Ok, here we go again.

[ADC]

Hey, all

Amanda and I recently moved back to Minnesota. Since then, I've fooled around with the architect a bit, but never got beyond one hole. I've been doing some work this past week while watching the Open. I'm about 1/3 of the way done, and working fast.

They're are several inspirations for this course. I was deeply impressed by the bunkers Royal Lytham and St. Anne's. I've also always loved the courses on Long Island that date back to the very early 1900's, such as Shinnecok Hills. A third influence is the pushed up greens of A.W. Tillinghast at Winged Foot. A good green complex can really save an otherwise flat piece of land. So, the course I want will have well over 100 bunkers, pushed up greens, and a very early style of artistic line. All in all, I'd date my efforts to a 20's design that you are playing the mid-50's.

I've tried several times to get an earlier style of golf to work in PGA2k to various degress of success. It's just too a modern game mechanic. So, I'm fast forwarding the look and length to about the 1950's. At one point, the entire course would have been a cleared field surrounded by trees. But it is showing a good deal of growth since then. There are two sets of tees, the Championship and the Members.

So much of what I've been trying to do in my work is build an identity. Is the club private? Pristine, or hardscrabble-like? Mainly men or family oriented? Etc, etc, etc.

The last thing on my to-do list is I'm trying to consider is championship worthiness. I want a tough course that will challenge the best players in the world: YOU ALL. I haven't built in any "infrastructure" yet, but I think I'm building a course that will be one of the toughest on your season's tournament schedule. It's going to be firm and fast and built for action.

I'm about 1/3 of the way done with course, and all the holes are routed. Only once do any two holes play in the same wind direction.

[Indy Anna Jones]

I like the look and the concept. I've used the built-up green concept on a lot of my courses dating back to my first solo effort with Carolindi Forest. My idea wasn't quite as broad as yours, lol; my idea was more in keeping with the reality that creeks, rivers and lakes tend to flood in the spring and probably the most expensive and hardest to repair part of a course is the green complex, so... I wanted to keep them above the water!

I like the idea, and I like the looks of your course. Another thing good with built-up greens is that you can have more slope, raised corners, falloffs on the side and back that make reaching a particular spot important or you won't hold the green, and so on.

Just don't get into too big of a hurry, ADC. Haste definitely makes waste in designing a course for this game. Just MHO.

[ADC]

Thanks, Indy! And what can I say, I'm a big concept thinker. It kinda comes with the whole writing territory.