has been busy and a chaotic storm of tournaments, children’s camps, leagues and drunks. We seem to be through the worst of it though. It’s the long hot days of summer on the course and the rough is up and the fescue is waving in the wind while the ponds a getting low. This got me thinking, who’s going to innovate a course defense next. What is the next evolution of great course defense and why do we accept course layouts the way they are.

Think about it, 95% of courses are the same when broken down. Tee box, fairway, rough, trees, deep rough, bunkers, water, fringe, green. Its how these elements are laid out, placed, and utilized along with elevation, and environment that give a course its character and its teeth. So lets really start pushing the envelope. Why are certain design elements not used or considered unsporting? How about no rough for starters? Everything is cut fairway length, it wouldn’t effect accurate shots and inaccurate shots are punished more by rolling further away from the fairway.

The USGA and PGA have tried for years to use wrist-breaker rough as a defense and the best in the world have figured out how to deal with it years ago. The added benefit for the amateur is it will actually speed up the round by reducing search time in the rough, especially on blind shots.

What about getting a little crazier? Fairway trees are a part of some course design buts its usually one and on a signature hole, why not more? And what about stone walls or other design elements that have elevation. Most of golf’s traditional penalties are ground level, bunkers and water. Adding height would be a new wrinkle for course design.

If Pinehurst taught us anything this year it’s that native areas SUCK, so lets add more. A hardscrabble wild growth area instead of groomed and manicured rough and sand makes golf much more penal and challenging, the added course benefit of less maintenance expense and less water usage should make this a slam dunk. While we’re eliminating norms why have fringe around the green at all , green or rough you’re either on the green or you’re chipping or have a very interesting put through the thicker stuff.

These are just some seat of the pants rambling thoughts on how to make courses survive the onslaught of technology and trained athletes that will inevitably be coming down the pipe in future years. I for one would much rather watch a hard fought 3 under win a tournament than a birdie fest with a bunch of driver bombs and darted wedges. Until next time I’ll be outside planting trees

-          The Starter